From papal elegance to tech-inspired glamour, fashion's biggest night has seen it all! Join us as we rank the Met Galas of the last decade based on how well celebrities interpreted each theme. Which year saw stars truly understand the assignment and which left us underwhelmed by missed opportunities?
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00:00Since Anna Wint has taken over the Met Ball, it has become the Super Bowl of social fashion events.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:09And today, we're counting down our picks for the best Met Gala carpets of the last 10 years.
00:14They're ranked based on how well the famous guests interpreted the theme of fashion's biggest night,
00:19with number one achieving the highest level of alignment.
00:22I've been getting ready since 1 p.m., so no.
00:27It was busy the whole day.
00:30Number 10. China Through the Looking Glass
00:33The confluence of Chinese art and Western design could have resulted in a colorful and culturally appreciative gala.
00:51However, only a few celebrities married formal wear with traditional Chinese elements,
00:55as demanded by the Chinese white tie dress code, without crossing over to cultural insensitivity.
01:00Rihanna rocked up in a regal yellow gown by Chinese designer Guo Pei,
01:11and Emily Blunt donned a stunning blue silk dress inspired by the Chinese chi pao.
01:15Zendaya's red and black ensemble with solar embroidery was a total win, too.
01:20You came in a truck, like a truck.
01:21Yeah, I had to stand.
01:23Beautiful.
01:24Oh, with the velour, beautiful?
01:25Yeah.
01:26Beautiful!
01:27However, Lady Gaga, like many others, chose a silhouette more reminiscent of a Japanese kimono than anything else,
01:33paired with controversial makeup.
01:35Looking back, most guests played it safe or failed miserably.
01:38So, the best dressed were few and far between.
01:42I would appreciate more of an Asian influence, again, because I like when people really, you know, are all about the theme.
01:48Number 9. Charles James Beyond Fashion
01:51Big, bold, and beautiful.
01:54All guests had to do was tick these boxes, and they probably would have passed.
01:58Kutsuriye Charles James was known for his opulent ballgowns, after all.
02:01Throughout his career, evolving in his ideas about construction, but never deviated from the fact that he felt that the artifice of fashion could, in fact, improve the human body.
02:16However, paying homage to his flair for structure, innovation, and ornate design was apparently easier said than done.
02:22The white tie with decoration dress code left attendees with rather plain outfits you'd see on any other red carpet.
02:28Do you all love your dresses and your looks?
02:30Love, love, love, love, love.
02:31You love Stella?
02:32Love Stella.
02:33I want to hear you all go Stella, Stella, Stella.
02:37Sure, most of them stuck to the protocol, but very few brought out the essence of the theme.
02:42The latter group included Liu Wen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Karli Kloss, and Karolina Karkova.
02:47However, well-known style icons like Kim Kardashian and Emma Stone fell flat.
02:52It's ugly, it's boring, it looks like Kids' Choice Awards wear, not suitable for the meth gala when you're referencing one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century.
03:00I'm just saying.
03:01Number 8.
03:02Ray Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons, Art of the In-Between.
03:05This theme was an open invitation for guests to run wild with their fashion imagination.
03:10The idea of the unfinished, the idea of asymmetry, the idea of elimination,
03:16and the technical leitmotifs in her work, notions of fusion, notions of juxtaposition.
03:22Ray Kawakubo is a trailblazer of the avant-garde and upholds radical experimentation,
03:27duality, and originality as the pillars of Comme des Garçons.
03:30So it was apt that the memo was avant-garde black tie.
03:34Ray is this figure who is about originality.
03:39Every single season, she reinvents herself and reinvents fashion.
03:44The easiest way to achieve that was to show up in Comme des Garçons,
03:48which many celebs like Helen Lassichan, Rihanna, and Tracee Ellis Ross opted for.
03:52Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra and Solange made their marks in oversized versions
03:56of a trench coat and a puffer jacket, respectively.
03:58They made the headlines for their looks, re-establishing the Met Gala's reputation
04:03as a show of pure artistry.
04:05I love art, and I think it's such a free range of expression,
04:11and you can do whatever you want within that space.
04:14It just gives you that freedom, that space to be whatever you want, however you want.
04:19However, for most others, there was not much to write home about.
04:23Number 7.
04:24Camp.
04:25Notes on Fashion.
04:26This was one of the most creative leitmotifs in Met Gala history.
04:30The category was studied triviality, emphasizing the irreverent and ironic nuances of camp.
04:36Irony, humor, parody, theatricalization, excess, extravagance, exaggeration.
04:42Lady Gaga stole the show, serving four separate looks.
04:46Meanwhile, Billy Porter channeled Diana Ross from Mahogany.
