The 2022 Met Gala, pegged to the Costume Institute’s “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” exhibition, considers the long history of American style through a distinctly cinematic lens: For the show, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton tapped filmmakers Sofia Coppola, Radha Blank, Janicza Bravo, Autumn de Wilde, Julie Dash, Tom Ford, Regina King, Martin Scorsese, and Chloé Zhao to reimagine 13 period rooms across The Met’s American Wing.
It’s fitting, then, that the gala’s surprise musical performances on Monday included a nod to the movies—specifically, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, due to arrive in theaters this June. Kacey Musgraves, who walked the Met steps in an embellished Prada frock earlier in the night, changed into a shimmering, one-shouldered gown by Rodarte to perform her cover of the 1961 ballad “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from the Elvis soundtrack. (Austin Butler and Olivia DeJonge, who star as Elvis and Priscilla Presley in the film, also turned up at the Met, along with Priscilla herself.)
Tonight’s other performer? American treasure Lenny Kravitz, who all but blew the roof off of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last month when he joined H.E.R. and Travis Barker on stage at the 2022 Grammys. For his appearance before the Met’s Temple of Dendur, Kravitz, wearing a vibrant yellow snakeskin look custom-designed by Chrome Hearts, rocked out to three of his biggest hits: 1993’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and 1998’s “Fly Away” and “American Woman”—because of course.
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