These Menswear Looks At The Met Gala Were Anything But Boring

Menswear is always something that is very heavily critiqued by the public. Society is always expecting the most out of them, but it is much harder for men to be as creative and out there as women. With the Met being one of the biggest nights in fashion, everyone is expected to look their best and be their best.

This year’s Met Gala dress code was “In honor of Karl” and it pays tribute to the one and only Karl Lagerfeld. Before the Met I, and most likely many others, was wondering if the men would only dress in Lagerfeld’s iconic personal uniform. Lagerfeld was always in a slim black blazer, a white dress shirt, either black dress pants or dark denim, fingerless black gloves, and dark black sunglasses, and his white hair was always tied back in a ponytail. 

We did end up seeing a lot of Lagerfeld’s classic look and there were a lot of mixed opinions about it from the public. Many people were upset because it was a very predictable look and some noted that it was even boring from the men that attended. But, I don’t know if the word “boring” should be used to describe their looks. Personally, I believe that they were in theme and dressed how they wanted to honor and pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld. 

However, there were quite a few looks from the men that attended that were not the Lagerfeld uniform and had a great rendition of something in the realm of Lagerfeld’s designs. 

Photo: Lexie Moreland via Women’s Wear Daily

Bad Bunny was one of my favorite looks that came from the men on Monday night. He wore a white-tweed Jacquemus suit that was also backless. The addition of the shawl added the perfect amount of design and intricacy as it was covered in large white camellias, the classic Chanel flower. This custom-made suit had a secret surprise on the inside as there was a picture of Casa Malaparte in 1997 photographed by Lagerfeld.

Photo: Stepan Filenko via Women’s Wear Daily

Next, Tommy Hilfiger honored his dear friend and business partner by using a Chanel fabric that his tailor found. The red, white, and blue bouclé fabric was paired with a shirt that Lagerfeld gifted to Hilfiger from his own closet. This was a crisp white shirt with the classic high collar that had to be attached separately from the shirt that fastened from the back. Lagerfeld sold his brand Karl Lagerfeld to Tommy Hilfiger in 2004 so the shirts means so much to the designer, “But it was his own shirt, which is near and dear to me, and one of my favorite treasures. So I’m really excited about it.”

Photo: Noam Galai via Insider

Conan Gray wore a Balmain sequinned suit jacket that reaches the length of the floor and is outlined in pearls. Like Hilfiger, he had a high-collar white dress shirt underneath paired with a long black skinny tie embellished with pearls in a beautiful pattern at the knot. Gray was accessorized with a matching fan covered in white pearls, which had to have kept him cool amongst all the heat on the red carpet. 

Photo: Jamie McCarthy via Fashionista

Last but not least, I can’t talk about menswear without mentioning Jeremy Pope’s intense tribute to Lagerfeld. Pope donned a 30-foot-long Balmain cape that was made with "over 5,000 meters of silk chiffon". The cape brought Karl Lagerfeld to life by putting a hand-drawn picture of Lagerfeld on the larger-than-life cape. There were over 70 seamstresses that worked on this cape and it got everyone’s attention. Between the shading, illustration, and sunglasses Lagerfeld was perfectly depicted in the illustration. Whenever Pope needed to move up the red carpet steps, there were at least 3 people helping move the cape so that Lagerfeld’s face was crystal clear to the audience. Oliver Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, not only designed the cape but also accompanied Pope to the Met and watched the cape in all its glory across the carpet.