i love art and i think it's such a a free range of expression and you can do whatever you want
within that space it just gives you that that's that freedom that space to be whatever you want
however you want and wear whatever you want the first monday in may is reserved for fashion's
biggest night a-list celebrities gather at the metropolitan museum for a night of charity and
fashion the event is said to be the oscars of the fashion world and designers and celebrities alike
spend months preparing the goal is to create a look that is tasteful and memorable and usually
a little bit avant-garde the met red carpet is the chance to be daring and take fashion risks
one might not normally take on a traditional red carpet fans hope to see their favorite
celebrities and iconic looks and many flock to social media to share their opinions live
fashion bloggers and journalists alike review the looks for days to come
the event is the perfect opportunity to pay homage to other cultures industries and areas of fashion
depending on each year's theme many celebrities have made themselves staples at the met gala
appearing year after year and teaming up with their favorite designers to top the previous
year's look but one celebrity has consistently wowed with her past few met gala looks showing his
time and time again that fashion truly is artistry she's gone from just an attendee to a fan favorite
at the event as well as a host and muse of luxury designers let's take a look at how rihanna became
the queen of the met gala officially the met gala is known as the metropolitan museum of art costume
institute benefit the met gala began in 1946 and has since grown into a larger than life event
the met gala is an annual fundraising event for the costume institute at the metropolitan
museum of art the event also inaugurates the new exhibition and theme for the year
nearly everyone who's anyone earns an invite to the med gala from singers actors entrepreneurs
and of course designers tickets are typically around thirty thousand dollars and tables go
for around two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars the proceeds go to the museum's costume
institute so aside from fashion the event also has charitable intentions at the event celebrities
enjoy dinner cocktails and are the first to see the costume institute's new exhibit they're also
allowed to peruse the museum many celebrities don't pay for their own tickets but are instead
invited to sit with other celebrities at a table purchased by a designer or brand this is usually
in exchange for the designer dressing a celebrity for the night especially if they have a previous
working relationship this is a popular tactic of designers from jeremy scott to donatella versace
anna wintour the chairwoman of the met gala as well as the editor-in-chief of vogue magazine
invites smaller designers who can't afford tickets to the events and network and hopefully make some
valuable connections over the years the met gala has gone from just a private star set at dinner
to an internationally trending topic each year the met gala is invite only and there's actually
a waiting list for celebrities who wish to attend the met only has around 600 people attend a year
and decisions are usually made based on a person's influence popularity and precedence in the fashion
world anna wintour and designers alike try to have the year's hottest celebrities at the event
which is beneficial all around for press this makes sense why as soon as rihanna's star
began to rise she became a much sought-after guest at many fashion events like the met gala
she now has the reputation as one of the event's heavy hitters and she effortlessly nails the theme
each year that she attends rihanna made her first manga appearance back in 2007
at the time she'd been around for a couple years due to her hates like pandey replay and umbrella
rihanna was just starting to break out as one of the leading pop artists of her time
she wore a white george chakra dress with her signature asymmetric bob the theme was poured
king of fashion for an event meant to honor such a prolific designer rihanna's look was pretty hush
her prom like white dress wasn't much to write home about and didn't necessarily fit the theme
her following two looks in 2009 and 2010 were still a little understated
her tux for the 2009 met gala match well with the edgier style rihanna took on during her rated r
era her look the following year was a little more feminine which fit well with her loud era
she wore a lacy stella mccartney dress styled with dangly earrings and a romantic red braid the
black color of the dress helped rihanna maintain a little bit of the edge she'd come to be known for
in 2012 and 2014 rihanna gave us these looks for the champarelli and prada themed event
and then for a night meant to honor charles james though rihanna has proven time and time
again she looks good in anything these looks are still a little bit boring they're all black or
white and lack interesting details beyond some texture and some nice jewelry here and there
though they're well made and well tailored they're far from the avant-garde conversation
sparking pieces rihanna later made her met signature they just seem uninspired
and like an effort to make rihanna look good rather than her actually lean into the theme
at the time rihanna's most notable met gala look was her white stella mccartney dress from 2014.
