Image: Instagram, @vanityfair
At the Mark Hotel, celebrities gathered with their glam squads to prep for the Met Gala 2024, there was a calm before the storm, as there always is. In the late afternoon, the elevators shut down for everyone except those with an urgent appointment at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On Monday, Instagram took advantage of the relative quiet to gather its guests for the night for a class picture before they hit the carpet. The members of the group were set to sit together inside the big event, but their group portrait was created with the help of a bit of computer magic. Each guest was photographed solo by Djeneba Aduayom, who, alongside her team, transformed the shots into a surreal tableau.
Instagram’s executives were the first to take their turn in the hotel room serving as a makeshift photo studio, which was decorated with a pink-and-blue backdrop and a few accessory cherry blossom branches. The head of the company, Adam Mosseri, interpreted the night’s theme, “the Garden of Time,” by opting for a custom velvet Tanner Fletcher suit with an array of brooches reflecting significant things in his life. There was an M for his wife, Monica; a trinket for each of his three sons; and a book-shaped locket containing a pullout map of London. Monica later joined her husband for a few portraits, wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown with an embroidered floral motif.
The platform’s director of fashion partnerships, Eva Chen, wore a Robert Wun gown that depicted a garden in winter, complete with a snowy tulle train. Her beauty look worked as an extension of the gown, with frosty white eyeshadow and a bit of Styrofoam snow on her eyelashes.
Later, actor Colman Domingo breezed into the suite wearing a look by Willy Chavarria, which featured a cape and pleated black palazzo pants. He eventually unbuttoned his blazer to reveal a very deep V-neck blouse. Even Domingo himself was surprised by how well his outfit photographed. “Oh wow!” he exclaimed, looking at himself on the monitor.
Reggaeton star Rauw Alejandro arrived in a sequin top resembling chain mail, with an embedded orchid motif, and impeccably tailored pants, all by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Actor Jonathan Bailey wore a suit by Loewe, which featured one flower on his top button and another one hidden on his hip. His team came with hairspray to make sure his waterfall of hair stayed in place. To emphasize the “time” in his look, he posed with his watch visible. “Thank you so much,” he said excitedly to the Instagram team.
As the hour to hit the carpet drew near, fashion veteran Emily Ratajkowski—wearing a sheer and intricately beaded Versace gown—hit her mark quickly. “We get it done,” she said to her team, before noticing the photos on the monitor. “Ooooh, it looks cute.”
Breakout South African singer Tyla also posed with speed, though she did need a team of four to help transport her in her skintight Balmain gown bedecked with sand. She carried an hourglass in her hand, but on the notoriously tricky steps of The Met, she also held on to the tuxedoed volunteers who helped her up the stairs.
Erykah Badu was a ghostly apparition in a black leather corset with an artfully singed veil. After she left the room, rapper Cardi B and basketball phenom Angel Reese arrived at the same time, leading to a loud greeting and heartfelt embrace between the two. Arriving last and leaving just in time to make a group photo with her family on the museum steps was Kylie Jenner, looking every bit Hollywood glam in a pale pink gown by Oscar de la Renta.
Instagram was sure to usher a bevy of top creators up to the Mark’s penthouse when the carpet got started. With canapés and wine, they watched the celebrities arrive at the museum, pausing only for a bit of frenzy when a set of Loewe gift bags came out.
The original article can be found on Vanity Fair US.
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