I don’t think I want to spend a whole lot of time talking about what the Met Gala is, what the theme is, or the dress code, or how I pick who I feature on the list today. Why? Because some of these looks featured today I’ve had picked out for months and are some of my favorite things in the whole 300 wishes. So I am really excited to share them with you. Should we just skip the blah blah blah that I’ve introduced time and time again in the previous 18 lists and just get into it? I think so.

Vanessa Kirby is always gorgeous, but I want her to be on Cate Blanchett levels of wowing me every time she steps out. She has the potential, but I just need a little more. I was disappointed in the re-issue of the Chloe by Karl Lagerfeld gown she wore last year. It didn’t provide the drama a Met Gala moment needs and deserves. Now that being said that doesn’t mean tulle, all over sequins, feathers, and long trains are a must. But something more than a little black dress is definitely what I need. This year I would love to see Vanessa go with one of her other favorite brands, Miu Miu. I’ve long loved this white silk crepe fit to flare halter gown which features an intricately crystal beaded neckline and bust. I found it in an article about a capsule collection that Miu Miu did to celebrate the opening of a boutique in Dubai and I’ve been dying to see it on a red carpet ever since. I think that this year’s Met Gala is the perfect time to bring this design out of the archive and onto a red carpet. Vanessa would look absolutely statuesque in this gown and I think it has the potential to be among her top looks ever. To accomplish that the styling has to be perfect. So to make it happen I would style this gown with a sleek low bun updo, winged eyes with bold lashes, a red lip, a pair of white satin Miu Miu pointed toe pumps with a crystal embellished heel, and Cartier jewelry including white diamond disco ball like drop earrings and a vintage cocktail ring made of white diamonds, kunzite, and pearls.

Karlie Kloss is another I wish would up her game. When she is good she is major, but often I feel like Karlie is lost in the pack when it comes to the red carpet. I wanted to feature this blue faux feather sporty meets cool girl look from the Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 RTW collection at some point during my Met Gala wishes and as I was looking for the right look for Karlie it just slid right into place. Is this a typical Met Gala dress? No, but I think it could be cool. Personally I would see if Nicolas Ghesquiere would agree to add some sort of a dramatic train, which is not something that he typically does for his red carpet gowns. What I love about this dress dor Karlie is that it speaks her her more sporty side of glamour and I love when she does that vibe. She wears it well. To style this look I would have Karlie wear her hair in a chic side parted updo with a simple barely there makeup vibe adding a black and white abstract floral pattern Louis Vuitton ‘Petite Malle’ trunk clutch, a pair of black satin Louis Vuitton gold chain detailed t-strap sandals, and a selection of sparkle via David Yurman jewelry.

Zoe Kravitz is one of my favorite stars to see on a red carpet. She always brings something bold and interesting, even if she’s wearing basic black. She is a face of Saint Laurent and often wears looks from the brand on the red carpet, 3 of her 7 Met Gala moments have been wearing Saint Laurent. I decided to go into the YSL couture archives hard for this years Met wishes because there are just so many major moments that work perfectly with the ‘Garden of Time’ dress code and the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ exhibition theme. For Zoe I knew I had found the perfect gown the moment I saw this black fitted sheer lace off the shoulder gown with long sleeves and a large pink pleated tulle trumpet skirt from the Yves St. Laurent Fall 2001 Couture collection. This is one of the last couture gowns designed by Mr Saint Laurent himself and I think that Zoe has the grace and elegance to make this gown really come to life. She toggles back and forth from bohemian to classic glamour and I think that she would wear this look ever so beautifully. A sleek tight bun with soft bangs, winged eyes, dark nude lips, a pair of modern Saint Laurent black satin sandals with a silver crystal buckle, and a delicate mix of modern and vintage jewelry made of white diamonds, kunzite, and morganite from Tiffany & Co. would ensure that Zoe delivers glamour on the Met steps.

