It’s the second Tuesday in May in Aotearoa, which means it’s fashion's biggest day in America, AKA the first Monday in May, the Met Gala.

If this means nothing to you, pause, go back and read Zoe’s essential explainer here. Back with us? Buckle up for a wild ride through ‘gilded glamour’, this year’s official red carpet dress code.

This year we eagerly waited to see if Rihanna would continue her maternity runway on the steps of the Met (she didn’t) and if the TikTok rumours of a Britney Spears appearance would be true (they weren’t). Instead we were blessed with a quintet of Kardashian-Jenner sisters, and celebrity ‘nepo babies’ including Kaia Gerber, Brooklyn Beckham and Lila Moss.

As always we at Ensemble are discerning with our best dressed sashes. We demand a thought process, a story and a sense of adventure. Herewith who made the cut.

Kim Kardashian in Marilyn Monroe’s dress 

It is not the Met Gala without a big arrival fashion moment: in recent years we’ve had Lady Gaga’s 16-minute camp performance and Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s late arrival wearing cosy blankets. This year was the turn of Kim Kardashian who created a pretty shocking moment by wearing Marilyn Monroe’s ‘happy birthday Mr President’ dress. There will be plenty of naysayers who’ll be very unhappy about this, which I do understand - this dress is a piece of US and pop culture fashion history, Marilyn is the definition of an icon, and why does a Kardashian get to wear it? (Hilariously it’s housed in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, Florida, which doesn’t quite have the historic weight any other museum might have…). 

The reason I love this is that as an ensemble, it has a story; and it’s forcing conversations. Whether you love it or hate it - and your opinion on celebrity and the Kardashians probably impacts that - Kim is forcing you to have an opinion. I also think this look really does symbolise the celebrity and social media gilded age that we now find ourselves living in in 2022. - Zoe Walker Ahwa

Hillary Clinton in Joseph Altuzarra

Towards the end of the red carpet arrivals, as Kim was arriving in her Marilyn look, the news broke about a leaked memo indicating that the US Supreme Court had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade - and wow, it put all of this into context real fast. I passionately believe that we should celebrate fashion and design and how we use this to express our identity, and that things like the Met Gala are important in the sense that they are about fashion as an art form (the event is actually a fundraiser for the Costume Institute department of the Metropolitan Museum). But… when things like this happen, it can be hard to justify a lot of this excess. I loved that amongst the chaos of the Met Gala looks, celebrity stylist Karla Welch posted about the news, writing “I know ur all waiting for #MetBall #gildedage photos but here’s a dose of a sick new reality for America. Elections matter. Reproductive Rights Matter. Safe Abortions Matter. Do not sit the midterms out”.

That’s why I am choosing Hillary Clinton’s look as one of my picks. The gown itself is exactly what you would expect her to wear - non-offensive, classic - but it’s more the message behind it that seems particularly resonant after that news: it features the embroidered names of 60 women who have shaped US history and Hillary herself, including Rosa Parks, Lady Bird Johnson, and Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham. It’s a simple detail, subtly political and deeply personal - a timely reminder that the personal is political, and fashion can be too. - ZWA

Cynthia Erivo in Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton had a stacked cast at the table of designer Nicolas Ghesquière and it almost feels like Cynthia and Gemma Chan (see below) were at a different party from the others who included Emma Stone, Hoyeon Jung, Sophie Turner, co-host Emma Chamberlain, Phoebe Dynevor and likely a stack of others who made no impact on me. (Shout out to Sophie Turner’s shoes though; the flat sandals are completely appropriate pregnancy attire and an essential item to any chic summer wardrobe). 

Anyone who knows my red carpet ‘taste’ knows comfort and fun factor are very important to me, unless there is a bigger, intellectual strategy at play (see also: Sarah Jessica Parker, below, and most Lady Gaga red carpet appearances). I’m super into this dress that has the appearance of body consciousness and sheer-factor, yet with strategically placed lace and fringing. It seems like Cynthia has the ability to eat, move and dance at will. Cynthia seems fun and I would love to sit at her table, especially in this outfit. I want to see it on the dance floor, please send me any shaky social footage you come across. - Rebecca Wadey

Gemma Chan in Louis Vuitton

Gemma Chan is one of those people whose looks I always remember (I’ll never forget her in hot pink Valentino at the Oscars in 2019, three years ahead of the rest of the world). I was eagerly anticipating this appearance and she didn’t disappoint. As with Cynthia’s look it’s body-con yet interesting. It’s not that hard for a model to look good in something clingy and sheer (see: Kaia Gerber) so I really appreciate it when the ‘genetically blessed’ (ugh) push the boat out a little further. - RW

Kris Jenner in Oscar de la Renta 

I am shocked as anyone that two Kardashian-Jenners are on the list of my favourite looks, but Kris looks fabulous. The buttery yellow gown is giving 1960s glamour (she said she was channelling Jackie Kennedy), and I can picture it in a Slim Aarons photograph. She looks like a society dame, which in its own unique way says both ‘gilded glamour’ and ‘In America’. - ZWA

Sarah Jessica Parker in Christopher John Rogers

Sarah Jessica Parker is the living embodiment of the term ‘understood the assignment’. I would love to watch a behind the scenes documentary of the work she puts into her outfit each time she attends; she’s the only person I can think of who could out-fashion nerd Zoe. 

Her looks are never my favourite but she doesn’t attend to win my heart and I appreciate that. She comes to honour the theme, the institution and the city of New York; all that is far greater than my need to imagine myself wearing her dress. 

This gown, which Sarah Jessica Parker worked with Christopher John Rogers on, pays homage to Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who in 1860 became the first Black female fashion designer in the White House. “The idea was to highlight the dichotomy between the extravagant, over-the-top proportions of the time period, and the disparity that was happening in America at the time.” Rogers told Vogue. To me it reads like an upended, reinterpreted Scarlett O’Hara moment for the modern age. - RW

Autumn de Wilde in Rodarte

This is fun; a sparkly coat with a huge pink bow. I’m a big fan of the photographer and director’s entire whimsical, vintage-inspired aesthetic, and so I love that, for the Met Gala, she’s wearing a look by her friends at Rodarte that perfectly represents that. Her hat is by Ukranian designer Ruslan Bagiinskiy, which is also a subtle but thoughtful touch, and her cane is actually a style signature. - ZWA

Janelle Monae in Ralph Lauren

This futuristic hooded sequin dress is very Grace Jones and that is a very good starting point for anyone considering ‘gilded glamour’ as a concept. Janelle Monae is someone I’m always excited to see on a red carpet as she never fails to use it as a storytelling opportunity. She told reporters at the Met Gala that she was proud to be an American. But as I watched the red carpet arrivals I couldn’t help but have her song ‘Americans’ in my head - “Until women can get equal pay for equal work / This is not my America / Until same gender loving people can be who they are / This is not my America / Until Black people can come home From a police stop without being shot in the head / This is not my America…” RW