Esteemed guests arrived at the 2023 Met Gala Monday night wearing beautiful, vintage designs by the night’s honoree. But, much to no one’s surprise, Lil Nas X had jaws dropping once again with his quite literal outfit choice of glitz and glamour to honor the late Karl Lagerfeld, all the way down to intricate jewels, pearls and even whiskers.

While Lil Nas X has worn some wild outfits, his nearly naked moment on Monday was likely his boldest. The boundary-pushing recording artist stayed in character when asked to explain his look, answering only with, “Meow.”

The 24-year-old rapper was one of many stars to bring cat-inspired looks to the red carpet in honor of the late designer’s beloved feline, Choupette. This included Doja Cat, who transformed her face with prosthetics to look like a feline; Jared Leto, who emerged from a giant, furry suit and Janelle Monáe, who came carrying a cat bag.

The “Industry Baby” hitmaker arrived at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday in a head-to-toe, crystallized, feline look created by legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath and designer house Dior Men, with creative direction by Nicola Formichetti, manicure by Temeka Jackson and hair styling by Coree Moreno.

The musician took the naked dressing trend and made it his own, completing the cheeky, gilded look with a single item of clothing: a tiny, silver Dior thong — which exposed his buttocks — and only a belt made out of pearls as an accessory. Every part of his body, from his cheekbones, coating his lips and down to his toes in chunky, dazzling silver platform boots, was covered in silver paint and tons of bejeweled Swarovski crystals and pearls.

Much like one of the late designer’s embellished tie pins come to life, the “Montero” artist took it to the next level with silver makeup and exquisite pearl detailing in a lace-inspired pattern that flowed down his neck and onto his chest, all the way down to inch-long silver and gemstone-covered claws. In addition, the look included opulent face details, from bold, black eyeliner behind a matching jewel-adorned eye mask to beaded whiskers. 

The Met Gala coincides with the unveiling of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibition. “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” this year’s collection, honors the life, aesthetic and legendary career of the late designer, who died at 85 in February 2019.

The dress code “in honor of Karl” really leaves it up to the interpretation of celebrities and their stylists.

According to Vogue, Lil Nas X and McGrath met up in New York City on Monday at 9 a.m. to begin the nine-hour process of creating the full-body “Choupette-inspired” design the “Old Town Road” pop star would grace the Met Gala red carpet with.

“It’s really taken to new, three-dimensional crystal and pearl levels,” McGrath said.

It also demanded of her team to “fly all over the globe to find all of the pieces” for their creation, from “couture lace from 25 years ago” to “crystals from Austria.”

According to a news release from Swarovski and her representative, the silver-encrusted design involved an extraordinary 5,000 stones and 218,784 round flatback Swarovski crystals.

“The look is a celebration of self-expression and individuality while pushing the limits of traditional beauty standards,” she said in the release.

According to Allure, stylist Coree Moreno used Matrix products to shape Nas’s short curls.

“With his whole body covered in silver, we needed his hair to shine like the ensemble but remain natural to provide contrast,” Moreno explained.

“We opted for luscious and ultra-hydrated curls to frame the headpiece,” Moreno said.

Monday’s outfit continues Lil Nas X’s streak of metallic, monochrome outfits at the Met Gala. In 2021, the Grammy-winning musician arrived in three head-turning looks for the theme “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” Styled by Hodo Musa, the threefold gold-played Atelier Versace outfit required him to strip down on the red carpet.

We can only expect Lil Nas X to continue to shine, as that’s what he does best. We can’t wait to see how the Georgia rapper tops the look next year.

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