At the Met Gala on Monday night, in and amongst the flower-covered gowns (Gigi Hadid, Jordan Roth), naked dresses (Emily Ratajkowski, JLo) and wet T-shirts (Doja Cat), a quiet champion was rising up through the ranks. The humble suit — often underestimated and overlooked — was this year reimagined ad infinitum.
Nods to the event’s dress code, JG Ballard’s 1962 short story “The Garden of Time,” came in all forms.
For Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and actor Nicholas Galitzine, who wore Burberry and Fendi respectively, embroidered flowers crept up jacket corners, discreetly sewn in matching thread. There were blooms-turned-bowties, as was the case with actors Jeremy Strong and Jonathan Bailey. Strong’s custom, all-white Loro Piana suit featured a subtle, white flower underpinning his high-collar; while Bailey’s hand-painted purple, white and gold peony (made from metal, “for someone who has extreme hay fever” he told Vogue) was courtesy of Loewe.
And there was a lot of Loewe. “Challengers” co-stars Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor were both spotted in the label — which was the film’s official outfitter and a part-sponsor of the Met Gala — wearing the brand’s distinctive quirky charm well. Faist was fastened with a crochet turnip brooch, a wink not only to the event’s horticultural theme but fashion’s appetite for fresh veg in general; while O’Connor paired his elongated tuxedo with a delightful pair of chintz clogs. Comedian Dan Levy’s now-you-see-them, now-you-don’t floral two-piece was another Loewe creation, as was “Fifty Shades” actor Jamie Dornan’s fuzzy take on the mourning suit.
A throng of male guests also reminded us of the stem-winding, masculine power of flowers.
Usher’s dark and brooding ensemble, designed by Seán McGirr for Alexander McQueen, included an enveloping cloak and dramatic bleeding rose (which Usher took full advantage of for the camera). Model Wisdom Kaye looked like a phoenix risen from the ashes in his romantic Robert Wun suit and overcoat, with protruding pleats and rose corsage singed to a crisp. Met Gala host, Bad Bunny, was one of the first to arrive onto the carpet in a custom Maison Margiela ensemble complete with shades, leather gloves and a blackened bouquet fashioned from the same fabric as his suit. Coleman Domingo similarly finished off his billowing Willy Chavarria suit with black-rimmed eyes and a drooping bunch of wistful white lilies.
But florals were just one avenue of interpretation for Ballard’s story. Set in an aristocrat’s Palladian villa, a handful of attendees chose to hone in on the idea of court dressing.
Barry Keoghan’s antiquated, velvet Burberry suit — complete with a satin necktie and top hat — featured not one, but three watches: Two on the wrist and one in the pocket, the latter made in the 1930s. Jeff Goldblum and his stylist Andrew Vottero also took cue’s directly from Ballard’s protagonist, Count Axel. “(Vottero) knew the story and devised this thing with Prada,” Goldblum told Vogue host Emma Chamberlain. The actor arrived in what looked like an opulent opera outfit, holding white gloves in one hand, wearing a trailing white scarf, necktie, boxy overcoat and a dazzling constellation of Tiffany brooches.
As always, a few stars miss — or dodge — the theme entirely, and menswear this year was no exception. Actor Taika Waititi made the case for a head-to-toe full leather suit, while Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne may have just debuted the first ever naked suit in a matching outfit with his wife.
But one thing is for certain, after last night, tailoring will never be the same again.