Okay now we come to one of my favorite wishes of all 300 looks I’ve picked for this years Met Gala. When I learned what the theme of this years exhibition was I thought long and hard about what that could mean in terms of dress code. One major factor I thought of was the idea of diving deep into designer archives and re-issuing looks that deserve a modern red carpet moment. One of the looks I knew I had to feature is this iconic moment from the Yves Saint Laurent Fall 1983 collection that Yves himself had re-issued for his final couture show which was a retrospective of his favorite and iconic looks over his solo career. The goldenrod opera coat paired with the sext black velvet column dress is arguably one of the top 10 looks ever designed by Mr Saint Laurent. It was designed in a direct reference to the voluminous evening coats from the golden age of postwar haute couture, the Saint Laurent version of heavy silk faille merges the sumptuous romanticism of Christian Dior (where he worked just prior to opening his own label) and the sculptural drama of Cristobal Balenciaga. This coat, with its bias collar extending into front ties, may be worn pulled close to the neck, or falling away from the back and shoulders as was preferred by the dégagée client Nan Kempner, whose partner donated the original to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute following her death. Could this be one of the sleeping beauties that curator-in-charge Andrew Bolton will put into the exhibition? We don’t yet know. Now when I was thinking about who should wear this there were really only two names that came to mind. The first was Zoe Kravitz, but it felt too similar to a look she’s already worn for the Met so I went with the other person in my mind: Diane Kruger. I mean Diane has always been a favorite of mine on the red carpet. She serves Met Gala better than most and I definitely think she would easily sell this moment to me. I mean it has the potential to be the #1 look on the Best Dressed of the Met Gala list, and honestly a strong contender for Best Dressed of the Year. The styling has to be perfect though. I would finish this major moment with a sleek side parted updo, smokey eyes, nude pink lips, a black Tyler Ellis ‘Perry’ clutch, a pair of black strappy Saint Laurent sandals, and Chaumet jewels including the white diamond and yellow sapphire ‘Arum’ earrings and ring from the Chaumet ‘Le Jardin de Chaumet’ high jewelry collection.

Another potential best dressed at the met moment is the custom Prada gown I designed specifically for Lady Gaga. While brands like YSL, Balenciaga, Dior, and Chanel have gowns aplenty in thier storied archives Prada does not. The way I paid hommage to the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ in the Prada archives was to create custom gown moments using iconic looks from the past as reference. This was the first custom gown I designed for this years Met I knew immediately that I had to do something with the iconic crystal chandelier dress that was featured in the Prada Spring 2010 RTW collection. The detail in that dress was so pretty and there were only a few ever created. What I did was take the crystal detailing that made up the mesh on the runway dress and turn it into drops that would be layered on top of one another creating a tiered fringe dress. The crystals would start at the strapless neckline and continue to descend down the column shilouette until they reach the hem. I took the crystal waistband from the original dress and defined the waist of this gown using it. I finished the design adding a bustle of layered white silk chiffon to the back to create a dramatic train. This gave the the most glamorous 50’s inspired moment that I could have dreamed of and I just feel like Lady Gaga could sell it to me. Gaga hasn’t worn Prada since her first Met Gala back in 2010 where she entered through the back door and was ultimately the celebrity performer at the event. It’s a shame we’ve never gotten full photos of the looks she wore that night just a couple of waist up shots. I mean it would be a beautiful hommage to Prada for her to show up and walk the Met steps with Miuccia & Raf wearing this custom archive inspired gown. I would add the garden theme with a sleek rose detailed rockabilly inspired updo and finish the look with bold black and silver glitter winged eyes, nude lips, a pair of white Prada crystal embellished logo plaque detailed platform sandals, and a selection of jewelry from Tiffany & Co. including a pair of drop earrings which feature a pear-shaped aquamarine, within a pavé-set diamond surround, from a pavé-set diamond foliate spray surmount mounted in gold and titanium, a paraiba tourmaline ‘Bird on Rock’ cocktail ring, and a Paloma Picasso ‘Rockgrafiti’ white diamond ring.

Kendrick Lamar snuck in the side door for last years Met Gala where he was dressed by Chanel. I wish he walked the carpet. I always find what Kendrick wears on a red carpet very interesting. He also helped creative direct the Chanel Spring 2024 Couture show. So I would love to see him on the red carpet this year with the brand with a black and white tweed suit with wide leg trousers. It is cool and definitely outside of the classic menswear moment, but if anyone could make it happen it would be Kendrick. I mean I would swap the beaded chiffon shirt from the runway in favor of a crisp black Hanes t-shirt to dress down the more stuffy formal Chanel tweed and add a pair fo chunky Chanel acrylic aviator sunglasses, a pair of black chunky sole Bottega Veneta ankle books, a black Chanel ceramic watch, and two black and white diamond Chanel High Jewelry cocktail rings to really make this a look that just oozes cool on the red carpet.

