Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, Lil Nas X dazzle at Met Gala

NEW YORK —
Billie Eilish went full glam in a huge peach ball gown at the pandemic-delayed Met Gala on Monday night, while fellow host of the evening Amanda Gorman was breathtaking in blue custom Vera Wang with a diamond laurel wreath in her hair.

Co-host Timothee Chalamet raced onto Fifth Avenue to take selfies with fans before walking up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for his entrance after a marching band and gymnast kicked off the long-awaited evening.

Last year’s gala was canceled due to the pandemic.

This year’s official theme of the fundraiser for the museum’s Costume Institute was “American Independence,” leaving plenty of room for interpretation. Just ask Lil Nas X, who did a Lady Gaga-esque strip tease on the carpet in gold Versace, from cape to armor to embellished jumpsuit.

Eilish, the belle of the ball, wore Oscar de la Renta. She told Vogue: “It was time for this. I feel like I’ve grown so much over the last few years.”

Chalamet had sneakers on his feet but diamonds on his look. Chalamet called his look “a bit of everything,” just like America.

Gorman’s dress, which included more than 3,000 hand-sewn crystals, was made to evoke a starry night sky.

She told Vogue she felt like Lady Liberty, reimagined. Her crown, the star poet said, was a nod to publishing.

Another of the hosts, Naomi Osaka, wanted to celebrate all her cultures — Japan, Haitian and the U.S. — and picked a Louis Vuitton gown designed in collaboration with her sister, Mari Osaka. It was a swirly blue, acqua and purple print with long black ruffle sleeves and a wide red sash.

Dan Levy took the party’s theme to the extreme in a blue confection from Loewe. It had, according to the brand, “printed leg of mutton sleeves” on a polo shirt with an applique of two men kissing.

Leon Bridges, meanwhile, honored his home state of Texas in a white cowboy hat and a blue suede fringe jacket. “It’s all about embodying the aesthetic of Texas,” said Bridges, with jewels in his hair.

Among other walkers were Keke Palmer in a stunning, earth-tone body hugger with a train, while Ilana Glazer took her moment on the steps in feathery long sleeves and a creamy, high-neck gown. Both were hosts of Vogue’s livestream of the gala.

Yara Shahidi wore silver custom Dior complete with a head piece. She said she was inspired by Josephine Baker. Emma Chamberlain went for a gold mini with cutouts at the waist and chunky mirror and chain detail. Harris Reed put Iman in a huge golden hat.

Gala overseer Anna Wintour arrived early with a wave to the crowd accompanied by her pregnant daughter, Bee, in a floral design with ruffles at the neck.

The gala, which raises money for the museum’s Costume Institute, was pushed last year from its traditional May berth and morphed this year into a two-part affair. It coincides with the opening of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” the first of a two-part exhibition at the Met’s Anna Wintour Costume Center.

Organizers invited 400 guests, or about a third the number that usually attend.

This year, the gala is co-chaired by Chalamet, Eilish, Gorman and Naomi Osaka. Honorary chairs are Tom Ford, sponsor Instagram’s Adam Mosseri and Vogue’s Wintour, the latter the doyenne of the Met Gala since 1995.

The two-part gala marks the Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary. The Met Gala raises the bulk of the institute’s annual funding, including a larger gathering scheduled for May 2. That date reclaims the first Monday in May for the gala and will celebrate the exhibition’s second part, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” in the period rooms of the museum’s American Wing.

Considered fashion’s biggest night, A-list guests from music, film, TV, tech and beyond are encouraged to embrace the theme of the new exhibition each year as they slowly make their way up the museum’s red-carpeted stairs.

Interpretation is everything when it comes to how they dress — and how they enter.