the gown consisted of two separate pieces a croc long sleeve top and a floor length skirt she
accessorized her outfit with louboutin heels and jewelry from brands like cartier from the messy
up due to the shoulder pads rihanna's look seems to be a modernization of 80s red carpet fashion
the construction of the dress gave her a sleek statuesque silhouette 2015 is the year when
rihanna showed the met gala she was officially one to watch the theme was china through the looking
glass rihanna's golden yellow ensemble had all eyes on her the couture gown and kate were the
work of chinese designer guope and took over two years to make rihanna had discovered the designer
while searching the internet for chinese couture designers the fur trimmed embroidered floral train
was so large it created distance from rihanna and everyone else further forcing her to be a
spectacle to be admired rihanna's look was easily one of the most loved and most talked about of
the night and to this day is still considered one of the most iconic looks from the met gala though
the theme was china rihanna was one of the only attendees to show off a look by a chinese designer
it's a long-fought debate as to whether guests should be forced to follow the met gala theme
and many times the theme is up to interpretation however when the theme is meant to celebrate a
culture it seems like a pretty simple thing to do to wear a look made by designer of that culture
especially in cases where the celebrity has some say in who they're wearing
though guope was a well-known designer for many chinese actresses she wasn't as well known in the
western world of fashion about the dress pay said the focus and the attention paid to this dress
will make it remember by the world what i want is to make them remember it is my responsibility to
let the world know china's tradition in past and to give the splendor of china a new expression
i hope that people do know chyna in this way the dress marks a shift in rihanna wearing a
more avant-garde artistry focused look to the met gala before she showed up in looks that would have
been passable for nearly any other red carpet as admittedly many artists do and still do today the
met gala 2 was beginning to shift into an event with a reputation for more over the top looks
though celebrities and designers have always aimed to weld them at gala there's an increasing desire
to go beyond designing traditional dresses and suits and create garments that are wearable art
the presence of social media brought the event to wider audiences and the increased publicity
definitely encouraged designers and celebrities to continuously outdo each previous year's looks
rihanna said that before the 2015 that gala she was nervous to go out on the red carpet
because she feared her look was too extreme in the end the look was a massive success it was met
with memes and rave reviews alike and it further elevated rihanna's reputation as a fashion icon
and of course the look had everyone waiting with baited breath to see how rihanna could possibly
top the look the next time she graced the net red carpet in 2017 rihanna stunned again at
the met in a floral come to garston look the outfit looked more like a collage of flower
petals than it did address and it was a perfect combination of sculpture and whimsy the design
was perfect to celebrate the theme of the art in between meant specifically to pay amaz to
ray kawakubo the designer of come to garcon the look came from the fall 2016 runway and
rihanna was once again praised for being one of the only attendees who adhered to the theme
instead of swallowing her up the architectural piece fit rihanna perfectly she balanced the look
off with a pair of strappy lace-up heels her pink eyeshadow and blush blended together to create a
beautiful dreamy garden fairy look on the singer rihanna proved that she wasn't afraid to step out
of the box when it came to the met gala but would still make sure her look fit the theme her dress
showed that she and her team understood fashion wasn't just about looking pretty
but about pushing boundaries and putting artistry and vision on display instead of playing it safe
rihanna showcased the flexibilities of fashion and design rihanna's met dress was featured on display
as part of the exhibit and many felt that it was a worthy contender for her previous met gala look
it was this look that started buzz around naming rihanna the met gala's next queen though she'd
wowed two years before her 2017 look was proof that it wasn't just a fluke rihanna was slowly
but surely becoming a netgala fixture in 2018 rihanna was rewarded for impeccable fashion looks
she was no stranger to the met gala by this point having attended seven times and performed twice
this year she would co-host the event with amal clooney and donatella versace
she was hand-picked by anna wintour herself to put on the event alongside other met gala royalty
the theme was heavenly bodies fashion and the catholic imagination the red carpet looks were
inspired by all aspects of catholicism with modern fashionable twists the exhibition would
combine catholicism-inspired looks by designers like chanel with actual papal garments some of
which had never left the vatican this is honestly one of my favorite met galas ever because almost
all of the looks are on point i think the theme being less ambiguous and more familiar definitely
helped the attendees dress to the theme and we got some really amazing looks out of it though many
celebrities drew their inspiration from angels and saints rihanna took her inspiration from the
leader of catholicism himself her jewel-studded pope inspired outfit was a subtle nod to rihanna's
place as one of the leaders of the biggest night in fashion she accessorized again with the cartier
louboutin combination the outfit itself was marzilla who rihanna wore for the first time to
the met the dress cape and papal headpiece were accented with an onslaught of silver and black
jewels the intricate designs were mostly done with pearls quite literally making round on pier
as a heavenly body the ensemble required over 500 hours of hand embroidery though somewhere offended
by the look most considered it to be another bullseye rihanna was three for three for her