04:49He made a lavish entrance on a palanquin and unfurled his golden wings on the pink carpet,
04:54revealing a gilded catsuit.
04:56The Poe's star embodied an Egyptian sun god and left us blinded by his shine.
05:01Well, camp, for those of us in the African-American community, we call it extra.
05:05Yes, honey.
05:05So it's as extra as you can be.
05:07Oh, you all type of extra, right?
05:08I love it.
05:09I love it.
05:09I love it.
05:10I've always been extra.
05:11So camp is, you know, right in my wheelhouse, honey.
05:15Katy Perry came as a chandelier, Violet Tchotchke was an evening glove,
05:19and Janelle Monae was giving, well, Janelle Monae.
05:21However, too many celebs were stuck between trying too hard and not trying enough.
05:26Kris Jenner and Harry Styles, we're looking at you.
05:28I was really hoping that he would come out with something just more bold and just a showstopper.
05:33If he was wearing the same black outfit in, like, lilac.
05:37Yes.
05:38He did not look bad at all, but we were all expecting a little bit more.
05:41Just saying.
05:42Number six.
05:43In America.
05:44An Anthology of Fashion.
05:46Anna Winter made her expectations clear when she asked guests to evoke gilded glamour in
05:50white tie attire.
05:52For the most part, the message was heard loud and clear, and celebrities served up grandiosity
05:56on a gold platter.
05:57We see opera gloves.
05:58We see a tiara.
06:00We see a bustle.
06:01We see sequins.
06:02So she has hit every single thing we were hoping to see from the gilded glamour dress code.
06:08Fashion highs included Blake Lively's stellar New York-inspired copper-to-blue Versace
06:13masterpiece, Gemma Chan and Isabelle Ebeneke's punk-chic leather looks, and Emma Koren's
06:17homage to the fabulous socialite Evander Berry Wall.
06:20An alternate interpretation was also offered up by Riz Ahmed, who dressed down as a tribute
06:25to the immigrant working class of the late 1800s.
06:27You know, it's trying to elevate and celebrate that workwear, that immigrant culture, the
06:32stuff that makes this beautiful city run.
06:34However, some questionable choices were made, too.
06:37Kim Kardashian in a Marilyn Monroe dress and Camila Cabello's confused semi-bridal fit
06:42raised eyebrows, but the good far outshined the disappointing.
06:45I was really excited to go full ball gown because I've never been able to have that moment at
06:50the Met, so this really felt like the appropriate time to do it, and yeah, I think we did it.
06:55I'm having a little trouble breathing, but that's okay.
06:57Like, that's part of the thing, right?
06:58So we're good.
06:59Number 5.
07:00Manus Ex Machina.
07:01Fashion in an Age of Technology.
07:04This was one of those years when the theme of the Met exhibition was much more complex
07:07than the dress code of the corresponding gala.
07:09I think people are expecting the exhibition to be about robots.
07:11It really isn't about that at all.
07:13It's about rather subtle, hidden technologies.
07:17While the former explored the intersection between couture as an art form versus the mass
07:21production of fast fashion, the style guide for celebrities was Tech White Tie.
07:26The majority of guests translated this as a nod to futurism and incorporated metallic
07:31or technological elements in their garments.
07:33The whole thing is woven into it, as you'll see, not on the red carpet, but in person.
07:39Are you going to light up later?
07:40It does light up.
07:41The entire dress is all fiber optic and is actually illuminating at this moment.
07:46Standouts included Karolina Kurkova's light-up gown, Naomi Watts' chainmail dress, and Kate
07:51Hudson's 3D-printed Atelier Versace look.
07:54That said, even with such an easy theme, there were some, like Sarah Jessica Parker and Kerry
07:59Washington, who missed the point.
08:01I like kind of seeing the spectrum.
08:03It's sort of a cool walk through time.
08:06It really is.
08:06Number 4.
08:07Sleeping Beauties.
08:09Reawakening Fashion.
08:10This gala had a whimsical dress code, the Garden of Time.
08:14Here we are in the gallery, the garden, and the gallery actually appears like a garden,
08:19planted with hats and dresses blooming with a wide variety of flowers.
08:24Based on the eponymous short story by J.G.
08:26Ballard, attendees were asked to ponder themes of fragility, the inevitable passage of time,
08:31and nature.
08:32Accordingly, Tyla delivered with a sandglass-themed dress, and Elle Fanning embraced the fairytale
08:37aspect with an organza and resin gown.
08:40Meanwhile, Zendaya reimagined moody gothic elegance in not one, but two relevant looks.
08:45What we wanted to do was celebrate the work of John Galliano.
08:49So the first look, he's the creative director of Maison Margiela, where he is present.
