A hint at things to come?

Just when I thought that the fashion event of the year had come and gone after the stunning spectacle that was the Academy Awards red carpet, I realised last week that was only the tip of the iceberg and simply a warm-up for the weird and wonderful extravaganza that is the Met Ball.  

The annual event is known for its jaw-dropping red carpet, due to both the incredible fashion on display and the time and effort it takes to climb the steps that lead up to the entrance; a task all too often carried out with great difficulty in the most cumbersome of attire. It is certainly a red carpet event with a difference; one where the designer must adhere to a specific theme and therefore becomes almost as scrutinised as the A-list celebrity wearing their creation. Most importantly however, it is not an event for the fashionably faint-hearted.

This year’s Met Ball style parade did not disappoint – but it was unlikely to do so with the theme ‘Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology’.

While many well-known faces like Kim Kardashian and model Jourdan Dunn seemed to take a predictable ‘robotic’ route in silver and gold metallic, other designer/celebrity collaborations really took on the theme with gusto. Claire Danes arguably stole the show in her glow-in-the-dark princess gown, made by Zac Posen using fiber optics and organza. Making such a jaw-dropping arrival proved a tricky task, however. Speaking to Vanity Fair, the actress said: ‘Zac literally had a bus for me to get here, so I stood. I’m moving carefully ... cautiously. I’m going to throw the after-party under my dress! It’s very spacious.’ 

Another famous lady who took the time to get creative with the theme and put her own spin on it was Sarah Jessica Parker – although the Sex and the City leading lady was not met with such rave reviews and in an op-ed with T Magazine the style icon was forced to defend her fashion choices. Referring to her 18th century-inspired cropped trousers and tailored coat combo, she said: ‘This year’s theme is far more challenging than themes of years past, mostly in terms of how I wanted to express it as I understood it … What is technology? And what does it mean when applied to fashion?’ She added: ‘We wanted it to be about the technology of thought, of application, of fabrication. The technology of the hand and the machine.’

Amongst the marvelous mix of creativity and off-the-wall ideas however, it was possible to see a number of common trends emerging, courtesy of Louis Vuitton’s lace-up ankle boots, the dark lip rocked by Taylor Swift, Rachel McAdams and co and the metallic hair jewels incorporated into the ensembles of Olivia Wilde, Rita Ora and many more. So were these elements simply indicative of the Met Gala theme or a hint of what to expect from the fashion world in the seasons to come? Looks like we’ll have to watch this space.