It’s funny: only a few years ago, all anyone wanted to do on the red carpet was look thin, young, and glamorous. But now, because fashion and politics have become so entangled, and because of the evolution of celebrity stylists into image architects who are practically celebrities themselves, mere handsomeness has gone out the window. Celebrities are now willing to go there, and at the Met Gala last night, they did: there was Kim Kardashian brilliantly sheathed in black by Balenciaga, which turned the most visible and overexposed woman in the history of the world into a giant void. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress designed by Aurora James, of Brother Vellies, that read “Tax the Rich” on the back, which caused a spiral of outrage and confusion online that seemed somewhat silly by Tuesday afternoon, when President Biden tweeted that “It’s time the super-wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes.” Why is it so hard for us to square AOC’s progressive politics with her interest in fashion and style? She has made it pretty clear that she is not calling for a world of austerity but rather one that focuses on access—access to healthcare as well as glamour and beauty. (Even the Soviets had perfume, after all!) If anything, the head scratcher is that the dress hewed closer to camp, the theme of 2019’s gala and exhibition, than to this year’s stated expression of the American fashion lexicon.
That theme seemed to coincide with a lower average age of attendee, and also of the designers represented. Emily Adams Bode made the case for American craftsmanship, dressing Lorde in white silk draped with coins and trinkets, and Tyler Mitchell in a red silk suit with slightly bowed shawl collar lapels. Eli Russell Linnetz dressed A$AP Rocky in a parachute quilt cape and a shrunken tuxedo. Probably the most exciting thing about this year’s theme and exhibition is that it will open museum visitors’ eyes to the myriad talented young designers working in America today: ERL and Bode are in the exhibition, as are brands like Eckhaus Latta. The fashion industry tends to frame American fashion as inferior to European, but more ripe for disruption, I think, is the fact that Americans themselves tend to think of fashion and style as frivolous, or at least pointless. (We are very self-centered, and yet abhor vanity.) It’s fun to think about a museum visitor or celebrity style hound looking at all this work, on the red carpet or in the show, and discovering a whole new universe of fashion.
Let’s go back to that shrunken tux on Rocky. The red carpet is a tough thing to have fun with for men—how do you tweak a suit, after all? Any novelties seem to disrupt the garment’s essential modernist perfection. Russell Westbrook managed, though, in a dusty blue Ralph Lauren tuxedo and matching sapphires, plus coordinating hair. But a few other men did something fantastic with their tailoring proportions: gone was the skinny suit that has been the red carpet standard, and in its place was...your worst rental tuxedo. One of these looks came courtesy of Balenciaga, who dressed Elliot Page in a suit from Demna Gvasalia’s debut couture show last July, and another came from Justin Bieber, who wore his brand Maison Drew. Page had a carnation in the lapel of his slightly oversized jacket, a nod to Oscar Wilde as a queer icon that also drummed up sweet reveries about the great American prom, and Bieber’s pants were too big while his jacket was too small.
These were great suits for a few reasons. First of all, every American guy has been there in some way—the suit is actually the nightmare of American fashion, because it embodies all the pain and pleasure of masculinity, in that it’s so hard (but so rewarding!) to find one that’s reasonably priced and fits nicely. Rocky’s better-but-still-oddly-fitting suit was nice, too: short in the sleeve to show off a big righteous ruffled cuff, and the quilt was a nod to his cozy boy attitude. It also coordinated perfectly with Rihanna’s Balenciaga couture cape, and the image of them together suggested that America’s hottest couple managed to roll out of bed to come to this gala thing. What makes this experimental tailoring transcend mere gimmickry—the kind of fashion victim trick that haters love to hate—is that these are actually complexly tailored garments designed to artfully echo vernacular fashion. Apologies to Savile Row, but it’s way harder to make a suit not fit in just the right way than it is to make one fit perfectly.
Between Kardashian, Bieber, and Isabelle Huppert, Balenciaga ruled the night—no brand has a savvier understanding of the performance art that is contemporary celebrity. And everyone wearing Thom Browne seemed to be enjoying themselves, too, which is one of the things we often forget about fashion. Pete Davidson grinning in his dress, Evan Mock wearing a gimp mask, and Lil Uzi punking out in his skirt: style is comfort, but fashion is about pleasure.
This story has been updated.
