Kim Kardashian magnetized attention and brought to the MetGala what few others genuinely did: elegance, restraint, surprise
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images The Met Gala dress code was “American Independence,” but the general interpretation tacitly but widely agreed upon was “Too Much.” It is an odd reading for a country whose signal contribution to fashion has been the introduction of sportswear — easy, unfussy, functional — but probably predictable. The Met Gala is a fundraiser by birth but has long since adolesced into a media circus. Like the regular circus, the clown with the biggest wig tends to win.
Because the Met Gala is a business for fashion media as much as it is for the museum, most of the coverage, from the live, televised commentary to the endless blog posts dissecting individual looks, didn’t say what most of the fashion professionals in my texts, DMs, and calls did: that most people looked, to put it politely, bad. I agreed. Dressing to be looked at — to demand to be looked at, to fight and win the battle for attention — is a goal that is distinct from dressing well.
Kim Kardashian West, who has come to the Met several times, is often the loudest one in the room, fashion-wise. She’s come damp, she’s come flowered. But last night, she came sheathed. The meme artists immediately dug up the H.R. Giger alien queen, and there were some fun photos of Kim — invisibly black, covered everywhere but her ponytail, the absence of glamour — with her half-sister, Kendall, traditional glam and anti-glam in one family portrait.
Her black shroud was Balenciaga couture. Of all the designers working today, Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia — Kim’s date, also shrouded — probably understands anti-glamour best. He’s made a career of it, elevating “low” items to high levels and high platforms ; he gets that glamour and anti-glamour are just two sides of the same coin. Gvasalia, talking about his couture collection earlier this summer, compared it with silence and noise.
You couldn’t miss Kim, and you’ll probably never miss Kim. She wasn’t invisible. But in doing the most and the least — in a T-shirt, a most American garment — she magnetized attention and brought what few others genuinely did: elegance, restraint, surprise. For a change, she said the quiet part — loud.
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