The first Monday in May is Met Gala Monday. That means the biggest celebrities, designers, models, and sundry other VIPs will be descending on the Metropolitan Museum of Art tonight in their red carpet best to celebrate the Costume Institute’s new exhibition “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.” The dress code? Avant-garde. Expect A-listers to show up in experimental, out-of-this world looks for the red carpet (this year it’s actually a blue carpet!). Co-chairs Anna Wintour, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Gisele Bündchen, and Tom Brady will be the first to arrive, followed by a slate of pop stars and famous actresses. Tune in to Vogue’s live coverage of the night here.
9:16 p.m.: Caroline Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to Japan and a friend of Rei Kawakubo’s, makes a major statement in an epic Comme des Garçons frock.
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9:02 p.m.: Grimes skipped the red carpet, heading into the galleries with the Proenza Schouler designers.
9:01 p.m.: Stella McCartney’s dates always look like they’re having the most fun. This year she arrived with Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson. Gisele Bündchen also wore McCartney.
8:52 p.m.: Bella Hadid is nearly naked in a sheer, beaded black Alexander Wang catsuit.
8:45 p.m.: Céline Dion is stunning at her first Met Gala in cut-away Atelier Versace leather and an origami-inspired headpiece.
8:42 p.m.: Madonna and Jeremy Scott are in their best Moschino camouflage looks tonight. Hers comes with a tattered stole, his with a beret.
8:41 p.m.: Feathers are truly trending. Sarah Paulson’s midnight blue Prada gown comes with fuchsia and blue feather trim.
8:41 p.m.: Zendaya is going big in a Dolce Gabbana Alta Moda dress and an enormous halo of curls.
8:37 p.m.: Sasha Lane is channeling a goth princess in a black, full skirted dress with red eyeliner.
8:36 p.m.: The future Captain Marvel, Brie Larson, chose a golden Chanel Haute Couture dress with a plunging v-front and high-waisted belt.
8:35 p.m.: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art are giant flower sculptures shaped like—what else?!—flowers. The actual shapes are pulled from archive Comme des Garçons pieces.
8:33 p.m.: Lily-Rose Depp chose a shocking pink strapless Chanel gown with silver rose embellishments that wrap around her collarbone.
8:31 p.m.: Cara Delevingne has a novel accessory for her shorn head: silver paint! The model-turned-actress topped off her Chanel Haute Couture suit with a silver painted pixie cut.
8:30 p.m.: Julianne Moore also got the feather memo in a Calvin Klein by Appointment dress by Raf Simons.
8:28 p.m.: Rihanna is here! The Bad Gal chose a Fall 2016 Comme des Garçons piece that she paired with strappy red thigh-high sandals. Easier to move in that her Guo Pei? Yes, but every square inch as showstopping.
8:27 p.m.: Isabelle Huppert arrived with Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri wearing one of Chiuri’s leather berets. We should all be feminists!
8:26 p.m.: Ruth Negga continues her Valentino streak in a white cape dress by Pierpaolo Piccioli.
8:25 p.m.: Mary J Blige knows how to work a red carpet. The singer chose a lingerie-inspired black gown with a high slit for her turn on the Met’s steps.
8:24 p.m.: Gwyneth Paltrow’s shimmering pink Calvin Klein by Appointment dress echoes the blush-colored Ralph Lauren gown she wore at the 1998 Oscars, when she picked up an Academy Award for her role in Shakespeare in Love. Tonight, she might come away as best dressed.
8:21 p.m.: Karlie Kloss has cropped her hair—and her dress—for tonight’s gala, choosing a blonde asymmetrical cut and a black suiting-inspired minidress with few bells or whistles. Just those mile long legs.
8:19 p.m.: Kim Kardashian West has traded over-the-top glitz for an understated, ethereal white dress by Vivienne Westwood. No jewelry. No bag. Simple sandals. C’est tout. On the carpet she says, "I m really excited to be with my sisters."
8:18 p.m.: Blake Lively’s feather-trimmed dress is a red carpet showstopper. Props to Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds who chose a matching blue bow tie.
8:16 p.m.: Jennifer Lopez’s pastel blue Valentino number could be a nod to her 2003 Oscars dress, a vintage Valentino number in mint green with an asymmetric neckline.
