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The guest list was glittering. The theme was cultural. And the price tag? If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. But just in case: $75,000 a ticket, $350,000 a table. A record-breaking $31 million raised in a single night; a couture coup for the Costume Institute. With the tailored lapels and trailing cape, a social order came in the form of style cliques, design dynasties, and fashion feuds dressed in finery. The MET Gala may not call them tribes—but we will.
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Louis Vuitton
Pharrell and Lisa Williams came as a power couple: sharp, smooth, and eye-wateringly expensive. Zendaya played a runaway bride with a pristine white suit and one conspicuously timed ring. Doechii did logo-mania with wit, while Sabrina Carpenter cracked the whip in circus-core tailoring. Lisa has that megawatt LV aura, like she’s inheriting the empire. Maybe she will.
Thom Browne
Thom Browne ran a full campus. Zoe Saldaña was the head girl in a buttoned corset and a playful bow. Demi Moore came as the tie itself: knotted and neck-first. Angel Reese hit her Browne stride with athlete-as-fashion-plate confidence. Whoopi Goldberg shimmered under six figures’ worth of crystals, while Anok Yai redefined “gift-wrapped” in bows and opera gloves. Lorde and Walton Goggins made a case for the grayscale palette: deconstructed, androgynous, very tenure-track chic.
Chanel
Jennie brought trousers to the ball with an open-skirt surprise—pearls, hat, the works. Dua Lipa summoned Josephine Baker in cut-outs and fringe. Lupita Nyong’o swept the carpet in a cape fit for a queen. Whitney Peak, red in tweed, looked like the founder’s great-granddaughter who inherited the closet but skipped etiquette class. Coco would’ve loved it all.
Burberry
If these guests had a group chat, it would be titled “Proper but Unpredictable”. Jodie Turner-Smith’s Victorian leather and Cardi B’s cartoon-green suit had opposite zip codes on the style map but somehow still sat at the same table. Law Roach wore a wig that could host its own afterparty. Angela Bassett in blue is a lesson in stateliness with bite.
Valentino
Colman Domingo brought not one, but two looks and enough presence for five. Lana Del Rey wore a headdress with the solemnity of an oracle. Freen’s look was polite society in pink bow form. Dev Hynes kept it soft-spoken.
Swarovski
Alex Consani, Adut Akech, and Sora Choi were the primary colors of sparkle—yellow, pink, and blue—styled like the Charmed Ones reimagined for a grown-up, glitter-drenched fantasy.
Marc Jacobs
Whimsical in look, power in money. Doja Cat snarled in animal print. Tracee Ellis Ross wore a bow and pants that were all kinds of quirky. Rihanna—baby bump #3 in tow—was a late arrival with big energy.
Balmain
There are sharp objects, and then there are sharper guests. Rosalía wore white like it was her ultimate power color. Priyanka Chopra played peek-a-boo polka dots, and Jenna Ortega literally measured up in a ruler dress, serving geometry with a scowl.
Dior
If fashion had an honors section, this was the branch with a legacy. Anna Sawai wore a white suit with perfect posture. Monica Barbaro and Miranda Kerr came as Dior muses from alternate timelines—always proper, never passé.
Prada
This crew loves a wink. Sadie Sink turned up in black lace like she’d just fled the set of a gothic thriller. Maya Hawke went pastel and pensive. Hunter Schafer stacked tailoring like Russian dolls. Bad Bunny gave cultural nods, and Louis Partridge is full henchman cosplay, minus the crime.
They came, they posed, they pledged allegiance—to labels, legacies, and a little light drama. At this gala, tribes roamed like stlye clans, and fashion was weaponized, worshipped, and occasionally winked at. Superfine in theme, supercharged in meaning—this year’s MET rolled deep and dressed louder. In the end, it’s not what you wear, it’s who you wear it with.
Photos: LOUIS VUITTON, BURBERRY, DIOR, SWAROVSKI, VALENTINO, BALMAIN, PRADA, MARC JACOBS, CHANEL, and THOM BROWNE
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