The artworks behind this year’s Met Gala looks

Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Claire Foy, Julianne Moore and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (centre)

Mrs Bezos was one of three celebrities to wear a gown based on the one worn by Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau in John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (1833-84). Her gown was a custom creation by Daniel Roseberry of Schiaparelli.

Once dubbed the world’s most scandalous painting, Madame X intended to convey Gautreau’s daring style, with one jewelled shoulder strap slipping off. The painting was not well received, however, so Sargent repainted the strap atop the shoulder before selling the painting to the Met. He also asked that the museum conceal the sitter’s name to prevent further reputational damage, hence the title Madame X.

Version two was from Claire Foy, who looked like a work of art in her Erdem gown. It was given depth and drama by a sheer black face covering, and completed by a custom Erdem x Barbour opera coat.

Version three of the Madame X gown came courtesy of Julianne Moore, who wore a gown by Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta. This iteration also had a fallen strap, twisted to expose a contrasting ivory lining. Moore’s look was completed by a voluminous black feather cape, draped across her forearms.

Confirming her status as the woman of the night, Madame X was also the inspiration behind Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s Burberry look. In lieu of jewelled straps, the model wore an elaborate jewelled collar. Her gown was set apart by a sheer panel lending a demure edge to the split in her skirt. 

Heidi Klum as the Veiled Vestal

As evidenced by her annual Halloween party, Heidi Klum loves a bit of fancy dress, and seized this opportunity to attend the Met Gala as the Veiled Vestal, an 1847 sculpture by Raffaelle Monti. Her look was created by Mike Marino, a prosthetics designer who has worked with Klum on creations before. Was this a bit too literal? Perhaps. But it made an impact.

Kendall Jenner as the Winged Victory of Samothrace

Kendall Jenner’s gown, a custom creation by Gap’s Zac Posen, was a more fashion take on sculpture than Klum’s look. 

Madonna (and friends) as the Temptation of Saint Anthony

Madonna’s Saint Laurent look was a 3D interpretation of the Temptation of Saint Anthony by Leonora Carrington, a British-Mexican surrealist. 

The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Leonora Carrington

It was executed in the most literal way, with a headpiece in the shape of a black ship, from which fell a dove grey train. It even included an entourage of assistants to carry the train, as seen in the 1945 painting (pictured here).

Gracie Abrams as Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer

For Gracie Abrams, Chanel’s Matthieu Blazy took inspiration from Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907).

Klimt was known for his use of gold, so that was the predominant hue of Abrams’ gown. The embroidery took a clear lead from the painting, but the resulting gown was a masterpiece in its own right.

Hunter Schafer as Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi

Euphoria star Hunter Schafer also looked to Klimt – her Prada gown was inspired by the portrait of nine-year-old Mäda Primavesi (1912-13), part of the Met collection. Primavesi wears a dress made for her by Klimt’s close friend Emilie Flöge.

The Italian house took inspiration from Flöge’s design with its roses across the chest, but also the palette of the painting, translating the background flowers into a printed, flowing skirt. The homage was completed by a blue-grey bow in Schafer’s hair.

Kylie Jenner as Venus de Milo

It’s a bold move to dress as the 100-150 BC Venus de Milo statue, as Kylie Jenner did. Of course she had Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry in her corner, who created a naked-look bustier, with a gown that looked like it was falling off her. 

Venus Williams as herself

As a co-chair of the gala, Venus Williams had to go all out – and she did, referencing a painting of herself by rising Black artist Robert Pruitt. The 2022 work shows two sides of Williams: the tennis player, wearing the Wimbledon trophy dish as a neck-piece, and the other, inspired by a selfie, with swirls of beaded hair as she once wore on court.

The latter look was interpreted into an evening gown by Swarovski, the athleisure replaced by a shimmering black ballgown.

Kim Kardashian in a breastplate by Allen Jones

The British pop artist Allen Jones was tasked with making Kim Kardashian’s orange breastplate. It’s typical of Jones’ work and echoes a full-body version in which he painted Kate Moss in 2013.  

The breastplate worn by Kardashian was not based on her own body. Instead Jones repurposed a cast from the late 1960s. The leather skirt was made by ‘pop artisans’ duo Patrick Whitaker and Keir Malem.

