Sandra‘s Closet

This year’s Met Gala, which celebrated the exhibition «Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,» featured plenty of full-on tributes to designer Karl Lagerfeld. From vintage designs by Karl himself to perfect tributes from rival fashion houses and paws-itively incredible Choupette interpretations, there was much to enjoy at this year’s fashion Oscars.

Always taking place on the first Monday in May, the red carpet was filled with A-listers in mostly monochrome black and white looks, with lots of references to the Camellia, plenty of pearls, a touch of tweed and thousands upon thousands of crystal embellishments. Below, I round up my favourite looks from the 2023 Met Gala with a little description why I liked them.

REFERENCES TO THE CAMELLIA

Rihanna in Valentino Haute Couture

My winner! Rihanna is always one of the best dressed Met Gala guests and she did not disappoint for 2023. A nod to the iconic CHANEL flower, Rihanna, who is pregnant and was joined by partner A$AP Rocky, chose a camellia-appliquéd cape and matching gown, both by Valentino Haute Couture.

Bad Bunny in Jacquemus

Personally speaking the strongest menswear look of the night was worn by the «Tití Me Preguntó» rapper, whose all-white Jacquemus ensemble included an ultra long floral train. Inside the jacket was a custom printed picture of Casa Malaparte taken by Lagerfeld in 1997, a nod to the designer’s photography work.

VINTAGE CHANEL

Nicole Kidman in vintage CHANEL

Telling a story with your ensemble can be beautiful, and Nicole Kidman did it by wearing the CHANEL couture gown that she had first worn in 2004 when she starred in the iconic CHANEL No. 5 fragrance advert directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Naomi Campbell in vintage CHANEL

Another Nineties supermodel Naomi Campbell nodded to Karl Lagerfeld by looking stunningly in one of his own creations, a pink satin gown with bejewelled details from CHANEL’s S/S 2010 couture collection.

Dua Lipa in CHANEL Haute Couture

The gala co-chair turned heads in a tweed CHANEL Haute Couture ballgown from 1992, that she combined with a breathtaking Tiffany & Co. set, comprised of a necklace in platinum with a diamond of over 200 carats and diamonds and a ring in platinum with diamonds of over 9 total carats. The primary diamond of this necklace was cut in the proportions of the famed Tiffany Diamond.

CREATIONS INSPIRED BY KARL LAGERFELD’S AESTHETIC FROM OTHER FASHION HOUSES

Kim Kardashian in Schiaparelli

I love this look! Kim Kardashian wore a heavily beaded custom Schiaparelli dress with thousands of pearls draped over her.

Anne Hathaway in Versace

The actress showed up in a floor-length, monochrome, tweed (a nod to CHANEL) gown, complete with Versace safety pins holding it all together. Call it CHASACE – the perfect mishmash of Versace and CHANEL.

Eddie Redmayne in Alexander McQueen

To honour the late Lagerfeld, the British actor opted for classic tailoring, but with a twist and might have set the start for a multi-brooch trend.

THE DESIGNERS WITH THE MOST KILLER LOOKS

Janelle Monáe in Thom Browne

Leave it to Them Browne for the most theatrical fashion moment at the Met Gala 2023. «Glass Onion» star Janelle Monáe wore a supersized version of CHANEL’s classic tweed jacket. Later it was followed by a high-fashion striptease, that revealed a sheer conical wireframe gown atop a black sequined, pearl-studded bikini.

Jenna Ortega in Thom Browne

With its corseted bodice, ruffled skirt and draped chains, inspired by those iconic CHANEL details, the «Wednesday» actress was half goth, and half glam, and definitely an eye-catcher.

Cardi B in Thom Browne

Another camellia reference, Cardi B nailed this trend in this billowing gown that was also inspired by Karl Lagerfeld’s personal uniform.

CHOUPETTE LOVERS

Doja Cat in Oscar de la Renta

The great tribute to Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette came from Doja Cat, who wore a custom made embellished gown by Oscar de la Renta, that she topped off with cat ears on the hood, a prosthetic cat nose and claw-like nails.

Jared Leto

Telling the best tale (tail) of the night, Leto decided to pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld’s famous Birman cat, Choupette, in a full cat costume, worth a Disney movie appearance.  However, after unmasking, he transformed into an all-black ensemble and a matching cape featuring an ornate detailing around the neckline and shoulders.

I am curious to hear which one was your favorite!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of the Brands, Getty Images #ALineOfBeauty
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Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t forget that this week on the 6th of November the Alexander Wang x H&M collection will hit the stores. To get you in the shopping mood, I would love to show you all the impressions of the amazing launch event that took place at the Armory on the Hudson, an indoor track and field stadium in New York City Mid October. When H&M celebrates a designer collaboration, it means that VIP’s from the worlds of entertainment, fashion, and Hollywood, follow the invitation with pleasure. This year, I spotted for example Jessica Chastain, Dakota Fanning, Justin Theroux, Mary J Blige, Kate Mara and many more.

H&M approached Wang a year and a half ago, and the designer immediately knew he wanted to take things in a different direction than anything they’d tried in the past. “They’ve done such an incredible job with the previous projects, everything from Versace and the archival Margiela,” he said. “But the approach had to be different for this one, both for me and for H&M.”

Alexander Wang is the first American to partner with the company whose designer collaboration program is in its tenth year. He mixed sports and performance for everyday life by capturing the speed of the city. Using technical details and functional fabrics, Wang created the perfect versatile performance wear wardrobe for both, men and women, a collection to be worn on the street, in the gym, at the club – the way we live our lives today.

After a men’s and women’s full speed runway fashion show, the doors of a pop-up store opened where we could shop the collection first hand (click here to see what I got myself). The evening culminated when Sharaya came on stage as the opening act before the rare performance by Missy Elliott took place. She was so fantastic that even Alexander Wang, who had said earlier during the press conference that he doesn’t do sports, jumped on stage and danced crazily to her vibes. The party continued with music by DJ’s Diplo and Jesse Marco. It was again one of those magic nights with a gazillion of highlights that I will treasure forever.

Let me show you more impressions of that fantastic event:

Me arriving at the event location in a Moschino S/S 2015 look (the outfit post will come up tomorrow).

Dakota Fanning rushing to her seat.

The Armory on the Hudson from the inside.

Actor Justin Theroux…

… was extremely charming. Now, I understand Jennifer Aniston.

A redhead seldom comes alone: Jessica Chastain…

…and Eddie Redmayne.

Glamourous front row: Actors Dakota Fanning, Eddie Redmayne and Kate Mara.

An energetic acrobatic performance before the runway show…

… that captured the speed of the city.

Mary J Blige seemed to like it a lot.

A confetti rain was the perfect backdrop…

… for a happy Alexander Wang running around the catwalk.

Me taking the provided boxing gloves to get ready for the fight…

… in the pop-up store.

I was in the first slot. Therefore it still looks pretty quiet.

Even the supermodels went crazy for the collection, here you see Karlie Kloss.

Swiss girls: Barbara and Karo with me.

Before the runway show, I caught singer Sharaya…

… who was the opening act that night.

The highlight of the event was the performance of…

… Missy Elliott…

… who rocked the stage…

… that even Alexander Wang couldn’t stop dancing.

Party time…

… that the Swiss crowd didn’t need to be told twice. Being the only rooster in the yard, René Zibold, PR and Communication Manager for H&M Switzerland, surrounded by the Swiss girls (check out his travel tips for Paris here) going crazy.

Thanks H&M for taking me on this amazing adventure, to be continued next year…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and Courtesy of H&M, Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for H&M