Victoria Beckham went the extra mile and created a unique shade of “faded rose” to match Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor’s skin tone. A first for Beckham, who has attended the Met Gala four times but never created a custom look for a star, VB’s atelier painstakingly stitched hundreds of hand-cut flowers onto tulle and archival lace to create an ethereal confection befitting a true English rose. SS Daley, too, enjoyed a bucolic Met first, with his pearl posy-peppered custom suit inspired by vintage British book covers for comedian Alex Edelman.
Not all of London’s capital crop ambled through the countryside for inspiration. The hand-embellished crystal daisy detailing with which Simone Rocha embellished her tulle-encased, corseted dress for the actor Eve Hewson was actually inspired by preserved garments, such as Queen Victoria’s mourning dress, which the Irish designer uncovered during the making of her bewitching autumn/winter 2024 collection. Incidentally, Chloë Sevigny chose Victorian “mourning hair” to offset her Dilara Findikoglu dress, which the CSM original crafted from repurposed Victorian fabrics to touch on the ideas of decay and rebirth. “Honestly, I’m still a little confused by the theme, but I am interpreting it in my own way,” shared Sevigny. Her collaboration with Findikoglu worked.
New York-born, honorary Brit Conner Ives – who swapped Central Park for Central Saint Martins in 2014 – also looked to the past, delving deep into China’s Qing dynasty for his look for Ivy Getty. The upcycling fanatic turned 300-year-old tapestries, featuring ornate peacock embroidery, into what his date called “just a gorgeous dress – no gimmicks”. Harris Reed borrowed hand-painted wallpaper scraps from Fromental for a sustainable demi-couture gown befitting Demi Moore.
London’s biggest design stars propping up Paris and Milan houses found further ways of weaving playfulness into Met Gala dress seams. Jonathan Anderson 3D-printed Charles James’s famous 1951 “Petal” ball gown onto a striking white silk Loewe dress for Ambika Mod using a trompe-l’œil technique. “It’s a dress displaying a dress in a way,” said the One Day actor of her “really, really cool” debut Met look. Fellow gala newcomer Raye, meanwhile, asked Kim Jones to fashion her a Fendi gown, featuring a “snatched” corset and a blooming silver skirt to make her feel “elegant and beautiful” on a somewhat intimidating night. (Sips of wine and a bossa nova playlist were Raye’s other tips for keeping pre-ball jitters at bay).
All this is before British vintage came out to play. With a sprinkling of Alexander McQueen – hello EmRata in Lee’s 1998 Givenchy sheer showgirl mini – and several wink-wink nods, such as Chloë Sevigny’s “Dynamic” 2000 i-D cover (referenced by Jawara Alleyne, whose custom look sadly never made the carpet) – the homegrown fashion contingent brought welcome grit to a red carpet where glamour reigns supreme. As Reed, who imagined his date Demi as a flower in a fleeting moment of full bloom before wilting, noted: it’s important to “represent the power that creativity has within the United Kingdom and remember that design is about dreams and fantasy and empowering people. Yes, it’s a business, but it needs to be art.”