What do you think of when talking about the Met Gala?
A gathering of the most influential public figures or a flamboyant party where the top
fashion houses flaunt their sophisticated designs?
Well, the significance of this event goes way beyond that as in fact, this is a fundraising
event organized by The Costume Institute.
As its name suggests, to attend the event, one must pay, and pay a lot, to contribute
to the fund.
However, only fashion houses could purchase entrance tickets, whose price would range
from $20,000 to $30,000, and then, public figures could only attend if they were invited
and costume-sponsored by these brands.
That’s why it’s said that the Met Gala has surpassed Oscar fashion-wise and for years,
this has been undoubtedly the biggest party of the most prestigious celebrities on Earth.
As Kpop has just expanded its territory to the international market, meaning the influences
of Kpop stars are not proportionate to Western celebrities, their having the chance to attend
the Met Gala is one of the biggest milestones for idols.
That explains why each year, only one to two Kpop stars are invited to the party yet despite
belonging to the minority group in the most buoyant party of Hollywood, they have never
failed to impress people and make headlines.
Some are even assessed to have slayed the costumes’ theme way better than Western
artists and managed to be the topic of heavily polarized discussion.
Jennie (Met Gala 2023)
Swiftly hopping on the archive fashion trend, Jennie has recently made an impressive debut
at Met Gala with a design inherent in the 1990 Fall/Winter collection of Chanel.
Being an extremely influential muse who has single-handedly increased sales multiple folds
and helped Chanel sell out bloodily expensive items, it is no doubt that Jennie could have
picked whatever she wanted for this historic appearance.
Yet, to the surprise of everyone, she opted for a simple white pleated midi dress highlighted
by the signature Camellia flower.
While this might come across as basic, and boring to a certain extent, Jennie’s look
actually held significant implications through subtle yet profound details.
The first uniqueness of this dress, as mentioned earlier, is the origin of Chanel’s 1990
Fall Winter collection, not only making it the only version left of the design but also
a precious item that has been conscientiously preserved in Chanel’s archives for over
thirty years.
The second specialty comes down to her reincarnation of the almost identical styling from the 1990
runway by using the same pair of black gloves, black see-through tights, and the black choker.
However, as clever as Jennie is, she has spiced up the look with a twist of a South Korean
element, changing the black hairband to a braided hairstyle, which appears to be the
modernized version of the famous traditional hairstyle Eo'yeo Meori often worn by South
Korean ancient queens.
Still, opinions saying that her look was forgettable and unbearably boring remain popular.
According to netizens, as Karl Lagerfeld has been famous for the juxtaposing spirit embedded
in the iconic black suit and black glasses going hand in hand with the gender-fluid hairstyle
and eye-dazzling accessories, the fact that Jennie carried herself with such a predictable
and basic dress was disappointing.
Especially considering the context where most celebrities attending the event turned up
in their most flamboyant costumes, Jennie’s look appeared even duller when standing in
the same frame with them.
Jackson Wang (Met Gala 2023) Attending Met Gala 2023 along with Jennie,
Jackson Wang also received lots of attention and coincidentally, he was also met with heavily
inverse opinions from netizens about the outfit he wore.
Considering the theme “in honor of Karl,” obviously Jackson Wang perfectly served with
a powerful black suit accessorized by a pair of mysterious black glasses and black leather
gloves, a signature combo often seen at Karl Lagerfeld.
However, that didn’t make Jackson’s look predictable as besides paying a considerable
homage to Karl through the style embodiment, he also smartly glorified the significance
of Louis Vuitton through the iconic floral symbol on his vest. Jackson also spiced up
the look with his emo-gothic color through the juxtaposing hair and most creatively,
the subtle act helping increase the natural charisma without the need for many accessories:
his taking a sip before entering the event just as how he has been doing throughout his
concerts.
Yet, this was also the thing upsetting netizens as some believed he was being a bad model
for young fans and using alcohol as an excuse to cover up the basic and dull Met Gala outfit.
Especially when standing next to other stars, the outfit of Jackson made him look like an
ordinary staff member rather than a world-class star sponsored by Louis Vuitton.
Johnny Suh (Met Gala 2022)
Amid fans’ confusion as to why Johnny suddenly flew to the States without NCT127’s members,
he made a thrilling attendance at Met Gala 2022 and had everyone cue the confetti because
the occasion deserved it.
Growing up in the States watching his respected idols attending this event, Johnny said he
was extremely thrilled to be there in person and don a fun take on the party’s theme
Gilded Glamour.
In the mysteriously glamorous design of Peter Do, he was effortlessly glorified by an ultra-long
satin black tailcoat, which lowkey reminded people of overcoats often worn by kings, a
matching suit, and of course, sans shirt, to add the Johnny effect.
With this old-timey theme, Johnny and Peter Do also incorporated another subtle modern
twist: the white line running throughout the suits, breathing into the formal, extravagant
suit a sportswear spirit of the modern time.
