By Zsófi Benyi

Some call it fashion’s biggest night out, others the Super Bowl of dressing up, or simply: the Met Gala. Held on the first Monday of May every year, a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute marks the opening of its annual fashion exhibition. The 2023 Costume Institute exhibition, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, calls all lucky attendees to dress “in honor of Karl”: Lagerfeld made a myriad of moments – for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his eponymous brand, which cuts no fashion icon invited this year short of inspiration and ideas. Let’s look at the top togs served in New York that evening!

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Dua Lipa, one of the night’s hosts made a dream come true that night: the iconic autumn/winter 1992 Chanel couture gown first seen on Claudia Schiffer on the runway arose on the singer’s mood boards many times. An incandescent Tiffany & Co diamond necklace featuring over 100 carats sure made her sparkle out of the star-studded crowd. Karl loved feminine flourishing: the Kate Moss and Lila Moss supermodel mother-daughter duo dressed in Fendi delivered just that. Created in consultation with Valletta by Hun Kim, Design Director at Karl Lagerfeld, Amber Valetta, supermodel and now sustainability ambassador of Karl’s brand, brought the iconic accessory: the fan to the pink steps. The other unforgettable essentials of “Karl Creations”? Pearls, and we have got plenty that night as Kim Kardashian in Schiaparelli was draped in them. Anna Hathaway brought Chanel and Versace married in a dress, eliciting the friendship of Gianne Versace and Lagerfeld himself. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen wears a Chanel dress she first modelled in a 2007 editorial, and what made it quintessentially Gisele: were her beachy-esque waves. Gigi Hadid in Givenchy gave the naked dress a Lagerfeld-fitting black lace twist. Finally, who can forget Babylon star and soon-to-be Barbie, Margot Robbie taking us back to Chanel’s haute couture spring 1993 catwalk? A longtime ambassador of Chanel scintillated in the gown first worn by Cindy Crawford. Archive pieces drawn that Monday night and the new confections created only prove how German-born designer not only rejuvenated the industry’s most classic brands but continues to vicissitude fashion itself.

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