The 2018 Met Gala saw the biggest stars in grace the red carpet decked out it religious fashions. This year’s theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” and while the dress code on the invitation read “Sunday Best,” celebs like Cardi B, Solange and honorary co-chair Rihanna took it up several notches.
Big Hair Reigns Supreme
Tracee Ellis Ross is known for her voluminous tresses so it was no surprise to see her sporting it in her hot pink Michael Kors gown. But “Scandal” star Kerry Washington and rapper Cardi B also had huge hair on display. Washington paired her look with a golden Ralph Lauren dress and Lorraine Schwartz headpiece while Cardi wore a gem-encrusted Moschino gown and a matching headpiece that was a last-minute addition.
Hip Hop and Religion Collide
Leave it to Migos to sport a designer they’ve name dropped in their debut commercial single. Takeoff, Offset and Quavo wore matching Versace suits accompanied by necklaces adorned with imagery fit for the trio, like their mixtape title, ” Y.R.N.” Not to be outdone, 2Chainz also sported a Versace suit, which featured embroidered gold details along with his signature chains.
Afro-centric Hair Takes Center Stage
While Issa Rae wore Michael Kors, she told E! News she wanted to be Black “from the neck up.” That meant sporting Fulani braids — complete with Senegalese hair adornments as a nod to Rae’s heritage, as stylist Felicia Leatherwood told Byrdie — that took about two hours to complete.
Solange took her look deeper by not only sporting a fashionably long du-rag and a braided crown but having her black Iris van Herpen gown represent two Black religious figures: Black Madonna and Saint Heron, which is also the name of her media company.
Meanwhile, model Jourdan Dunn sported side-swept faux locs that accessorized her white Diane Von Furstenberg gown.
Music Royalty Goes to Church
Mary J. Blige’s pale mint green Versace gown was paired with boots that stylist Law Roach told Pret-a-Reporter are “very queen of hip-hop, soul and R&B.” And Twitter users deemed Rihanna the Black Pope after seeing her custom Maison Margiela by John Galliano overcoat mitre and a minidress inspired by the head of the Catholic church.
‘Black Panther’ Cast Dresses In-Style
After an epic showing of blackness at their premiere in January, the cast of Marvel’s “Black Panther” did it again on the Met Gala red carpet. Letitia Wright wore traditional braided Ethiopian hairstyle and a custom Coach gown that stylist Ade Samuel told Page Six was an “Ethiopian interpretation of Christianity … that was inspired by Ethiopian pastors’ clothing.”
The fellas also dressed on the theme with Chadwick Boseman’s custom Versace, ivory, cross-bearing cape with Christian Louboutin shoes, Michael B. Jordan’s Off-White stripped suit by Virgil Abloh accented with a David Yurman cross pin. Plus, Daniel Kaluuya sported a Prada suit and Jason of Beverly Hills bracelets resembling Jesus’ crown of thorns.
