But, beyond the beautiful pink floral detailing of her gown and diamond statement necklace, it was the pink Chanel cape feathers that had everyone talking.
Why? Well, it was the last piece Karl Lagerfeld made for her before his untimely death in February.” Karl made it for me, and Virginie finished,” she told reporters, referring to Virginie Viard who succeeded Lagerfeld as Chanel’s creative director.
Wintour had a longtime friendship with the famous designer and took the biggest night in fashion to honor the legend. Her tidbit also revealed that she had been working on her look, which included loose ostrich feathers with black tips, for the evening for several months before walking the pink carpet on May 6.
While the Vogue editor-in-chief might not be the only one donning feathers for the spectacular event—Celine Dion and Rosie Huntington-Whitley had quite the ensembles as well—she certainly had one of the most sentimental pieces of the evening. And it seems she got her inspiration for the look by one of the pieces displayed in the exhibit: a flamingo headpiece by Stephen Jones.
Given she’s chaired the black-tie fundraiser since 1995, it’s no doubt that Wintour also spent months working on the theme: “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” The inspiration came from a 1964 essay by Susan Sontag Notes on “Camp,” where she defines the word as “its love of the unnatural, of artifice and exaggeration.”
The result of the chosen theme? Some of the most over-the-top outfits worn by celebrities. Lady Gaga’s gown included five choreographed dancers, Emily Blunt’s gold dress featured 500,000 sequins, and Katy Perry donned an actual chandelier. The Met actually installed changing rooms at the top of pink carpeted steps for stars to change into more dinner-appropriate outfits.