8:16 p.m.: Nicki Minaj is paying homage to designer Rei Kawakubo in the coolest way possible: with a superhero belt featuring the designer’s face and iconic hair as the clasp. The rapper is also wearing a black bodysuit and red cape.
8:14 p.m.: Halle Berry is in a semi-sheer Atelier Versace dress with cascading black and gold ruffles.
8:12 p.m.: Sofia Coppola is wearing a metallic Marc Jacobs column dress with long sleeves—it’s just the latest in her string of MJ looks at the Met.
8:09 p.m.: Evan Rachel Wood joined the pants brigade in black Altuzarra trousers and an embellished navy tunic. Of his own look, designer Joseph Altuzarra said, “I tend to take a more classic approach when it comes to dressing for the Met Gala; the focus is on my date.”
8:06 p.m.: The Erdem girls have arrived. Felicity Jones and Claire Foy are taking the red carpet together in complementary Erdem frocks—Jones’s is a buttoned-up lilac gown; Foy’s is off-the-shoulder floral.
8:05 p.m.: Serena Williams is showing off her baby bump in Kelly green Atelier Versace alongside her husband Alexis Ohanian.
8:06: “Anna Cleveland is perfect for Comme des Garçons fashion,” Paolo Roversi told Vogue in an exclusive interview. Here, she proves his point in an off-the-runway look from the Spring 2015 “Blood and Roses” show.
8:05 p.m.: Solange Knowles’s Thom Browne puffa jacket, dress, and ice skating shoes has to be a first on the Met Gala red carpet.
8:03 p.m.: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have arrived channeling the deshabillé spirit of Comme des Garçons. Mary-Kate has chosen a nude embroidered dress with heaps of vintage jewelry, while Ashley’s gone for a white gown accessorized with a lilac and lime fur-trimmed jacket. Adjust your spring shopping lists accordingly.
8:00 p.m.: There’s no downplaying the drama of Hayley Bennett’s nude and floral Dolce Gabbana Alta Moda ensemble. The actress even sprang for one of the label’s over-the-top headpieces—check back later to see if it stays on through the night.
7:59 p.m.: Vogue cover model Ashley Graham is serving some costume drama on the red carpet in a corseted top and crimson skirt trimmed with cascading flowers.
7:58 p.m.: Elle Fanning is channeling Cinderella in a pale blue strapless dress with a long train that she’s topped off with a headband.
7:57 p.m.: Fourteen years after the Met presented “Bravehearts: Men in Skirts” at the Costume Institute, the theme is being revived on the red carpet. The Americans stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys played Victor/Victoria, or make that Victoria/Victor. She wore the pants, he the skirt.
7:56 p.m.: Tennis ace Roger Federer has been upping his fashion game lately. Tonight, he’s wearing a Gucci tuxedo by Alessandro Michele with a crystal embroidered cobra on the back.
7:54 p.m.: Did you expect anyone to do “avant garde” dressing better than Rick Owens and his wife Michele Lamy? The couple arrived arm-in-arm, he in his customary all black, she in a layered red Comme des Garçons dress from Fall 2016. http://designershoe.com.cn/fashion-shows/fall-2016-ready-to-wear/comme-des-garcons
7:53 p.m.: Michelle Monaghan is wearing a floor-sweeping Paco Rabanne chain mail dress designed by Met Gala first-timer Julien Dossena. The dress is evocative of Dossena’s Fall 2017 collection, if slightly more demure.
7:49 p.m.: Lily Aldridge is going for it in a slinky white dress that she’s accessorized with a shocking pink veil and red stocking boots. We’re placing our bets those are Balenciaga.
7:46 p.m.: Dakota Johnson and Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele are here together in lively Gucci numbers. Michele is wearing a pink, sparkling suit with AC/DC’s logo embellished on the back. For Johnson, he created a deep emerald dress with fanciful ruffle trim and a peekaboo cutout.
7:45 p.m.: Kendall Jenner’s La Perla couture dress leaves little to the imagination, is as bare as her sister Kylie’s Atelier Versace number.
