Fashion

The most sustainable dresses at the Met Gala

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2 weeks ago

May 8, 2024

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On Monday (6th May), fashion paid tribute to the natural world at the glitziest event on the fashion calendar – the Met Gala. Although the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual celebration honoured the Costume Institute’s Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition, the dress code was “The Garden of Time”. Referencing J.G. Ballard’s short story of the same name, guests were invited to embrace the ethereal theme. As expected, many donned creations drawn from the natural world, sparking a thousand “Florals for spring? Groundbreaking” memes.

Less explicit references to Ballard’s 1962 tale could be glimpsed in the futuristic designs that championed the natural world in more opaque ways, namely through sustainable practices and emerging technologies. The latter was a literary trope of the English novelist, who explored sci-fi and dystopia in his writing decades before we’d ever watched Black Mirror.

‘Fleeting beauty’ was the ominous directive to guests from Met Gala curator and Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour. Stars including Jennifer Lopez, Charlie XCX, and Amanda Seyfried played with the dress code more experimentally, nodding to the moral in Ballard’s sci-fi fable; that time eventually runs out for everyone. Fleeting beauty, indeed.

As “the internet’s libraria,” Jack Edwards explains,” on TikTok, The Garden of Time revolves around a character named Count Axel and his wife, who live in an extravagant villa brimming with rare books and antiques. But shattering their lavish domesticity is an encroaching mob. To keep the rabble at bay, the Count cuts a “time flower” from his garden, temporarily making the masses retreat, but eventually, the couple runs out of these “time flowers.”

@jack_edwards
♬ original sound – Jack Edwards

Edwards’ theory is that the short story “represents this human cycle of creation and destruction.” Seen through this literary lens, the Met Gala dress code seems a surprising choice, given the industry’s long-standing love of nature and simultaneous involvement with its destruction. While Ballard is perhaps best associated with a sense of dystopia, he was ultimately a futurist. His stories spoke to the climate crisis decades before it became a part of everyday conversation.

The Met Gala has never been for the masses, but what happens in the highest echelons of fashion undoubtedly impacts the industry at large. As the Global Fashion Agenda reports; “In many ways, the Met Gala serves as a bellwether for the broader industry, signalling that vintage and pre-loved goods are only going to increase in popularity.”

While many guests played into the horticultural element explicitly referenced in the dress code, here, we look at the more inventive explorations of The Garden of Time and pay homage to the industry futurists who are leading the way in more sustainable and slower fashion.

Tyla in Balmain

Singer Tyla wore an hourglass-inspired dress—and literal hourglass accessory—by Balmain, which not-so subtly nodded to the dress code’s theme of impermanence.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Cara Delevigne, FKA Twigs, and Ed Sheeran in Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney, arguably one of fashion’s most renowned climate activists, dressed Cara Delevigne, FKA Twigs, and Ed Sheeran—who made his Met Gala debut—in lab-grown diamonds made in collaboration with Vrai.

Stella McCartney, arguably one of fashion’s most renowned climate activists, dresses Cara Delevigne, FKA Twigs, and Ed Sheeran—who made his Met Gala debut—in lab-grown diamonds made in collaboration with Vrai.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Zendaya in archive John Galliano for Christian Dior

Zendaya wore an archival design from John Galliano’s Christian Dior Spring/Summer 1999 collection with a headpiece by Stephen Jones for Maison Margiela, which incorporated flora and fauna.

Zendaya wore an archival design from John Galliano’s Christian Dior

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Zendaya in archive John Galliano for Givenchy

The Challengers’ actresses’ second look of the night was another archival design – a Givenchy gown designed by John Galliano in 1996 with a vintage Philip Treacy headpiece from the show.

Zendaya wearing John Galliano at the Met Gala

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Co-chair Jennifer Lopez wore a custom Schiaparelli haute couture gown that reportedly took 800 hours to craft and was designed to evoke the butterfly, which Creative Director Daniel Roseberry said symbolised metamorphosis; “Something that was asleep that wakes up beautiful, powerful, and new.

Jennifer Lopez wore a custom Schiaparelli haute couture gown