Met Gala 2023: A Breakdown

In a rare show of force, this year’s Met Gala attendees met the 2023 theme with disarming alacrity. Hardly an outfit seemed out of place, though there were certainly a few get-ups which sought the cameras more so than others. The theme was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, an homage to the late, great Unkle Karl and his contributions to the fashion zeitgeist through the decades.  

Lagerfeld remained a force of nature in the fashion industry up until his death in 2019. He began his career apprenticing for Pierre Balmain, later making waves with his work at Fendi and Chloé in the 1970s. When he joined Chanel in the early eighties, the house had become stagnant, having never fully recovered from the death of Coco Chanel ten years prior.  

One of his first changes at Chanel was to revamp the Chanel silhouette, where the shoulders were padded out — à la the 1980s — along with shorter hemlines and higher heels. The sexification of the tweed suit, and playing with proportions in the ensuing decades, became one of Karl’s signatures which took centre stage every season.  

Sexy tweed and embellished suiting 

Many designers chose to let their imaginations run wild with Karl’s sexy tweed suits this year. Donatella Versace’s white, full-length, split-hem creation on Anne Hathaway called to mind the newly-skimpy tweed suits of the eighties and nineties, while Bella Ramsey and Kristen Stewart preferred a more androgynous take on the classic Chanel suit. The embellished tweed suits and slinky dresses of 80s and 90s Chanel saw playful iterations by Stella McCartney on Aubrey Plaza, Thom Browne on Janelle Monae, and Versace on, well, none other than Donatella herself.

Vintage Chanel haute couture  

Perhaps fewer in number but with equal fervour, designers also opted for the structured, voluminous silhouettes of vintage Chanel couture, from Ashley Graham wearing custom Harris Reed in a nod to Chanel’s Fall/Winter 1987 couture collection, to Kelsey Asbille Chow’s boxy red mini reminiscent of shapes from the early nineties. Janelle Monae’s cage dress by Thom Browne bring to mind the cage hats worn with embellished suits from decades past. On Kylie Jenner, Jean-Paul Gaultier delivered a masterclass on illusionary volume in the form of a fitted bright red dress lined in periwinkle satin. 

The camellia flower 

Chanel’s signature camellia flower motif seemed to be the most popular take, adorning bodies from as subtle as a single rosette topping off Lily James’ Tamara Ralph Couture leather ball gown, to full-on floral ensembles on Mary J. Blige in custom Burberry. The iconic singer was topped in rosette drama only by Rihanna, donning an enormous white Valentino cape and gown covered in the blooms in stunning tribute to Karl’s dramatic bridal looks.  

The Camellia flower motif was the favourite blossom of Coco Chanel, and has been a part of the house’s DNA since 1913. Though not technically a design element exclusive to Karl, the Camellia flower is almost synonymous with the house of Chanel, of which is almost synonymous with Karl Lagerfeld — sometimes, one plus one does equal three.  

The bride(s) 

Rihanna wasn’t the only one who chose to pay homage to Karl’s runway bridal looks. “The Bride” is the traditional closing look in haute couture shows. Karl’s brides took on countless identities and forms, ranging from over-the-top maximalist fabrics and embellishments, to trousered brides, to simply sending Devon Aoki down the runway in nothing but a parachute-like cape and pink, spiky hair.  

At the gala, the Big White Dress had many iterations. Taking the traditional route, Penelope Cruz chose a white gown and veil inspired by Chanel’s couture Spring/Summer 1988 collection. Maya Hawke opted for a modern take in white tights, a mini-dress and cape by Prada. Dua Lipa was on theme to a fine point in an archive nineties Chanel gown, but few could be more Chanel than Nicole Kidman that night, who showed up in the same feather-and-tulle gown that she wore in her iconic Chanel No.5 commercial.  

Karl himself 

There’s always Karl himself to draw inspiration from: his profile, black sunglasses, starched collar and fingerless gloves adorned with Chrome Hearts rings have become as iconic as the brand he helmed, perhaps even more so. From Cardi B’s CHENPENG black-and-white gown topped by the tell-tale starched collar, black tie and grey updo, to Dwayne Wade and Ke Huy Quan’s leather fingerless gloves, Unkle Karl’s personal style lives on. Jeremy Pope wore a custom Balmain cape made of over 5,000 metres of silk chiffon bearing Karl’s profile, paying homage to the late icon perhaps in both the most straightforward and indulgent ways possible. Pope is accompanied by Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, the one responsible for such a feat. Rousteing himself is dressed in a comparatively simple black suit, carrying a tote bag which read, “Karl Who?,” a call back to the bags Karl himself was seen carrying on several occasions in 2009. Meanwhile, Lily Collins and Vera Wang sported Wang’s gowns that simply say, “Karl.” Enough said.  

Choupette(s) and honourable mentions  

There are those who understood the assignment, and then there are those who understood the assignment, wrote an extra screenplay, then performed it in front of the class while forcing their classmates’ eyeballs open, Clockwork Orange-style. Every year without fail, there must be a select few, and Jared Leto is often amongst them. This year proves no different as Leto showed up in a full Choupette costume — he could have been working at Chanel’s version of Disneyland, if there ever was one.

Special mention in the Choupette department goes to: Lil Nas X, who wore more spray paint and bedazzlement than articles of clothing, along with Doja Cat, who gets extra credit for taking a page out of Jocelyn Wildestein’s book by wearing feline prosthetics and only answering interview questions in meows, natch. This year’s Billy Porter fringe-curtain moment belongs unremittingly to Erykah Badu in a silky fringe outfit that obscured her features so much, press wondered outright who she was. All this fabulous spectacle and yet still, nobody knows why David Byrne showed up with a bicycle. 

 (Image credit: Getty Images)