7:43 p.m.: Off-White designer Virgil Abloh has arrived at his first-ever Met Gala and he dressed the part in his own design. “For me, the goal for my own look was about expressing the creative freedom that Comme des Garçons possesses, as well as its ability to straddle formal wear and a street ready aesthetic. My look will be a combination of Off-White ‘suiting’ inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s look in the Spring 1987 runway show and the sportswear styling of recent Comme and Off-White menswear.”
7:40 p.m.: Huma Abedin enters the Met Gala wearing a blue ruffled gown.
7:38 p.m.: The biggest trend of the evening? Planting a smooch on the red carpet. Selena Gomez and The Weeknd had a kissing session, as did Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen. Frances Bean Cobain also gave mom Courtney Love a peck on the cheek.
7:37 p.m.: Zoe Kravitz got the millennial pink memo in a strapless Oscar de la Renta gown with an off-the-shoulder train.
7:35 p.m.: Model Grace Hartzel turned up looking like a red carpet witch in Christian Dior--in the best possible way! She’s wildly chic in a black hooded jacket and pleated skirt. Her makeup might have been lifted from the Fall 1997 Comme des Garçons show look.
7:28 p.m.: Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner are both dressed in Elizabeth Kennedy dresses accessorized with the most important statement pieces of the night: Planned Parenthood pins. “Lena likes us to twin out,” Konner joked on the red carpet. “We just ran into a Jonas who is almost wearing the same thing as us,” Dunham laughed.
7:25 p.m.: Riley Keough takes racing stripes to the red carpet in a black and red Louis Vuitton dress by Nicolas Ghesquière with heavy chain trim.
7:22 p.m.: Wearing an embellished slip gown by Coach’s Stuart Vevers, Selena Gomez arrives hand-in-hand with boyfriend The Weeknd.
7:18 p.m.: In the world of Kylie Jenner and Donatella Versace, the naked dress is always in. Kim’s littlest sis is sporting a nude, semi-sheer Atelier Versace dress with floral embellishment and fringe and has gone back to her platinum blonde locks. Donatella hair is in bright yellow. “My Atelier Versace gown for this year’s Met Gala is about the purity and power of design. I have so much admiration for Rei Kawakubo, especially for her determination and incredible strength,” Versace told Vogue. “The best way to show my respect was to think about the essence of design itself. I considered the themes of my Fall 2017 show, about the empowerment of the female mind and body. I wanted this gown to be about the power of cut, with the iconic Versace metal mesh in a strong and powerful yellow, which was how my brother first produced the material, draped in a one-shoulder column dress with a torchon strap.”
7:18 p.m.: Bombshell Emily Ratajkowski is shimmering in a sequin dress that recalls Van Gogh’s famous “The Starry Night” painting. Both she and Aymeline Valade are feeling for a striking blue-green palette this year.
7:15 p.m. J.Lo and A-Rod make their red carpet debut as a couple in hers and his Valentino by Pierpaolo Piccioli.
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7:13 p.m.: Zac Posen and his date, Katie Holmes, are on the red carpet. Of his outfit, Posen told Vogue, “I worked with The Brooks Brothers’ team to create a custom look, this year I’m wearing a made-to-measure charcoal velvet dinner jacket and classic black tuxedo pant. I also always try to give a subtle nod to the theme, so I paired the tuxedo with a Comme des Garçons black shirt.”
7:10 p.m.: Doutzen Kroes looks every bit the Met Gala princess in her red off-the-shoulder gown from Brock Collection’s Fall 2017 lineup.
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7:09 p.m.: Solange Knowles is hitting the rink—metaphorically speaking, that is. The musician is wearing full look Thom Browne tonight, and she’s already posted a picture of her ice skate-inspired shoes on Instagram.
7:07 p.m.: Is it outwear or eveningwear? Priyanka Chopra does both in her Ralph Lauren trench coat gown.
7:03 p.m.: Game of Thrones’s Sophie Turner is the first member of Team Louis Vuitton to arrive. The statuesque actress is wearing a white lace number by Nicolas Ghesquière that seems inspired by his Fall 2017 Vuitton collection.
7:00 p.m.: Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain are mother-daughter twinning in black Marc Jacobs looks.
