09 May,2018 07:45 AM IST | Mumbai | Shweta Shiware
Ask and you shall receive. Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination - the 2018 theme of Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Gala delivered the promise of being provocative. Held in New York City on Monday night, the highly ticketed fashion event of the year was co-hosted by Rihanna, Amal Clooney and Donatella Versace. And it wouldn't be hyperbole to say its Biblical theme was primed to cause a tension between the sacred and the secular. Celebrities hit the red carpet wearing papal-inspired gowns, sacred tiaras and crucifix, and trust Rihanna to take it up several notches with a shimmering Pope's mitre (headdress)."
"Fashion and religion have long been intertwined, mutually inspiring and informing one another. Although this relationship has been complex and sometimes contested, it has produced some of the most inventive and innovative creations in the history of fashion," curator Andrew Bolton said in a statement on The Met's website.
Read about how celebs tackled the tricky theme on the red carpet...
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There were archangels and then there was Priyanka Chopra. Dressed in a deep burgundy velvet gown and ornate hood by Ralph Lauren, and that subtle addition of a Rosary around the wrist made all the heavenly difference.
Party Pooper
It doesn't take much to gen up on the theme, Deepika Padukone. An off-shoulder gown by Prabal Gurung in scarlet red (the shade denotes Cardinals' non-liturgical dress), with a slit displaying those long legs screams: safe, and dare we say, dull.
Virgin Mary
In a sea of bedazzling frocks, towering headpieces and roaring iconography, actor Kate Bosworth stood out in a pale gold trailing ballgown by Oscar de la Renta complete with a teardrop mother-of-pearl trimmed white veil. Truly a Hail Mary moment!
Sinner
"The theme to me is 'Be Yourself'. You were made in God's image, right," told writer-actor Lena Waithe to The New York Times. That she wore an LGBTQ flag as a cape to the Catholic-themed event says a lot about acceptance, or the lack of it.
Sister Act
Inspired by the typical uniform of a nun, there was something quietly poignant about Ladybird (2017) director and actor Greta Gerwig in a high-necked black gown worn with white balloon sleeves by The Row.
Young Pope
No, that's not the actual Pope. The undisputed queen of the Met Gala, Rihanna wore a custom-made Maison Margiela by John Galliano and a Pope's mitre. While there's chatter over RiRi taking the theme wee too devotedly, it did give us a lesson in celestial style though.
Archangel
Fashion took a flight of fancy, literally, as Katy Perry showed up in OTT feathered angel wings that spanned nearly six feet, underneath a gold sheath dress by Versace. That pose when Perry kneeled on the steps alluding to mimic praying, is why she deserves the title of ultimate pop princess.