How the black and white theme of stars evoked Karl Lagerfeld’s mind at a glittering Met Gala

The first Monday in May is a special one in the fashion world. It’s Met Gala time – the fashion extravaganza that brings together the world’s best dressed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ostensibly it is a fundraising event. But really, it’s a chance for the world to stop, stare, and pass judgment on what some of the highest-paid stars have chosen to wear. What they choose to wear, by the way, is not up for grabs.

Each year, the gala, chaired by Vogue’s Anna Wintour since 1995, chooses a theme that feels current. These include ‘camp’ and ‘catholicism’, or honored key designers, such as Gianni Versace in 1997.

However, this year was all about one of the fashion legends: the late Karl Lagerfeld. The German designer was most famous for leading Chanel from 1983 until his death in 2019, at the age of 85. But he was equally recognized for his work as the creative director of Fendi, Chloe and his eponymous label, Karl Lagerfeld.

Although I never met Lagerfeld, I have seen him on many occasions, especially when he came out at the end of each fashion show to take a bow. He was said to be cold and imperious, but Chanel under him never felt that way to me.

Daisy Edgar-Jones attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty exhibit on May 1, 2023 in New York City

When I edited Cosmopolitan magazine, a brand that barely screamed luxury fashion, I was invited to every Chanel show; though I could never afford as much as a Chanel brooch, here I was just yards from some of the finest clothes known to woman. Years later, as editor of Elle, I attended his memorial service, where the sheer diversity of attendees reminded me that Lagerfeld wasn’t always quite what he seemed.

In his own words, he was a larger than life caricature who understood both the complexity of fashion (‘Fashion is a train that waits for no one’) and its power.

He wore the same signature outfit for most of his life: leather gloves, black tie, white shirt, black slacks, and a powdered ponytail straight from the court of Versailles. And his designs were just as iconic: tweed, ribbons, corsets, pearls. . .

So there was a lot for gala attendees to be inspired by, making for one of the most fascinating years in Met Gala history.

Hollywood star Anne Hathaway dazzling in white tweed. Actresses Daisy Edgar-Jones and Emily Blunt embraced his love of a corsage. Reality star Kim Kardashian is positively dripping with pearls. Everyone was a vision in black and white.

But just when you started to think how serious and high fashion this all seemed, there was a recurring theme that put a smile on everyone’s face: Lagerfeld’s cat and the love of his life, Choupette.

Several stars honored the white Birman, including musician Doja Cat, who donned facial prosthetics and kitten ears. The only person who surpassed her? Actor Jared Leto, who wore a giant Choupette costume. It was, I think, something Karl would have been proud of.

SECOND

Nothing is as Chanel as monochromatic tweed. During his time at Chanel, Lagerfeld used tweed on everything from jackets and dresses to handbags, shoes, even sunglasses and trainers. Actress Anne Hathaway wore a revamped take on Liz Hurley’s 1990s Versace “safety pin” dress, showing it can have some serious sex appeal, too.

Anne Hathaway attends the 2023 Met Gala Honoring Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023

FEATHERS

Many actresses ignored PETA’s warning to the Met Gala committee that feathers are as cruel as fur. Nicole Kidman led the fluffy onslaught in a blush pink dress Lagerfeld designed for her in 2004 and wore for the Chanel perfume ad directed by Baz Luhrmann. Florence Pugh made her Met Gala debut wearing a towering feathery Valentino headpiece that accentuated her new, jaw-dropping, buzzcut. Controversial? Certainly. But feathers feature in so much of Lagerfeld’s work, especially at Fendi. And if there’s one thing Lagerfeld was probably more famous for than fashion, it was controversies

Florence Pugh The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, celebrating the opening of the exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, Arrivals, New York, May 1, 2023

PEARLS

It is known that Gabrielle Chanel, the founder of the brand, always wore fake pearls, which Lagerfeld paid tribute to throughout his career at the fashion house. It’s fitting, then, that some of the Met Gala’s protagonists chose pearls as their theme. While announcing her second pregnancy on the reddish carpet (it was more cream, red and blue), tennis player Serena Williams looked elegant in Gucci with a pearl headband and a cascade of pearls around her neck.

But as usual, Kim Kardashian stole the show in a Schiaparelli number, which consisted of a corset and bra and nine parts of pearls. The outfit is rumored to be made from 50,000 freshwater pearls.

Serena Williams The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, celebrating the opening of the exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, Arrivals, New York, May 1, 2023

CORSAGE

The white camellia is one of Chanel’s most enduring emblems. Lagerfeld placed Gabrielle Chanel’s favorite flower on everything from headwear to jewelry. At the Met Gala, actresses Daisy Edgar-Jones, in a two-piece Gucci suit, and Emily Blunt, in sequin trousers and a flowing Michael Kors train, completed their looks with a camellia bow. Singer Rihanna, meanwhile, wore a cream Valentino cape covered in oversized corsages.

Emily Blunt attends the 2023 Met Gala Honoring Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023 in New York City

CORSETS

While Gabrielle Chanel was famous for freeing women from the corset, Lagerfeld was a fan of the shape-enhancing undergarments. Consequently, it was one of the hottest looks at the Met Gala. Hollywood star Margot Robbie pulled off perhaps the most elegantly, which isn’t surprising considering she was the last Chanel ambassador to be hand-picked by Lagerfeld. Her dress, featuring a sheer corset and boning made from Chanel’s iconic warp-weave straps, was based on a dress made for the label’s Spring/Summer 1993 collection. Hot on her heels in the elegance department, however, was Emily In Paris star Lily Collins who wore a tailored Vera Wang dress with an ivory lingerie-inspired corset. But it was the fact that she had the word ‘KARL’ stitched into her hem that made the real statement of the evening.

Lily Collins The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, celebrating the opening of the exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, Arrivals, Fashion Highlights, New York, May 1, 2023

Margot Robbie attends the 2023 Met Gala Honoring Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023 in New York City