At this year’s Met Gala, some famous public figures were hidden behind masks, blindfolds, headpieces and makeup that created the illusion of a marble statue or an aging man. You might not know it to look at them, but the night was a celebration of the body.
Guests including Colman Domingo, Doja Cat, Janelle Monáe, Kylie Jenner and Bad Bunny showed out on Monday night, wearing outfits that riffed on the idea of “the dressed body,” the focus of the new fashion exhibition. That included corsets, foam, barely-there Saint Laurent gowns and different styles of flowers.
Celebrities entering the gala spilled out to the Great Hall, which was decked out to resemble an oil painting, with real cypress and faux white wisteria.
At the bottom of the stairs, chairs of the event — including Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, Lauren Sánchez-Bezos and Venus Williams — greeted the nearly 400 guests. Beyoncé, who also served as co-chair this year, did not greet guests.
A massive moon hung over the central information desk, transformed for the night into a centerpiece of sorts, and the invited stars orbited it to greet their hosts. They quickly dipped over to the nearly 12,000 square feet of new gallery space and walked to the Engelhard Court for the evening’s cocktail party.
While the chairs greeted guests into the museum, Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and the lead sponsor of the gala, waltzed into the cocktail party and then stood by the bar chatting with Wendi Murdoch and Gayle King, whom he sent to space last year. (Bezos did not walk the red carpet.)
Despite the protests outside the museum and the campaigns around the city in the days leading up to the event, inside the building, guests’ interactions with Bezos seemed joke-filled and pleasant. At one point he stood around by himself, taking in the room with a beverage in hand.
Nearby, Murdoch’s daughters, Grace and Chloe, sat dressed in Miss Sohee gowns, enjoying each other’s company.
Asked about the theme of the new exhibition, Grace Murdoch said, “My favorite thing about my body is what it can do for me, the places it takes me.”
Stevie Nicks, who wore a top hat and a dress from Zara by John Galliano, said she loved her eyes but felt vulnerable about the part of her body she didn’t love.
“I just hated actually, over the years, at 5-foot-1½, realizing that there was no way to stay really thin, so you’re not going to be that,” said Nicks, who performed during the gala. “To accept it, that’s hard. This life was not easy.”
Steps away from the Murdoch sisters was Chloe Malle, who began editing American Vogue last year when Wintour took on a larger role overseeing all Vogue titles. Vogue’s old guard greeted guests, while the new wave enjoyed the party, as Malle stood with Chioma Nnadi, the head of editorial content for British Vogue, and Adam Baidawi, the global editorial director of GQ.
The “Fashion Is Art” dress code invited a range of interpretations. For Skepta, the British rapper and designer, it meant showing his skin — in a way: He wore an all-white Thom Browne jumpsuit with embroidery that mimicked his tattoos.
“I’m fully exposed,” he said as he showed how his neck tattoo matched the one on the collar of the jumpsuit.
His favorite part of his body? “My eyes, because I don’t have to speak much,” he said.
The rapper and singer Doja Cat showcased what she admired most about her own body in a see-through Saint Laurent dress.
“I like my boobies,” she said with a smile. “Everybody’s body is a one-of-a-kind. Even if you get enhancements or things like that, you’re still a one-of-a-kind. You might look similar to somebody else, but you’re still always going to just be you.”
In a different part of the gallery, Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive, stood next to Eva Chen and Adam Mosseri, both of Instagram. When a reporter tried to ask Zuckerberg a question, Chen swooped in and suggested Mosseri respond instead.
He said his favorite thing about his body was being tall.
“There’s just something nice about being able to have a lot of presence when you walk in,” Mosseri said.
Walking in alongside Monáe and Domingo was the French singer and model Yseult in custom Harris Reed.
“In imperfection, I can see beauty, so I like my belly,” she said. “That’s why I like to not wear a corset onstage. I just don’t care.”
Back at the cocktail party, Bezos found himself near Katy Perry, who was entertaining a table.
As they stood just feet apart, the pop star asked, “Who’s rich?” and everyone pointed at Bezos, who smirked uncomfortably. But then his eyes glimmered: His wife was walking toward him. He greeted her by tugging her waist and giving her a kiss. He had been saved.
Not too far away, the actor Dwayne Johnson was digging in his wife’s purse for a mini bottle of tequila. (Like many celebrities, he has a liquor brand.) The couple both wore Thom Browne, his suit featuring embroidery on the back resembling a spine.
“I like my pecs and my glutes,” he said, before he was interrupted by Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, who professed his admiration of the Rock. “I’m a really big fan!” Chew said as he shook Johnson’s hand.
After Chew walked away, Johnson had an addendum: “I don’t like my toes, they are velociraptor toes.”
Nearby, the actress Sarah Paulson, who was wearing a Matières Fécales gown and a blindfold that resembled a dollar bill, laughed with Lena Dunham.
When asked about her unusual accessory, Paulson said, “I feel like when you’re a citizen of the country right now, it’s your responsibility to be as aware as you possibly can about all that’s going on in the world.” She added, “That just feels like my job as a citizen. But I’m here, and I’m happy to be here.”
It was hard to tell at first, but walking around dressed as a marble statue was Heidi Klum. Her look was inspired by the Veiled Vestal, a 19th-century sculpture by Raffaelle Monti. She planned the look for three months and it took her five hours to get ready, she said, adding that it was the best her body had felt at a Met Gala.
“For once, my feet don’t hurt,” she said, wiggling her marble-like toes in flat sandals.
What did Wintour think of the get-up?
“I asked her if she liked it — she said yes,” Klum said. “I was the most worried that she won’t like it.”
Suddenly, trumpets blared, signaling it was time to head to the Temple of Dendur for dinner. On the short walk out of the court, Karlie Kloss introduced her husband, Joshua Kushner, to Matthieu Blazy, the artistic director of Chanel. While holding hands with Bezos, Sánchez Bezos grabbed a friend with her other hand and said, “Oh! You’re with us,” as they made their way to dinner.
As the cocktail party wound down and guests moved to dinner, Beyoncé, Blue Ivy and Jay-Z were just getting in.