Brie Larson is a friend of Chanel so when I was looking at the Chanel archives to find looks to re-issue for this years Met Gala she was on my list of people to pick one for. Last year in Cannes Brie did her jury duty exclusively in Chanel which is what made me think there was a contract in her future. I haven’t see that, but she did also just wear the brand this last week on the red carpet at the Breakthrough Prize. Now Brie doesn’t usually go for vintage inspired looks, and I don’t know if she would go for it especially after just staring in a tv show set in the same period as the dress was originally presented. I mean this black tea length silk faille sleeveless a-line gown from the Chanel Fall 1960 Couture collection is beautiful and I can definitely imagine it would be the perfect moment for her to wear on the Met Gala red carpet. It’s been a hot second since Brie was at the Met Gala and I think that she would be primed for a beautiful moment in this gown. A sleek updo, soft smokey eyes, orange red lips, a vintage black and white Chanel clutch, a pair of black Christian Louboutin ‘Joli Queen’ rhinestone embellished strappy sandals, and black and white diamond Chanel High Jewelry earrings and cocktail ring would make this look a beautiful Met Gala moment for Brie.

Latto hasn’t made her Met Gala debut yet, and honestly I am not sure she’s hit the level of stardom to get her there yet. She hasn’t quite hit the fashion world. The only major brands I can think of her wearing are Dolce & Gabbana and Christopher John Rogers. I don’t think that either would be the right fit should she make her Met Gala debut this year. Instead I went with this chic brown Gaurav Gupta Fall 2023 Couture gown with its sculpted pleated chiffon, bralet, stomach cutout, and intricate beading. It is a sexy, glamorous, and dramatic moment and could easily be Latto’s best red carpet moment ever. I am ready for her to wow me. I think that should she step onto the Met steps in this gown with a sleek braid bun updo, brown sheer crystal embellished Saint Laurent pointed toe pumps, miss-matched yet complimentary bronze nails, and a selection of Le Vian jewelry to make a major moment on the red carpet.

I’ve loved Kiki Layne since she burst onto the scene thanks to her performance in If Beale Street Could Talk. She’s a true fashion girl and isn’t afraid of bold and dramatic moments. She’s worn Dior so well and so many times that I decided that I wanted to make her part of my crew who would wear re-issued couture gowns out of the brands archives. I looked at so many different options for Kiki but ultimately I landed on this black and white draped tulle strapless gown from the Christian Dior Fall 1950 Couture collection. I love the corseted bodice, the draped pleating, and white 3D floral details. I would love to see Kiki bring this super glamorous moment to life on the Met steps with an intricate braided updo, soft smokey eyes, nude lips, a pair of black satin Piferi ‘Rosalia’ platform sandals, and selection of Bulgari white diamond and emerald jewelry to really make this a major classic glamour fashion moment for the actress.

Finishing out today is Greta Lee whom after her stars meteoric rise this year and the fact that she’s great friends with Jonathan Anderson I would be SHOCKED to see not make her Met Gala debut. Now I won’t lie this wish is probably moot because I think there is 0 chance that she will wear anything but custom Loewe. She wore the brand for every major red carpet she attended this year, and I am sure that Jonathan is making her something very special for the Met Gala. The problem with picking a Loewe design for her is that there wasn’t anything that I felt was right for Greta that she hasn’t already worn and the gown I thought I was going to use for my Met wishes from the Loewe Fall 2024 RTW collection was the gown she ended up wearing at the Oscars. So I went on a hunt from all the current collections to wear on the Met Gala red carpet. I ended up with what would have been my second choice with this white Ferragamo Fall 2024 RTW gown with a silk cowl draped bodice, sheer skirt, and a fringed hem. It is a cool modern glam moment and Greta just oozes all of those things. It isn’t a big gown, but I think it could make for a cool moment. I would finish this major Ferragamo moment for Greta with a sleek center parted low bun, soft pink lips, white Gianvito Rossi plexi detailed sandals, and Irene Neuwirth jewelry including ‘Gumball’ earrings with pave diamond hoops and south sea pearl drops, a one of a kind south sea pearl ring set in 18k gold with pave white diamonds, and a gumball ring with a large center pearl and smaller pearl studs.