On Saturday, New York's #Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute bowed down to worship the work of edgy rule breaking fashion legend #Rei Kawakubo, the designer whose work follows a language of asymmetry and angularity.
In the last few years guests at the Met Gala have taken the themes very seriously, but this year the Rei Kawakubo focus was an invitation for guests to find their inner freaks.
The garments the star-studded #celebrity guests chose to don were as far-reaching as the planets, as inner freaks were celebrated and alter egos were donned in a festive and conceptual night of fashion, design and celebrity.
The world was also treated to gothic style wedding gowns, dresses that appeared to have been made from scrap metal and jackets from pip cleaners.
Model #Cara Delevigne wore a thick coating of glittery silver paint on her newly shaved hair and a metallic pantsuit from #Chanel that gave her the look of an alien in an office suit. She has been teasing the world about shaving her head in the past few weeks, and tonight's do was the culmination of many days of waiting to see her without her tresses.
Vogue editor Anna Wintour – the lady behind the studious vetting and pairing of the whole night, and in fact from the whole fashion season – arrived wearing a metallic gown from Chanel too, as did Johnny Depp's daughter #Lily Rose.
#Katy Perry came enclosed in a dramatic red dress by John Galliano for Maison Martin Margiela that gave her the look of a gothic bride dipped in tomato ketchup – or perhaps blood. Nicki Minaj looked similarly gothic, with her caped red and black dress that was designed with H&M.
This year’s co-host, #Pharrell Williams brought this wife Helen Lasichanh enclosed in a dazzling tomato red Comme des Garçons gown that didn’t have any arms.
Pharrell Williams, meanwhile wore ripped jeans and a plaid jacket that was more simple in execution and concept. He described his style focus for the night as 'Weekend at Bernie’s' with a touch of humor.
Super models come out of the woodwork
#Kendall Jenner, meanwhile, climbed the stairs at 8pm clad in a sexy La Perla gown that featured pretty much the contents beneath it, with her svelte figure and her sultry expression attesting to her reputation as the world's hottest model.
Feminist writer and director #Lena Dunham and stellar #Girls producer Jenni Konner wore a matching set of plum purple gowns from Elizabeth Kennedy. Dunhams' was one shouldered and featured red and black checks as well as a subtle Panned Parenthood pin beneath its ruffle. Konner wore a puff-sleeved burgundy column dress and the two chose the matching look as a nod to past Comme Des Garcons collections that have featured garments that come attached so that two people must wear them together. “We really took the theme to heart,” Ms. Dunham told the media on the stairway as she crept up it step by step. “We even forced Ms. Wintour to weigh in.”
The #Met Gala is Vogue magazine’s biggest branding opportunity of the entire year, and it raises money for the Metropolitan museum of Art's Costume Institute – in fact, this money comprises the center’s whole budget.
For this reason many celebrities were paired with designers by the magazine and many went with the designers too.
Hot celebrities and designer dates
And each major celebrity brought with them an elite fashion date, in the form of a hot designer.
#Kerry Washington came with Michael Kors wearing one of his grand gowns, as Jennifer Lopez swept in to the night in a soft blue Valentino dress, bringing with her, Alex Rodriguez, her new man and also Valentino himself. The company’s new designer, Pierpaolo Piccioli, arrived not long after with an Oscar-nominated actor from the movie Love called Ruth Negga.
