Along with elegant styles on display at Monday's Met Gala were looks that seemed designed to shock.
Lil Nas X made an audacious impression by wearing a metallic thong that was complemented with silver paint that covered his entire body. Crystals and jewels adorned to the rapper's skin, as well as a matching eye mask, completed his sparkling appearance.
Doja Cat, appropriately enough, came to the gala dressed as a cat. The rapper/singer was outfitted in a striking Oscar de la Renta dress, which included a hood with cat ears. She complemented the look with feline-like prosthetics.
Actor Jared Leto was less subtle than Doja and wore a full, fluffy cat suit.
"Lil Nas X and Doja Cat are the future," wrote one gala viewer on Twitter.
Monday was Doja Cat's first time attending the Met Gala, and she did technically adhere to the event's dress code.
The annual gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is held to mark the Costume Institute's coming exhibition. This year's exhibition will celebrate the storied career of Karl Lagerfeld, the German designer who died in 2019. As such, the Met Gala dress code this year was simply stated as "in honor of Karl."
According to Vogue, Doja Cat was dressed at Lagerfeld's beloved white cat, Choupette.
"It makes no sense for anyone to go as Karl's cat more than Doja Cat," Brett Alan Nelson, Doja Cat's creative director and stylist, told Vogue.
Leto also paid homage to Choupette and was likely thankful for the crisp weather in New York City. (He did remove the heavy cat costume to show he was wearing a flowing black ensemble.)
Assuming Lagerfeld didn't own any metallic pets, Lil Nas X went out on a limb with his look. Of course, the musician is no stranger to controversial fashion. In 2021, he notoriously collaborated with the Brooklyn art collective MSCHF on "Satan Shoes," a pair of sneakers that came with a vial of human blood.
The same year that he released the sneakers, the rapper attended the Met Gala in a look designed by Donatella Versace. The outfit began with an oversized cape, which was shed to reveal golden armor. That suit was then removed for a gold sequined bodysuit underneath.
While many social media users delighted in the cat costumes and metallic thongs, the looks were derided by some on Twitter.
TY from Couture is Beyond, a popular voice in fashion who can be found on Instagram and Twitter with the handle @coutureisbeyond, thought the fashion choices by Lil Nas X, Doja Cat and Leto went too far.
"I think they're doing too much. A lot of people get caught up in trying to fit the theme. Like Tom Ford said, 'It's not a costume party, it's a gala,'" TY said. "They should be dressed in black tie. It's a fundraising event for a fashion exhibit, and people should be dressed appropriately."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
