Stars honored Karl Lagerfeld at Met Gala 2023
On Monday May 1 at the annual Met Gala, some stars took the theme literally and dressed just like the late Chanel fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, while others wore his designs from over the years. Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, staff photographer
He created the iconic "double C" logo for Chanel. He was the first to make wearable print dresses at Chloé. He reinvented Fendi’s furline and was this year’s Met Gala theme. This is none other than the revolutionary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away in 2019.
On May 1, stars stepped out of their limos at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City dressed in various forms of Lagerfeld-centric clothing for the annual Met Gala.
Even though Lagerfeld was very influential, the number one question that popped into the mind of Madison Harris-Weiner, a senior creative producing major and fashion enthusiast, when she heard the theme was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” is how people could dress in the theme of a person.
Most of the past themes have been broader like “Camp: Notes on Fashion” in 2019, or “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” in 2022.
“I was very confused when I first heard about how anyone could possibly be in the theme when the theme is a person, aside from just dressing up like Karl," Harris-Weiner told The Panther.
Some stars didn’t even think of what they were going to wear to the event because they decided not to go due to their disdain for Lagerfeld’s previous controversial comments in regard to women’s weight.
However, the Met went through with the theme and the celebrities that chose to celebrate Lagerfeld’s work commemorated him in different ways through their outfits. Here are the top four ways stars interpreted Lagerfeld’s legacy.
Literal interpretation
Some people took the theme literally and dressed exactly like Lagerfeld or put his face right on their clothing.
Arriving in Balmain black-flared pants and a white silk chiffon top would have been enough, but actor and singer Jemery Pope took it to the next level with his top actually being a 30-foot-long cape. The cape, which 70 seamstresses used 5,000 meters of silk chiffon for, featured a hand-drawn illustration of Lagerfeld's face in black and white cascaded down the Met stairs.
Always a class act, actress Lily Collins wore a timeless Vera Wang dress with a white corset and puff sleeve bodice and a black tool skirt — an homage to the elegant monochromatic looks that Lagerfeld created at Chanel in the ‘80s.
Of course, she paired the look with a deep red lip, as any classic outfit should have. She also took it a step further and had “KARL” bedazzled on the train of her dress. Lagerfeld would have said J’adore to the “Emily in Paris” star’s outfit.
Karl was notorious for always wearing a dark black, rectangle-framed pair of sunglasses regardless if it was sunny or cloudy, or he was inside or outside. Academy-Award-winning actress Jessica Chastain showed up to the evening event rocking Gucci shades and a black Gucci tulle gown with ruffles and a short train.
She also debuted her new platinum blonde hair, which she clarified was a wig. It was hard to tell if it was Jessica Chastaine or if Lagerfeld rose from the dead.
Cat interpretation
If stars were not inspired by Lagerfeld himself, they were inspired by his furry champion, Choupette, his tortie birman cat that he left 30% of his wealth to.
Arguably, the most memorable look of the night was by none other than Jared Leto, who always shows up to the Met Gala in something unique. This year he arrived in a head-to-toe character costume of none other than Lagerfeld's beloved cat, Choupette. Upon removing his cat costume, his makeup was fully done, which featured cat-eye eyeliner that perfectly complimented his costume.
“Despite it being a costume, it looks almost more like a painting than it does a furry character costume and there's so much detail,” Harris-Weiner said. “It looks lifelike, but also elevated. I think this is the best example of taking the theme and making it his own.”
A more subtle take on Choupette was fittingly done by Doja Cat. She wore an Oscar de la Renta white dress with silver rhinestones that had featured a skin-tight hood with cat ears. Besides her meowing during her interviews, her makeup was the main event here with a subtle cat nose and mouth prosthetic done by Malina Stearns and a cat eye done by Ernesto Casillas.
“It's the opposite of Jared Leto’s look because his was camp and extremely blown-up and hers was so subtle,” Harris-Weiner said. “It almost could have just been avant-garde makeup. What I liked about her look is that she was confident enough to be subtle with it.”
