The Met Gala, a.k.a. fashion’s biggest night out, is right around the corner, which means we are about to be treated to a sartorial feast. Hosted annually on the first Monday of May, the Met Gala red carpet is the one place where anything goes—as long as it is in line with the theme, of course.
Over the years, the Met Gala has given us some of the most clever and theatrical outfits. Who can forget Zendaya‘s magical (well, sort of) Cinderella gown at the 2019 Met Gala (Camp: Notes on Fashion), Lady Gaga’s dramatic red carpet performance, Jared Leto carrying a replica of his own head and Kim Kardashian‘s “wet dress” that same year, Blake Lively‘s color-changing gown at the 2022 Met Gala (In America: An Anthology of Fashion), Rihanna’s papal-inspired Margiela moment at the 2018 Met Gala (Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination), Billie Eilish channeling Old Hollywood in Oscar de la Renta at the 2021 Met Gala (In America: A Lexicon of Fashion), Doja Cat’s feline prosthetics in 2023 (Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty), or Tyla’s Balmain sand dress in 2024 (Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion)?
While we wait in anticipation to see how global celebrities interpret the 2025 Met Gala theme, we are taking a journey through time, looking back at the most iconic Met Gala outfits of all time.
