Was the Met Gala of 2021 really a success? Or a total fail? 

By: Huma Ahmad

Oh great…here we go. A time of the year everyone has been waiting for, just to end up  seeing Kim Kardashian looking like an alien from another planet, Rihanna looking like me when  I get out of bed on a Saturday morning, and A$AP Rocky looking like he came straight out of the  Captain Crunch cereal box. 

What seemed to be a great theme of representing America, came out  to be a new season of American Horror Story with a mix of a slumber party. Once the looks were coming out on social media, people became enraged.

Many went on TikTok to give opinions on all the celebrity’s attires, of which not many were praised as compared to the past Met Galas. However, what people don’t take into consideration is that the theme isn’t so basic as Camp in 2019 and Catholic Imagination in 2018. 

America can be looked at and represented in many ways and perspectives. Fashion is art and art is all about having an open mind of full creativity and not having any fear of being different from the normal trends. 

After all, many past unforgettable painters, such as Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Allen Poe, were never really popular during their time because they did not fit in with the trends, yet they were beyond their time and were different from the rest which makes them truly unique in their own way.  

I believe every single celebrity out there that represented their fashion companies, had a  beautiful idea of representing America. Kim Kardashian didn’t come out to represent the possible  aliens from other planets, but rather she represented her want to become part of the shadows, being unknown, and not always being blamed for setting groundbreaking trends because of her  style and her body. 

She came in full black attire that had an illusion of not showing her full  curves and completely covering her face. 

She knew that even though she won’t be showing anything that represents her in the eyes of the American people and the world, she will still be grasping attention. And that’s the issue she’s trying to represent, that no matter how hidden she tries to be, she will always end up being found and talked about. 

The black color of the  Balenciaga gown represents her mourning stage of her divorce from Kanye West as if something or someone has passed away in her life. Astonishingly, Kim comes with Kanye West dressed up in full black attire that’s covering his face. 

However, that wasn’t really Kanye West, it was actually her designer that represented Kanye West with the same stance and fashion he would wear. Yet again, Kim Kardashian didn’t disappoint and shocked everyone even when she went to the Met Gala in one of the most subtle gowns.  

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky came together in polar opposite outfits with Rihanna wearing a dress representing Balenciaga and A$AP Rocky wearing a quilt-inspired overcoat with a suit  under it made by the ERL label. What I believe, the rumored to-be couple is symbolizing the era of slavery in American history. 

Quilts were an important element to African American slaves because they would use the quilts they made to have secret coding navigations to escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad. Quilts would have patterns like the “wagon  wheel,” “tumbling blocks,” and “bear’s paw.” 

The secret messages the quilts held were an indirect way to communicate with other slaves to work together in escaping to fight for their freedom. Coincidently, A$AP Rocky takes off the quilt to represent the final freedom of slavery with Rihanna representing the beauty of the African American community alongside him.  

Eventually, they are both in black confidently posing at the camera and smiling at each other, while everyone has all eyes on them.  

So? Where were we?

 Do you think the Met Gala of 2021 was still a complete fail or was it truly different and eye-opening from the past Met Galas? I’ve also only spoken about three of the celebrities that appeared in the Met Gala … imagine how much meaning other celebrities and influencers had on their attires!

 They all must have been out of this world like Kim Kardashian’s outfit. Get it?