6:59 p.m.: Laura Dern is wearing a column gown by designer Gabriela Hearst. So would her Big Little Lies character Renata choose the same? As Dern told Vogue while getting ready for the Met: “I think she would need to have the most cutting edge, innovative designer dressing her and the quality of all fabric touching her skin would have to be the highest quality, so I think we’ve done her justice.”
6:55 p.m.: Blackish actress Tracee Ellis Ross is wearing a sculptural blue brocade dress and it looks like Comme des Garçons Fall 1996 to us--anyone else agree?
6:54 p.m.: Jaden Smith is walking the red carpet with (what else?) a wireless speaker blasting music and a handful of his own dreadlocks.
6:53 p.m.: Adriana Lima keeps the deep-V trend going strong (see also Behati Prinsloo-Levine, Joan Smalls, and Sofia Richie) in a silky black number with a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit.
6:53p.m.: The first power suit of the night is worn by French model Aymeline Valade. She’s decked out in custom Marni blue bootleg trousers with a matching tailored jacket by incoming designer Francesco Risso.
6:50 p.m.: Didn’t we tell you bobs were going to be big tonight? Lily Collins is sporting a Rei Kawakubo-inspired crop tonight.
6:45 p.m.: Shorts on the red carpet? When the theme is Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons anything goes, at least according to Sofia Sanchez Barrenechea who has hit the red carpet in brocade paneled shorts and a cropped short-sleeved jacket.
6:37 p.m.: Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley is wearing a custom black and white abstract floral print gown by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia for Oscar de la Renta, inspired by the Fall 2017 collection.
6:35 p.m.: Red is fast becoming the breakaway trend of the evening with Rose Byrne, Joan Smalls, Katy Perry, and Helen Lasichanh all wearing Kawakubo-esque shades of rouge.
6:32 p.m.: Sofia Richie topped off her plunging silver Topshop dress with an off-the-shoulder leather jacket.
6:29 p.m.: The models are here. Joan Smalls, Behati Prinsloo-Levine, and Candice Swanepoel took the carpet together. Smalls and Prinsloo-Levine chose slinky slip dresses in red and white, respectively, while Swanepoel went for high drama in a strapless, full-skirted black number.
6:24 p.m.: Co-chair Katy Perry is on the red carpet wearing a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal ensemble by John Galliano. The look is topped off with an embroidered veil, nail art, and three giant diamond rings.
6:23 p.m.: Claire Danes is dressed in a white ruffled blouse and black lace-up pants from designers Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim’s Fall 2017 collection for Monse. All signs are pointing to a pants trend on the red carpet tonight--Helen Lasichanh stepped out in a jumpsuit moments ago.
6:21 p.m.: Gisele Bündchen continues her revealing streak at the Met Gala in a backless silver gown. The last time Gisele went backless? The 2008 gala celebrating the Met’s “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” exhibit.
6:17 p.m.: Pharrell and Helen Lasichanh are on the red carpet. As a co-chair, Pharrell has opted for Comme des Garçons jeans paired with a flannel and a studded leather jacket. Lasichanh is sporting a Comme des Garçons look from Rei Kawakubo s Fall 2017 collection in shocking red.
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6:03 p.m.: Meanwhile, co-chairs Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are still in their hotel room. Prepping.
6:01 p.m.: Bee Shaffer chooses a custom Alexander McQueen dress by Sarah Burton.
6.00 p.m.: Vogue’s Anna Wintour has arrived wearing a custom Chanel dress by Karl Lagerfeld inspired by the house’s recent Spring 2017 Haute Couture collection.
5:40 p.m.: Andrew Bolton and Rei Kawakubo planned the entire exhibit in 365 days. Find out the other stats of the landmark exhibition here.
5:35 p.m.: See how fashion fans make Comme des Garçons their own with our best street style pics of Kawakubo’s looks.
5:20 p.m.: Relive the ’90s and the early aughts with Vogue Runway’s newly digitized images of Comme des Garçons’s shows from those years. You never know, a vintage-savvy celeb might turn up in one of these archive pieces tonight.
5:15 p.m.: Before cocktail hour, guests will enjoy the Met’s exhibit. Here’s what they’re going to see.
5:10 p.m.: Need a primer on Rei Kawakubo? Vogue’s Lynn Yaeger met the reclusive Japanese designer in Paris this winter to discuss her recent collection and 40-year career.
