The 2024 Met Gala happened with much fanfare and virality at the beginning of the month. As per sources, the Met Gala theme of The Garden of Time was supposed to be a tribute to J.G. Ballard’s short story of the same name.
However, it seemed as if many of the designers just used the theme as a way to create elaborate outfits that would look good in photos and on the ample space of a red carpet, but had little to do with actual nature, environment, being sustainable or more.
Who Got It Right?
At a time when the fashion industry is being called out for adding to the environmental degradation and impact on climate change, it was interesting to see how few of the outfits were actually thinking about nature beyond just adding a few fruits, flowers or greenery attached to the cloth.
The overuse of materials like sequins, which are said to be not environmentally conscious considering they’re plastic, small in size and could potentially be ingested by small animals, or even sea life if it finds its way to the sea or just polluting the earth for years and low amount of repurposed or reused dresses was quite surprising.
So who got the theme right and who got it wrong?
Zendaya
Zendaya’s second outfit for the night was an older 1996 black gown from John Galliano for Givenchy Couture along with her headpiece too being repurposed, a 2006 bouquet-themed fascinator wrapped in black tulle created by Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen.
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried wore a Prada dress that was made from upcycled metallic fabric from the fashion house’s Spring 2009 RTW collection.
Isha Ambani
While Isha Ambani couldn’t attend the actual Met Gala red carpet due to an illness, her outfit and look were still posted online.
Isha was going to wear a hand-embroidered couture sari gown by designer Rahul Mishra, who would have made his debut at the event. Mishra talking with Indian Express said “We have cultivated this look in the way a gardener would a garden. Motifs and embroidery swatches from our entire journey since 2013 were brought out to be reinterpreted and collated to form the surfaces on this gown.”
Stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania also revealed that embracing sustainability was kept in mind with the designer using parts of his past collections in the dress.
“Delicate samples of flowers, butterflies, and dragonflies were meticulously integrated from the archives into the design, via distinct applique and embroidery techniques, such as fareesha, zardozi, nakshi, and dabka, as well as French knots,” she said.
Read More: Here’s Why Fashion’s ‘Recycling’ Isn’t Saving The Planet
Who Got It Wrong?
Cardi B
American rapper Cardi B wore a custom design by Chinese label Windowsen having several layers of tulle ruffles and pleated fabric. The gown was so big and voluminous, that it reportedly needed a team of 9 people to carry the “10,000 feet of delicate organza” around. This level of excess fabric, plus it being custom made surely brings up some questions.
Ashley Graham
Model Ashley Graham who was hosting the event wore a skin-tight corset black dress with crystal floral embellishments designed by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Speaking at the red carpet to E! she said that the dress “took over 500 hours,” and that “Handmade—all these little crystals. It’s all mesh. It’s insanity what he and his team did.”
Mesh is reportedly not the most sustainable fabric out there. As per Sewport, “Since this fabric is almost always made from synthetic materials, it’s easy to say that mesh has a notably negative impact on the environment.”
She also wrote on her Instagram, “HUGE thank you to @ludovicdesaintsernin and his team for their extraordinary dedication and craftsmanship. This dress is a true work of art, each piece of metal and Swarovski crystal was meticulously hand placed; 500 hours of hand work went into this extraordinary gown.”
Good On You Directory, a website doing sustainability ratings of various fashion brands also claimed that Swarovski’s sustainability rating is ‘not good enough’. As per the site, “It uses few eco-friendly materials. There is no evidence it has a policy to protect biodiversity in its supply chain. There is no evidence it has set a deadline to eliminate hazardous chemicals. It reuses some of its waste product in the production process.”
There were also concerns about its labour rating being ‘not good enough’.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s Maison Margiela by John Galliano couture dress went viral for the extreme corseting it did and cinching her waist to an alarming and unnatural degree.
There is little to no detail on how sustainable the outfit is or how it relates to nature.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Harpers Bazaar, The New York Times, The
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: fashion, Met gala, met gala 2024, met gala dress, met gala sustainable, sustainable fahion, environment, Zendaya, Amanda Seyfried, Isha Ambani, Cardi B, Ashley Graham, Kim Kardashian, Met 2024
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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