Emily Ratajkowski and Vera Wang Peel Back the Layers of Her Met Dress

[Photographer] Three, two, one.

[camera flashing]

I love it.

[Assistant] Uh-oh it looks like she got caught.

I m caught.

[faint zipping]

So then we ll go down here and get that

and then the black roll and then we ll be.

[loud clanging]

There we go.

Do you look okay?

[soft laughing]

[gentle music]

[camera clicking]

Can you ask them for a tablespoon of honey for me?

[grunting]

It just softens the vocal chords.

[Interviewer] Do you want us to wait for that or?

No I think we can start.

[beeping]

[gentle music]

This is.

[Vera] Yeah.

Wow this is the dream dress.

This is one of the easier fittings.

[laughing]

It is.

So we re done.

Bye!

[Vera] It was really about how

Emily felt she wanted to look.

And I think a woman is never more beautiful or

more seductive than when she feels comfortable.

She studied a lot of my work in the past.

We are friends and I do know her.

So I know who she is.

So that made this particular project

really much, much, easier for both of us.

Meanwhile I haven t told you all

that I m not attending next to her.

[loud laughing]

No you have to you re my fun date Vera.

I am fun, that I am, I m fun.

I know so you have to be my fun date.

[Vera] And I think what I love most

about this look is that while it is very sensual

and very seductive there s a sort of ease to her.

And a looseness and a freedom and

I don t know if that comes with having had

a child or being happily married or you know

where her career is going but I just felt

this very wonderful, natural ease and movement.

Would you even like a little bit taken in there?

Yeah I think that would be good.

[Vera] On the side, I mean.

Yes it s better.

[Vera] I just think a little bit

in there would be better don t you in the back?

[Assistant 2] Do you just hold it?

Just that little bit of.

Yeah.

An inch and a half makes a big difference.

Yeah I agree.

[Vera] There s also poetry because

certainly we ve used flowers in

all different contexts whether it supports

a dress or whether it s worn as a decoration.

I just feel that she was ready for that kind

of romance and I m really excited about it.

Just really, really, excited about it.

[gentle music]

I mean it s not only about me designing for her for the Met.

She knows clothes, she knows her body,

she knows herself but I think there s

a sort of ease and looseness and

femininity and in a way charm.

And a different kind of seduction that I m

really excited about for this particular dress.

[gentle violin music]

I think some of it s beautiful.

[Emily] Coming down.

Coming down to the hems.

It s more deliberate.

Like tattoo.

[Vera] Yeah it s more deliberate and it s not as glove-y.

= [Emily] Yeah.

[Vera] Or sleeve-y.

The dress is a more classical evening

wear shape there s no question.

There s no plunging neckline.

But what I think is so modern about

the dress is how deconstructed it is.

It s extremely soft, it s collapsed.

And I think that combination is very, very,

relevant but also very beautiful and seductive.

And the fact that once you finish the dress

everything else becomes important.

The accessories then come into place.

Whether they re gloves or no gloves.

What the jewelry is, what the scale

of the jewelry is, where the jewelry is worn.

Now a mask.

What hair-do are you wearing, what is the makeup?

I mean once the dress is finished

one would think that s it, we re done.

That is only the beginning of the journey.

[indistinct murmuring]

[Emily] One of the things that I love about Vera,

she was so willing to collaborate.

Ultimately like it s every woman

has different things she feels comfortable in.

Sometimes it s like not something sexy at all.

Sometimes it s something really sexy.

And I think that like the fact

that she was willing to work with me

on that was just so like that makes

all the difference in the world.

Yeah they ve just been such a wonderful team

to work with and Vera s amazing so I m excited.

I m being pregnant like I think

you know as a model you really

are so used to sort of being like

something to be looked at and like

to be dressed and whatever and

having my body like bring life

into the world and grow life like

totally changed my perspective on everything.

So in some ways I have like a much deeper respect

and as silly as this might sound like

these dresses are so, so, beautiful

and the people who work on them

work so, hard and there is an element

of like oh I m just a body in a dress

whatever but I think that what s so

special about the Met is that you are

kind of like the dresses fit me perfectly.

Like 3,000 people worked on it.

Made every little stitch exactly right.

And it feels like a celebration of my body

that also like did this incredible

thing of bringing life into the world.

Which I think I just didn t have

that perspective when I was younger.

[calm music]

I also think like surrounding yourself

with people you love and trust and

like this is a team of women that I like adore.

And my two closest friends are here

my baby is here like it just is a nice

vibe so it just kind of like the surreal

aspects of like going outside and

seeing all these people and everyone s

dressed to the nines and you re

like oh my God am I okay like, how do I look?

Whatever just you kind of don t

have to think about that until

the last minute and you just stay grounded.

And the reality of like the people

that you love and are close to I guess, you know?

I like to do my makeup myself a lot

of the times but I love Linda.

She did my 2019 Met look and it was incredible

and we work together a lot and I trust her.

Yeah we re kind of going for like romantic.

Very like easy but still glamorous so.

We re gonna do like big messy hair.

But not like truly actually messy.

Like for me like having that kind of like

a little bit of undone-ness is really nice.

And that s also like what the look is.

It s a ball gown obviously but

there s this kind of quality of like

oh the long like ribbon and the

sort of like oh I just slipped it on so.

And then we re definitely thinking like pretty

like gorgeous drippy kind of earrings.

I even did my nails with

little piercings of little diamonds.

[Assistant 3] I love the nails.

So we ve got like a little bit

of that drippy feeling of like undone.

Oh wow there s already people there.

[Linda] Oh my God why?

That is so stressful holy shit.

[Woman] It s time to get ready.

[Emily] I think this looks really good.

Oh my God I love that s so sick.

[indistinct murmuring]

[sighing]

[Vera] This Met Gala is historic in a way.

Because none of us really know

what the future will be and we ve

all lived collectively together

through probably one of the most confusing

and frightening times in modern history.

And this just feels like a moment

where we can for one night enjoy fashion.

Enjoy something, not frivolous but joyful.

And also beautiful.

[indistinct murmuring]

And for that reason I think it s

just gonna be a great evening.

[upbeat pop music]

[cameramen yelling]

[upbeat music]