This year’s Met Gala theme was “fashion is art.” The theme encourages celebrities to imagine their bodies as a canvas and their outfits as an artpiece. Every celebrity came to the gala with their own interpretation of the theme.

A highlight of the May 4 event was Beyoncé arriving in a crystal skeletal dress designed by French fashion designer Olivier Rousteing. She wore a crown and an ombre feathered cape with a long train. Her daughter Blue Ivy accompanied her in a white Balenciaga gown with a matching jacket.

Eva Cadiena, a sophomore film student at DePaul, thinks people should care about the Met Gala because it is a fundraiser for The Costume Institute and other operations at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“It is a celebration of fashion history and culture, something people should value more,” Cadiena said.

Cadiena thinks some of the celebrities took the theme at face value.

“People definitely seemed to take it more literally, referencing famous art pieces rather than letting fashion itself shine as an art form on its own,” Cadiena said. 

A few celebrities were memorable to Cadiena, including Emma Chamberlain, Sabrina Carpenter and Hunter Shafer. She said Chamberlain and Carpenter “captured the theme the best.”

YouTuber and podcaster Emma Chamberlain wore a Mugler dress designed by Miguel Castro Freitas of Portugal. The dress contained over 40 hours of hand painted details by artist Anna Deller-Yee, inspired by old Mugler looks. The colors and texture on the dress mimic watercolors a la Impressionist painters, from the yellow streak of paint along the bust to the blue, red, and white streaks at the pooling hem. Ombre sleeves draped from her hands into the skirt of her dress.  

Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter wore a Dior dress made from film strips of the 1954 movie “Sabrina” starring Audrey Hepburn. The look was inspired by old Hollywood glam, complete with a silver headpiece and 1920s-inspired curls.       

Hunter Schafer, famous for her role as Jules in HBO’s “Euphoria,” wore a ripped white and gray Prada gown with a floral chiffon train. Schafer’s dress was inspired by the Gustav Klimt painting “Mäda Primavesi.” 

There were some outfits Cadiena did not like. Although Heidi Klum’s statue outfit did fit the theme, Cadiena thought it looked more like a Halloween costume than a Met Gala outfit. 

Rob Warnke, a senior at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois, said some Met Gala looks amazed him, while others left him unimpressed.

“I think SZA’s outfit was beautiful and unique,” Warnke said. “It definitely made her look like a piece of walking art.”

SZA wore a yellow Bode gown with a sheer butterfly wing cap and a complex floral and shell head piece. The piece is inspired by 20th century Viennese art collect Wiener Werkstätte, and the fabric was all sourced from eBay.

But Ben Stiller’s suit-and-tie look disappointed Warnke.

“Ben Stiller looks like he was going to an interview for an office job,” Warnke said. “I’m not really into fashion, but if I was going to the Met Gala, I would let the designer do something interesting.”

Annabelle Frazer, a journalism major at DePaul, watched the Met Gala and liked a lot of the looks she saw.

“Some notable looks for me were Luke Evans, Emma Chamberlain, Rachel Zegler, Maria Zardoya and Anok Yai,” Frazer said. “Hunter Schafer ate as well.”

Overall, Emma Chamberlain’s look was the most popular with DePaul students who were interviewed. But Cadiena said the mission of the Met Gala was just important as the fashion. 

“People should care about the Met Gala,” Cadiena said. “It’s a fundraiser for the costume institute to keep important historical garments well kept and preserved.

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