How Gabrielle Union's Water-Inspired 2024 Met Gala Look Came to Be

If you’re looking for a floral reference in Gabrielle Union’s 2024 Met Gala dress by Michael Kors, you’ll find yourself playing a lost game of Where’s Waldo. She and stylist Thomas Christos Kikis “wanted to go a little further, beyond just floral elements” for the “Garden of Time” theme.

“Ultimately, I was inspired by the idea that beauty and creativity, in many ways, can protect us, even if temporarily from the worst aspects of our human experience and what we are faced with. we face,” he told Fashionista. “It’s kind of this esoteric concept that we explored and I was like, ‘Okay, there’s a lot of floral elements, and I know a lot of people are going to go in that direction.'”

This led them to instead interpret another crucial element for gardens: water.

“Every year we like to interpret the theme in a way that doesn’t just look like the designer – which is always our main approach and concern, that we do justice to the designer’s vision,” says Kikis. “But also, it reflects what Gabrielle stands for and what she feels and what her year is like.”

The dress – dripping with meticulously placed hand-embroidered sequins in an ombré effect – took 9,500 hours and 12 artisans and, for Kikis, “embodies water, fluidity and continuous progress and change”. Sparkling Tiffany & Co. jewelry adds extra glamor to the ensemble.