The secret behind the Met Gala's wooden and sand gowns

Per Sleeping Beauties: The Garden Of Time, the guiding theme of the Met Gala 2024, the grand entrance staircase of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York transformed into a fairy garden, almost surreal, with the attendees taking on naturalistic appearances. There was Lana Del Rey enveloped in branches and taffeta, Elle Fanning in a translucent cascade accompanied by two little birds, and Amelia Gray in one of the terrariums from the SS24 show by Undercover. The designers who participated in the latest edition of the Met Gala, the holy night of the Hollywood calendar, drew inspiration from the stylistic codes of plants and the natural world for their looks, an artistic inspiration that found expression in more than ever avant-garde textile and architectural techniques. As the title of the museum's new exhibition suggested, the central theme of the evening was dedicated to nature and decadence, but the real keyword as always remained "amaze." If during the last Couture Week we had a taste of the infinite possibilities of haute couture in creating exceptional garments, last Monday the entire audience of the Met Gala was left in awe in front of most of the looks, but especially at the sight of the bustier worn by Taylor Russell, a wooden corset created by the fashion house Loewe, and the sand dress worn by Tyla from Balmain. But how were these astounding works created? Just hours after their debut on the red carpet, the two brands revealed the techniques that made possible the creation of the two most distinctive outfits of the event.

The wooden corset by Loewe worn by Taylor Russell, Met Gala 2024

«I've always wanted to be a tree,» said Taylor Russell on the Met Gala red carpet, and indeed, on Monday night, the star transformed into an elegant bush. Although she has long been a global ambassador for Loewe, with several front-row appearances during the maison's Fashion Week presentations, also alongside Anna Wintour, for the actress, Monday's Met Gala was a first. Russell wore a complete outfit consisting of a draped white silk skirt and a brown corset that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be the trunk of a tree in all respects. The high-necked corset worn by the star evoked the characteristic striations of trees, but, as revealed in some videos released by the maison just hours before the red carpet, it was created in leather with a 3D mold to match Russell's exact body silhouette, then painted using the hydro-sublimation technique, already featured in Loewe's Spring 2023 collection. The maison and artistic director Jonathan Anderson are now known in the industry for their talent in trompe-l'œil reproductions, but with this look, they have completely raised the standards for haute couture.

The sand dress by Balmain worn by Tyla, Met Gala 2024

Her most popular song sings "make me water," but on Monday night, Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing transformed her into a living hourglass. Following this year's theme subtitle, Garden of Time, the designer created a dress inspired by the sands of time. Paired with a hourglass-shaped clutch, the dress completely enveloped the star's form as if she, just emerged from the water, had lain on a gleaming beach. Unlike the Loewe corset for Taylor Russell, which looks like wood but is actually leather, this dress is made entirely of sand. On a fabric molded on a plaster cast of Tyla's body, sand grains and microcrystals were pressed to add an extra touch of luminosity to an already seductive dress. The technique was also used for the top worn by Rousteing on the red carpet, but only the singer's dress had to undergo a rather tragic end: to make sure she could walk through the halls of the Met, the designer had to take scissors and cut Tyla's dress around her hips. The structure was so rigid that for the first photos of the event, it had to be carried from one step to another of the staircase.