No interpretation, just his work
Lagerfeld’s career spanned 65 years in total, which included 54 years at Fendi, 35 years at his own self-titled brand, Karl Lagerfeld, 26 years at Chanel, 25 years at Chloé and three years at Balmain. He designed over 10,000 clothing pieces, so there were plenty of ensembles to choose from that already existed.
It was a bit hard to decipher whether it was a Met Gala or Chanel fashion show due to the number of Chanel looks that walked the red carpet. Lagerfeld was named the creative director of Chanel in 1982 and is credited with reviving the old-fashioned brand by making it modern.
"I think it was partially a marketing scheme for Chanel," said Taylor Twamugabo, a freshman creative writing major and creator of Chapman's upcoming fashion magazine, Citrus. “It felt like they're trying to put Chanel back on the market. There's a lot of competition in the fashion world today and Chanel is one of the older ones who have to continue to put out good stuff in order to stay relevant.”
Nicole Kidman wore the same dress she had worn in 2004 for a Chanel No. 5 commercial directed by Baz Luhrmann, which still today is one of the most expensive commercials ever — costing around $33 million to make. She definitely looked like a million bucks in this pale pink dress with feathers sticking out of it that was topped with a veil.
Lagerfeld was famous for ending all of his Chanel fashion shows with a wedding dress, with the model wearing this gown coined as the "Chanel bride." Dua Lipa was lucky enough to wear a wedding dress from the fall/winter 1992 Chanel show that was originally worn by Claudia Schiffer. She made one change to it though by swapping the original veil headpiece with a large Tiffany & Co.'s 100-carat diamond necklace.
Although this white dress with black ribbon woven detailing on the bust was breathtaking, it fed into the plethora of other black and white dresses since it is a big motif in Lagerfeld's previous designs for Chanel.
“It was all black and white, which felt very boring to me and I think he was known for only wearing black and white, so I guess that makes sense but I just don't love it,” Harris-Weiner said.
Olivia Wilde and Margaret Zhang
Although the white carpet was dominated by Chanel looks, there was still some Chloé representation. To pay homage to Lagerfeld’s time at this fashion house, not one but two celebrities, Olivia Wilde and Margaret Zhang, wore the iconic violin dress which Lagerfeld designed in 1983.
Each woman had their own play on the dress with Wilde going for a white and gold version that was romantically paired with a wavy hairstyle; whereas Zhang had a black and gold dress she paired with her bold blue hair for an edgy look.
His work interpretation
Perhaps one of the most overlooked, yet deeply-meaningful looks of the night was Kylie Jenner’s ensemble, which consisted of a Jean Paul Gaultier red dress with a high slit and train that doubled as a light blue silk cape.
While she wasn't able to actually sit down during the event as per orders of the designer, the gown paid homage to the Met Gala capes that Lagerfeld would design for André Leon Talley, a fashion designer who passed away in 2022.
Although Karl Lagerfeld had a short but epic three years at Balmain in the 1950s, Conan Grey paid tribute to his time there in his custom Balmain suit. Lagerfeld adored the ‘20s art deco era, which Gray incorporated into his look through intricate pearls and beading, along with a pearl-embroidered fan.
“I definitely think the men stepped up this year and did more than the boring black tuxedo,” Twamugabo said.
Several stars: The more bows, the merrier
A huge motif in Lagerfeld’s designs were black bows, whether that be one across the bust or around the neck of a shirt. Several women transferred this detail over to their looks through weaving black bows into their hair.
Sydney Sweeney wore a gigantic black bow on top of her head, Nicole Kidman and Camila Morrone wore a smaller black bow tied into a half up-half down hairstyle, Aubrey Plaza and Priyanka Chopra strutted an updo with a bow tied into their buns and Elle Fanning even had two black bows tied onto her ethereal flower crown.