Stars come out for Comme des Garçons at The Met Gala 2017
The most eagerly anticipated event in the fashion calendar is undoubtedly the Met Gala. The official inaugural celebration of the Metropolitan Museum’s annual Costume Institute exhibition, the ball has also become synonymous with the most adventurous and extravagant red carpet offerings.
Last night, the fashion world’s A-list stars and anyone else who’s anyone turned up at the New York institution to pay homage to the most revered disruptor of fashion, Rei Kawakubo.
The founder of cult label Comme des Garçons, Kawakubo is only the second living designer to be chosen as honouree of the exhibition after Yves Saint Laurent in 1983. Naturally, a dominant trend in the outfits seen at this year’s gala was the colour red, after Kawakubo famously announced that “red is black”. Only some were daring enough to experiment with Rei’s own designs, which play with traditional notions of the body and what is beautiful, therefore don’t often make an obvious red carpet choice.
We attend a sneak preview of the exhibition, entitled ‘Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of The In-Between’, during Paris Fashion Week in February. Hosts Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute, unveiled just a few of the 140 designs from Kawakubo’s 40 year career at the helm of Comme des Garçons that have changed the way we view the purpose of clothing, and gained her the reputation of the ‘designer’s designer’ (whether the ‘anti-fashion’ icon approves of this praise or not).
Take a look at some of the highlights from the red carpet below including, Rihanna, the muse/wife of Rick Owens, Michele Lamy and Pharell Williams with Helen Lasichanh all wearing Comme des Garçons.
- Priyanka Chopra
- Cassie & Sean “Diddy” Combs
- Jaden Smith
- Anna Wintour
- Rick Owens & Michele Lamy
- Rihanna
- Pharrell Williams & Helen Lasichanh