Hailey Bieber in Saint Laurent

Hailey Bieber also jumped onto the breastplate bandwagon in her gold and cobalt Saint Laurent gown. For her, Vaccarello’s reference point was Yves Saint Laurent’s autumn/winter 1969 couture collection, which was created in collaboration with French sculptor Claude Lalanne.

Beyoncé as Caroline Durieux’s Visitor

Beyoncé worked with Olivier Rousteing, former creative director of Balmain, on this sparking skeleton dress inspired by Black American artist Caroline Durieux’s Visitor, a crayon lithograph made in 1944. The artist was from New Orleans, Louisiana, where Beyonce’s parents have deep roots.

Durieux was inspired to create it at a party attended by a number of soldiers. It suggests that death was waiting at the door for any number of them. 

Rosé as Georges Braque’s the Birds

The bird adornment on Rosé’s black Saint Laurent gown is borrowed from Georges Braque’s 1952-53 painting, the Birds, which is on a ceiling at the Louvre in Paris. 

In fact, Yves Saint Laurent himself used the same bird silhouette several times in his work, adding another layer of storytelling in this look. 

Rachel Zegler as Paul Delaroche’s the Execution of Lady Jane Grey

Rachel Zegler’s Prabal Gurung gown has a dark inspiration: Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. The 1833 painting depicts the 17-year-old, who was Queen of England for just nine days, wearing just her undergarments in the moments before her death. 

Zegler’s gown nods to the laced-up bodice and blindfold, albeit a sheer one so she could actually navigate that Met staircase. 

Sabrina Carpenter as Sabrina

Sabrina Carpenter’s look makes a case for film as art, in a Dior gown crafted from film negatives of the 1954 Audrey Hepburn classic Sabrina. It was completed by a jewelled headpiece which included a central pendant featuring the title card for Sabrina. 

Sabrina Carpenter as Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe

Sabrina Carpenter wore a spring/summer 2018 Versace dress to perform to Met Gala guests. The look paid tribute to both Andy Warhol, and to the late Gianni Versace. 

Donatella Versace said on Instagram that the ‘Tribute’ dress “reimagines my brother’s ‘91 Pop Art collection, featuring Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.”

Charli XCX as Van Gogh’s Irises

Charli XCX referenced Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises in her Saint Laurent gown. The painting was the inspiration for Yves Saint Lauren’s spring/summer 1988 collection, in which he recreated the painting in embroidery on the back of a jacket. 

Current creative director Anthony Vaccarello paid homage to both Van Gogh and Saint Laurent by adorning Charli’s dress with a resin 3D iris. 

Ben Platt as Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Broadway star Ben Platt wore a Tanner Fletcher suit that paid homage to Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884), a painting which features in the Met Costume Institute exhibit. The label said of the design, “[It] took over 120 hours of hand painting, embroidering and beading on silk wool.”

The look is a musical theatre homage too - the painting was the inspiration for the Broadway show A Sunday in the Park with George.

Alexa Chung as Monet’s Water Lilies

When Jonathan Anderson sent water lily adornments down the catwalk at his last Dior show, it was only a matter of time before someone claimed the theme – and Monet’s Water Lilies series – as their Met Gala look. That lucky someone was Alexa Chung, who wore a chartreuse gown with a water lily brooch pinned at the hip. 

It was completed by a crochet cyclamen headpiece (it looked like earrings) inspired by the blooms sent to by John Galliano to Anderson after he took up his post at Dior.

Ashley Graham as Hestia

The supermodel worked with Greek label Di Petsa on her look, which took inspiration from the Statue of Hestia, the Greek goddess of the hearth and home. 

Graham was hand-sewn into the beige mesh dress, creating a second-skin look resembling delicate scales. Her dipped chrome fingers paid homage to the sculptors who created the museum’s exhibits.

Emma Chamberlain in Mugler

The influencer’s custom Mugler gown was an homage to painting – references included Van Gogh (his Two Peasant Women Digging in Field with Snow, 1880, pictured right) and Edvard Munch. 

The gown was designed by Mugler creative director Castro Freitas and hand-painted by artist Anna Deller-Yee. The fringed sleeves look like poured paint, and the skirt is a pool of colour.