most recent met gala looks and even the met itself had recognized her for it rihanna wouldn't appear
at the met gala again for nearly three years she was absent from 2019's camp themed event
the met gala unfortunately didn't take place in 2020 for obvious reasons rihanna finally returned
to the met gala in 2021 for part one of the two-part american themed event it was the costume
institute's first two-part exhibition part one took place in september 2021 the theme was in
america a lexicon of fashion most interpreted the theme by either wearing an american designer
or having their attire make a reference to the united states many others attempted to pay a maja
old hollywood i didn't really enjoy this met gala a lot it seemed like everyone kind of just wore
what they wanted and a lot of the looks were kind of just boring interpretations of american fashion
i thought it would have been cool to see more looks take on more subcultures of american fashion
rather than going for looks that were just broadly and stereotypically american
rihanna was one of the last to arrive on the met red carpet leaving fans to anxiously await
her look if she was coming at all the last time rihanna had attended the met gala she was the
host and was dressed as god's representation on earth at last rihanna arrived on the red carpet
with her partner asap rocky they were the last couple to hit the carpet surprisingly rihanna
were balenciaga a spanish label based in france rather than an american designer
in her past mets rihanna had worn a designer of the same nationality as the theme to her credit
balenciaga has become extremely popular amongst americans especially in the footwear departments
american icons like kim kardashian have recently made balenciaga one of their go-to designers
so i still can see the american connection there a little bit the former met gala co-chaired wowed
in a black coat dress accessorized with a diamond line beanie the dress had a dramatic puffed collar
that framed her face the voluminous dress seemed to be a play on a cold weather staple a beanie and
a puffer jacket complete with pockets the outfit made references to black american hip hop culture
as oversized jackets and beanies were popular attire in the 2000s tell us about the black women
that inspired this look tonight well i wanted a look that seemed very powerful yet feminine we
had like a black hoodie which is the thing that we're usually incriminated by is black people
and um i wanted to empower that i wanted to take it and make it mine and make it fashion
like her other looks the outfit is sculptural and plays with proportion a lot of people call
this look boring but i really like it i think the beauty is in a lot of the details like the lining
of the beanie the snap pockets on the dress and the fact that it's actually lined with a zipper
like an actual coat this is an interpretation of american fashion with an elevated artistic spin on
it it's american street style for the red carpet and it's a perfect way to be creative yet on theme
it still just saddens me a little bit that it wasn't made by an american designer her
look was praised and seen as a suitable follow-up to her heavenly body's met look one of the best
things about rihanna's met looks is that they're always extremely different she steps out of the
box in a different way each year which shows a true desire to push the envelope yet honor the
theme at the same time rihanna's not coming to the met gala to look pretty and have her picture taken
but to promote fashion as an artistic medium meant to be celebrated rihanna's superpower lies in
putting a clear yet innovative interpretation on the met theme each year when she started dressing
more obviously to the theme her looks became more outstanding more daring and more memorable
rihanna's charisma and confidence also helps her carry a lot of these looks you can tell rihanna's
continued participation in the net gallow is because she truly enjoys the artistry of fashion
and isn't coming just for the attention she really likes to pay tribute to the designers in the theme
and the fashion industry itself she consistently teams up with designers who have a strong artistic
vision and plan to honor the sanctity of fashion this true dedication to fashion is part of what
makes rihanna's look so creative she goes for the furthest look possible from conventional unlike so
many other met attendees rihanna's goal isn't to be sexy but to showcase a memorable piece of art
and that really captures the essence of the met gala as rihanna's star and
empires have grown she's become even more of a fashion icon apart from the met she's gained
attention for her looks on various other red carpets as well as for her bold street style
the popular phrase is ugly until rihanna decides it's not further proves rihanna's fashion icon
status she's since entered the fashion and beauty roles herself with fancy beauty and savage x fancy
and i think a lot of rihanna's success in the fashion world also boils down to her strong
bad girl persona it's a creative dream to dress someone with such a distinct edgy persona who has
the power to not be overpowered by even some of the boldest looks 2022's met gala will mark part
2 of the american fashion exhibit this year's theme is in america and anthology of fashion
since rihanna's baby is due at any minute now i'm not sure if she'll attend though rihanna's been no
stranger to amazing pregnancy fashion in the past couple months she's well into her third trimester
at this point and she's currently in barbados it's unlikely that rihanna will attend the 2022
met gala no matter how exciting it would be to see her incorporate her pregnancy into her look but
still i guess we'll see as she hasn't officially confirmed or denied yet regardless i'm sure we'll
get many more iconic looks from the met gala queen and maybe even her daughter in the future down in
the comments let me know your favorite rihanna met gala look or your favorite met gala look in
general i can't wait to see what the met brings on monday and what everyone brings to the table i'm
super excited to enjoy all of the looks thank you guys so much for watching be sure to like comment
and subscribe and i will be sure to see you guys in my next video thank you for watching bye