However, compared his look to Western celebrities and the main theme essentially focused on
the Gilded Age, a 30-year period during which industrialists and real estate magnates saw
their fortunes ascend to staggering heights thanks to the rapid expansion of trains, factories,
and urban centers, thus making the outfits around this time fairly exuberant, Johnny’s
look was said to be rather underwhelming and off-topic.
Compared to other celebrities’ looks, some said his costume stood out to be even more
disappointing and considering how this was also his very first individual schedule in
his homeland, even fans weren’t happy about this.
Rosé (Met Gala 2021)
Being the very first BLACKPINK member to attend Met Gala in 2022, Rosé garnered lots of attention
for this precious opportunity.
Unfortunately, what made her the most talked-about name that night didn’t have much to do with
this title; but rather how she had turned up in an outfit attracting extremely polarized
opinions from netizens.
Attending Met Gala 2021 whose theme was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, which mightily
revolved around the States’ immense influence on the fashion world, Rosé marked her debut
with a design by Saint Laurent, the brand to which she has been a global ambassador
for years.
At first sight, it might be hard to tell the correlation between her look and Met Gala
2021’s theme but similar to how the true beauty often lies in the most subtle details,
Rosé’s dress actually paid tribute to this theme in the most delicate way.
Rather than going exuberant but predictable, Rosé opted for a little black dress, one
of the most influential items representing the social shifts during the 1930s in the
States.
Back in the day, “Little Black Dress'' intricately traced the bold curve of social history across
the 20th and 21st centuries, retaining its peak popularity throughout the Great Depression
thanks to sweetly bridging its ubiquity, versatility, and economy with the contemporary desire of
women for affordable yet elegant clothing.
Transcending the test of time, the Little Black Dress has become a symbol endlessly
appropriated and translated, making it part of American culture until this day.
Thanks to the profound yet subtle implication through the YSL’s dress, Rosé was assessed
by many critics to be among the top celebrities best portraying the event’s spirit.
Simultaneously, as the dress also complimented her figure, the slender shoulders and especially
the tiny ant-waist, the public in general also sent her lots of compliments for the
Met Gala debut.
This was most easily seen through how she quickly went viral on Twitter with a brief
appearance in a thirty-second-long video, which amounted to over five million views
in fewer than twenty-four hours.
Yet, as I’ve said, this simple dress was actually not that simple since it drew extremely
polarized reactions from netizens.
Asides from flattering words, Rosé also received lots of complaints saying that such a precious
opportunity was diluted since the dress was so forgettable.
Others said Rosé bored them out, again, for playing too safe just like the way she had
been carried herself throughout promotions of BLACKPINK, sticking to only things that
guaranteed her a good despite their being extremely uncreative.
CL (Met Gala 2021)
Attending the Met Gala at the same time with Rosé, CL interestingly received similarly
polarized waves of attention yet for the totally opposite reason to Rosé: some said her look
wisely portrayed the American spirit complimented by a soft kiss of Asian aura extremely well,
yet others believed her outfit was nothing but an unacceptably vulgar image and a devious
attempt to attract sensations for the sake of her her American dream.
Being invited by Alexander Wang, a fashion house that has been famous for the cool, grungy,
and utilitarian design which he describes as “models off-duty,” CL flaunts her badass
beauty in a majestic design that captures the best of both worlds: liberality from the
West and the subtleness from the East.
Thanks to the major use of denim for her exalted overcoat, the material stands as a daily staple
in both America’s history and ideology as well as holds a significant spot about the
American spirit: rugged individualism, informality and democratic respect for hard work, it wasn’t
hard to spot the tight correlation between CL’s costume and the theme of Met Gala 2021.
Layering this modernized gown outside a signature undergarment of Alexander Wang, which was
explained to be a staple of dinner parties in the States, CL perfectly captured the liberal
essence of the country without having to put on too much of a sophisticated outfit.
Some also said CL had vividly reminded them of the famous campaigns of Calvin Klein’s
“Denim and Undies” during the 1990s, which astoundingly succeeded in portraying the fashion
sense of the States.
What drew attention even more was how CL delicately made an emphasis on her Asian roots with an
outfit designed by an American fashion house for an American-themed fashion event.
The first subtle detail highlighting this spirit was her hime cut accompanied by the
simplified version of the traditional Japanese hairstyle often seen around the 1930s.
Then, her dress featured a strong spirit of South Korea as it reminded people of the country’s
traditional Hanbok, especially through the single-ribbon knot on the best.
Still, some weren’t happy with her attendance as they believed the outfit was unnecessarily
vulgar, especially when she intended to incorporate the elegant aura of the East into her costume
like that.
Others also didn’t like how CL seemed to push her reputation in the Western market,
which she had been trying in vain to conquer since 2016, through this contentious marketing
rather than by the power of her music.
So, how do you feel about the Met Gala costumes of these idols?
Which one do you think really exuded class at the Met Gala?
And why do you think they always dress more simply and lowkey compared to Western celebrities?