08:55And the second look was actually a piece from his Okutucho at Givenchy when he was there.
09:01So it was just a celebration of John's present and past.
09:06Bad Bunny turned heads, too, carrying an on-theme sartorial bouquet of Thespisia grandiflora,
09:11the national flower of his home, Puerto Rico, roses, and flax,
09:15a.k.a. the plant that pricked Giambattista Basile's sleeping beauty.
09:19The only letdowns were florals for the sake of florals and gorgeous but superficial garb,
09:24like Kylie Jenner and Jennifer Lopez's looks.
09:26What are you wearing tonight?
09:27It's a pity that one of the most well-done years in Met Gala history
09:36was in honor of such a problematic fashion figure.
09:39However, Karl Lagerfeld's contribution to brands like Chanel and Fendi is undeniable.
09:43One of Lagerfeld's most enduring and distinctive stylistic interests
09:47was the post-modern combination of the traditional proprieties of the couture
09:52and the transgressive provocations of the edgiest and wildest street styles.
09:57Thanks to his recognizable style, most guests had no trouble finding ways to express their respect
10:01for him. Stars like A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, and Pedro Pascal graced the carpet
10:06in some variations of black, white, and red.
10:09Dua Lipa, Penelope Cruz, Jenny, and Nicole Kidman reached for vintage Chanel.
10:13So this dress was one in the Chanel No. 5 commercial that Baz Luhrmann and I did with Karl, who concocted
10:22this out of his head. I have the sketches when he was drawing it.
10:28The cheekiest takes came from Doja Cat, who alluded to Karl's feline companion Chupette
10:33in a glam kitty look, and Jared Leto, who wore a cat costume. It was all very Karl, but not the most
10:38breathtaking event.
10:39But, you know, I'm never pleased with myself. I always think I could do better. I could make an effort.
10:45I'm lazy. I mean, it's ridiculous, I know.
10:47Number two, in America, a lexicon of fashion.
10:51We've been working on this since April. 1,400 man hours, Iris von Herpen. It's all about change.
10:57What's needed in America, what's needed in fashion. And with each step, this dress changes.
11:02And you see different colors, and you see different textures, and that's what it should be all about.
11:05It isn't surprising that a gala where the primary instruction was to celebrate American independence
11:10through fashion produced excellent results from Hollywood's finest. Guests tapped into
11:15quintessential motifs of Americana to bring the theme to life.
11:17They're stitched together through their emotional resonance, resulting in a richly textured quilt
11:22of American fashion that's as diverse, multifaceted, and heterogeneous as the nation itself.
11:29Lupita Nyong'o's denim gown, Kim Petrus' horse girl aesthetic, and Billie Eilish's timeless
11:34holiday Barbie scored high with critics.
11:36Homages were paid, with Amandla Stenberg saluting African-American culture, Kiki Palmer commemorating
11:41Diana Ross, and Nikki DeJacher honoring activist Marsha P. Johnson.
11:45However, the sustainability angle of the exhibition's theme was a tad underrepresented.
11:50As you guys can see, some of these gowns are so massive at the Met Gala that people have
11:54to take entire sprinter vans just to get there.
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12:12The exhibition is about forging relationships between fashion and specific religious artworks
12:28within the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
12:29Interestingly, what was expected to be the most restrained Met Gala turned out to be a
12:33diverse and multifaceted show celebrating the impact of Catholicism on fashion.
12:38Amid the best of the best, Rihanna's papal ensemble was a clear winner, but there were
12:43several runners-up who left a deep impression.
12:45This included Zendaya's Joan of Arc tribute, Ariana Grande's Sistine Chapel-inspired look,
12:50Chadwick Boseman's suave ivory suit with intricate crosses, and Lena Waithe's rainbow cape.
12:55You know, I'm repping my community, and I want everybody to know that, you know, you
12:58can be whoever you are, and be completely proud, and be doing it.
13:02And wear the damn cape.
13:03Yo, let's do it.
13:04Very rarely did a celebrity underwhelm us.
13:07So, it's safe to say, not only did our faves understand the assignment, but they passed
13:12with flying colors.
13:13Oh, Jim Martin, yeah, he's an old friend of mine.
13:15He was there.
13:16He was a Jesuit priest who was advising us on the exhibition, and he came in his appropriate
13:23robes.
13:24And apparently, all night, people were coming up to him and saying,
13:27I really like the fact that you came as a sexy priest.
13:32If you could own any Met Gala outfit, which one would it be?
13:35Tell us in the comments down below.
13:37It's not about topping anything.
13:39It's about being appropriate for the moment.
13:41That's what I tell myself so that I don't lose my mind.