MET Costume Institute Gala 2023 : Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty

[Hchloe]

This year was was okay. Most people looked fine and there were very few disastrous looks.
- Sydney Sweeney looked like a country music star at her first grammy awards
- Janelle Monae, Jared Leto and Lil Nas X made me cringe. So desperate for attention.
- Rita Ora actually looked great minus the awful make-up
- Lila Moss’ fur dress is growing on me
- I love that Marion re-wore her dress from 2008!
- No Saint Laurent or LV this year. Why?

Best dressed: Penelope Cruz, Dua Lipa, Sofia Coppola, Cardi B.
Honourable mentions - Lily James and Jenna Ortega.

Worst dressed: Ice Spice (poor thing!) and Ariana Debose.

 

[Benn98]

- No Saint Laurent or LV this year. Why?

Maybe LV is busy focusing on Pharrel's big debut. I imagine something like the MET would've been a distraction for them.
They certainly can't be tight with money although the MET tables are now going at $300,000 and single tickets at $50,000.

 

[Mrs.T]

Such legacy where to take inspiration from and I would say it was boring. Mostly black and white looks? Ground-breaking.
It was kind of like Karl's funeral all over again. I was hoping that some more daring would go more into it and explore what else Karl brought to the world of fashion.
Where was the joy? Where was the celebration of his work?
Some looks were cool yes but mostly it fell flat and was kind of boring.
And btw what were the Kardashian/Jenner doing there? I was hoping that those people are not invited from this year

 

[cul8tr]

I must admit I am disappointed. Probably the most boring METgala ever. Most wore white or black clothes. Everything super simple, embellished with pearls or camellias. Ok this is Karl/Chanel's signature ... but where od glam? I have the impression that no one made an effort and everyone chose the simplest option. I miss color, details, super forms and quality. everything looks pretty simple and cheap. And all they had to do was to ask Chanel or Fendi to borrow something from their archives. I was hoping to see a Métiers d’art show. Too bad. MET for our times.

 

[vogue28]

Rihanna:



Jennie:



Lizzo:

 

[blueorchid]

Overall, not enough references to his tenure at Chloé for my liking, but why would I expect any different from the people who attended? There is something delicious about there being no Saint Laurent, but I wish someone had the nerve...

 

[RedSmokeRise]

As always, the models looked beautiful!

 

[reesewu]

What bothers me the most is that the Gala mostly turned into a Karl Lagerfeld-themed cosplay or carricature of his iconic get-up instead of a celebration of his oeuvre at Chanel, Fendi, and Chloe.

Remember the tribute to Alber show a few seasons ago where several houses interpreted his design codes through their own? I was expecting to see that kind of approach instead of “Monochromatic Karl, but make it campy!”

 

[Lola701]

I liked it. The Met Gala has become a circus detached from fashion and I like that this theme forced people to be more demure in their approach.
In this exercise of Self Promotion. Lil Nas X was probably the worst dressed and most annoying.

My favorite was probably Cardi B. It was fun, on theme in a « entertainment » way and it put a smile on my face.

For once, I’m impressed by what Naomi wore. She looked chic!

Margot Robbie as beautiful as she is lacks in charisma unfortunately. And I’m going to keep my opinion on Kristen and Marion to myself.

There were some great looks and not so great ones but it was expected to see what we saw. This is Hollywood after all. Only real fashion people cared about Karl’s time at Chloe and if the nature of the party was different, we would have seen rich clients wearing their own Karl’s pieces.

‘We should never forget that the Met Gala is Hollywood interpretation of the whole thing. This is what the stylists for those celebrities have in mind.

‘I don’t think that we will have an exhibition on minimalism for example. It can be interesting from a fashion/cultural POV but can you imagine the Redcarpet for the Gala? Nobody would care if someone shows up in 1994 Helmut Lang or SS1999 Chanel HC!

 

[thenewclassic]

Choupette confirms she won't be in attendance tonight, and I live for the shady comment from Inès de la Fressange (who wasn't invited) stating Lagerfeld hated tributes:

Also saw these

 

[Not Plain Jane]

I feel like all of the supers should've been there! Linda, Christy, Cindy, Claudia... They were the ones who brought 90s Chanel to life.

And why on earth was Ines missing? Surely she and Anna could bury any hatchets for a Karl / Chanel tribute? Or maybe she would've refused anyhow?

 

[Ivancica]

Diane Kruger, Vanessa Paradis (even Lily Rose), who were regular attendees in previous years should have been there.
But also Keira Knightly, Claudia, Florence Welch, Inès de la Fressange, Kristen McMenamy, Alek Wek, ...


Btw - does anyone know where's Bella Hadid (not that I think she should've been there)?

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Yes, true, all those names too. I thought of Kiera Knightley as well; she's been a faithful Chanel rep for years.

