Costume Art – From hand-painted craftsmanship to aging-body theatrics, this year’s Met Gala spotlighted men dressed as living exhibitions.
A black tuxedo has long been the Met Gala’s shortcut to “timeless,” but this year the carpet felt like a gallery wall pulled onto Fifth Avenue.
With “Costume Art” as the organizing theme. the usual online rituals of ranking and guessing turned into something closer to close-looking.. The looks that stood out treated menswear not as attire. but as a medium: wearable composition. material storytelling. and—at its most ambitious—full-body performance.
For Karan Johar, the impact was inseparable from process.. Inspired by painter Raja Ravi Varma. his ensemble leaned on Manish Malhotra’s atelier approach. where craft is measured in hours. days. and an almost obsessive count of techniques.. The result reads like a miniature mural made wearable: embroidery. painted finishes. velvet drapes. and structured. ornate motifs built to carry attention from every angle.
This is what “Costume Art” invites: a shift from “who wore what” to “how it was made,” and why that making matters.
Manish Malhotra’s own look continued that idea of cultural architecture.. Rather than staying within the boundary of a classic bandhgala silhouette. the design opened outward into an architectural cape concept. layered with textiles and detailing that nod to craftsmanship traditions while translating them into something sculptural.. Even the personalization of artisan names and signatures felt less like decoration and more like attribution. turning a fashion moment into a public record of labor.
Meanwhile, international glamour veered into theatrical transformation.. Bad Bunny’s styling leaned into “The Aging Body. ” supported by prosthetic makeup that reframed the familiar silhouette of a star into an exploration of time.. The accompanying tuxedo language. while rooted in modern tailoring cues. still served the broader point: the outfit was an argument about the body as a canvas.
A$AP Rocky’s entry stayed in the sweet spot between recognition and reinvention.. His custom cape, paired with a precise palette and tailored detailing, referenced high-fashion codes without losing a sense of drama.. The accessories elevated the styling into something that felt intentional rather than merely dressed up. as if every element had a job to do in the overall composition.
At the other end of the spectrum, Wisdom Kaye made a case for creativity through constraint—specifically, upcycled materials.. Built from items sourced via eBay. the construction read as fashion’s version of remixing: a velvet cropped jacket. detached trousers. and a metal-boned corset that look designed to surprise. not explain themselves.
In this context, menswear on the Met carpet becomes a cultural barometer. When craftsmanship, performance, and sustainability enter the same space, style starts to signal values, not just taste—reminding us that fashion is one of the fastest-moving ways societies tell stories about identity.