 

[TZ001]

Celebs who went with Chanel

 

[aracic]

Are we still pretending that the guest list has anything to do with the theme of the Gala? Come on. They had Roger Federer co-chair the event! During those little red carpet interviews Michaela Coel expressed her confusion about her involvement in the event and said that she was reassured by Anna Wintour, who told her that she was asked to co-chair because she was unafraid to be herself and that that resonated with Karl's journey and the he would've loved her. I guess you could see how that would sort of make sense if you really try to make some sense out of it, but it also sounds like a bunch of crap. They don't care. Half of those people shouldn't have been there regardless of the theme. Kim Petras? Ava Max? So many people I've never even heard of! One of the City Girls was in attendance LOL It's not about prestige anymore, there's no prestige. It's not about loyal collaborators and friends and I don't think it has ever been about that. Devon, Shalom and Amber were only there because they scored the cover. Was Lila Kate's plus one? Who knows.

 

[TZ001]

Lauren Santo Domingo in Chanel Haute Couture F/W 1998

 

[Lola701]

This Met is very interesting. Between some people on social media discussing if he is worth an exhibition because he was a « Terrible person », the celebrities and ex collaborators expressing the fact that they weren’t invited, the contrast with the people sharing stories about good he was to them and the pressure of social media to dismiss that…

I must say that I’m actually surprised that some people didn’t make it to the Gala. And I’m more surprised that some brands didn’t bought them a place because we are all know that as much as much they loved Karl, they wouldn’t spend 50K on a ticket.

‘Chanel should have invited Ines. Valentino should have invited Kristen. Tom Ford should have invited Pat Cleveland. Fendi should have dressed more people in archive Fendi but also invited people who made more sense than Kate Moss and her daughter. Chloe should have invited someone linked to Karl.

‘However. Karl has an extensive body of work so more museums can organize something and have all the guests required.

 

[LadyJunon]

This Met is very interesting. Between some people on social media discussing if he is worth an exhibition because he was a « Terrible person », the celebrities and ex collaborators expressing the fact that they weren’t invited, the contrast with the people sharing stories about good he was to them and the pressure of social media to dismiss that…

I must say that I’m actually surprised that some people didn’t make it to the Gala. And I’m more surprised that some brands didn’t bought them a place because we are all know that as much as much they loved Karl, they wouldn’t spend 50K on a ticket.

‘Chanel should have invited Ines. Valentino should have invited Kristen. Tom Ford should have invited Pat Cleveland. Fendi should have dressed more people in archive Fendi but also invited people who made more sense than Kate Moss and her daughter. Chloe should have invited someone linked to Karl.

‘However. Karl has an extensive body of work so more museums can organize something and have all the guests required.

The reception of the whole thing was a mess:
• A good chunk of people were vocally protesting against Karl having an exhibition, because they believe that a few nasty comments in his final years negates 110 years (placing his four main tenures horizontally) worth of collections (which is fine) and then expect everyone else to happily have the same sense of dismissal (which is not so fine).
• Lots of the designers/guests (I don't know who calls the shots is terms of aesthetics) found themselves lost due the immense diversity of his work along with his overall customer-facing aesthetic (nothing overly avant-gardist, political or metaphysical in his work).
• Fendi and Chloé (once more) became shrinking violets to the GrAnD cHaNeL, despite the other two tenures being longer and possibly more inspiring. Karl≠Chanel. Lots of models and Karl-related icons found themselves cast aside in favour of more popular celebrities too.

 

[Deleted member 1957]

It felt like something was missing without many of the iconic women and even men that worked with Karl continuously. Claudia, Luna, the rest of the supers, the Chanel girls of the 2000s and 2010s,
Catherine Deneuve, Brad Kroenig, Heidi Mount, Vanessa Paradis, Lily Rose, Ines, Alek Wek, Coco Rocha, Audrey Tatou, Catherine Mcneil, Angella Lindvall, etc not sure if they were busy or maybe induistry politics but whatever it is, made it feel incomplete.The beauty of the MET gala used to be the mix of industry insiders with famous celebrities and everyone in between. Its now becoming more like another awards show, more about your social media status.

 

[Benn98]

In the end, I think it was wise for Fendi and Chloe not to go all out! Look at that red carpet - mainly tweeds and monochrome. And these looks were from designers who are all supposed to be more knowledgeable than you and I about Karl's tenure in fashion. I think it's this red carpet was more of a reflection of fashion right now. Unoriginal and lazy.

Fashion was always driven by ego (Karl himself is an extreme example of ego). The fact that the likes of Anna Mouglalis etc and his other muses didn't attend when they'd gladly make time for wine launches shows a clear animosity between Anna and them. I don't even think Brad Kroenig, Carine, or Glenda were there either and he was a regular contributor for US HB.
It's sad that the museum has now become Anna's pawn which means they lose out on insight and support from those who might actually be beneficial for the exhibition.

We were all wondering why Anna didn't do a splashy tribute in Vogue when he passed. An event like this, on paper, outweighs a 10-page tribute in a magazine. I say on paper because I think maybe 10% of celebrities who attended this event actually cared about Karl and what he represented for fashion. The rest just came to show off.
Knowing how far ahead galas are planned, I'm 100% certain that Vogue decided to center the MET around him when he passed.

Oh, at least she got Sebastien to attend!