The 2024 Met Gala was a phenomenal night of red carpet looks. The theme, based on J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story “A Garden of Time,” gave stylists the opportunity to experiment with extravagant floral dresses as well as striking suits. The dystopian short story depicts a beautiful garden of glass “time flowers” that are plucked one-by-one by Count Axel and his wife in order to temporarily rewind time and delay a rampaging mob from destroying their villa. Predictably, many of the red carpet looks from the Met Gala were centered around the bejewelled glass flowers from the short story. From sequined dresses to voluminous ball gowns, three flowers bloomed most dramatically: Zendaya’s, Lana Del Rey’s and Teyana Taylor’s.
Zendaya, wearing Maison Margiela as her first look, opted for dramatic, full-floral glam. She stunned critics with an extravagant, floor-length, royal green and deep cerulean dress. Layers of ballooning, metallic blue tulle over an emerald corset cascaded down her waist and crawled up her right shoulder giving the dress a flowing, fantastical look. Additionally, adhering to the naturalistic theme, her dress flaunted clusters of leaves, vines, and grapes draped at her waist and snaked around her left arm. A little hummingbird rested on her collarbone. Zendaya’s honey
blonde hair was whipped in a low bun topped with a dramatic foot-tall, black, feathered headpiece. Her black-cherry lips with a smoked out black waterline tied together the dark look perfectly. Her appearance was unforgettable and viewers will gain an incredible appreciation for the number of beautiful, intricate details that can be designed into a dress.
Lana Del Rey’s look, designed by Alexander McQueen’s Seán McGirr, featured a cream bodycon dress with a skin-tone corset. Hawthorn branches wove across the surface of her dress up to her face. A sandy-hued, tent-like veil was draped over hawthorn branches protruding from her headpiece. The dramatic headpiece and tiered tulle veil fully encased her upper body and trailed to the floor behind her. The design was Seán McGirr’s homage to a piece from Alexander McQueen’s 2006 Fall/Winter “Widows of Culloden” show. The same hawthorn branches were also entwined around Del Rey’s left wrist, capped off with a single red rose. The ensemble was a gothic romance, portraying the stark contrast between the fragile beauty of Count Axel’s garden and his marauding attackers.
Blonde bombshell Teyana Taylor graced the Met Gala steps with a breathtaking rose-red gown from The Blonds. Her dress consisted of a long corset top with a deep V-neckline and an asymmetrical, bright red skirt. Flowers in every shade of deep red embellished the stunning dress. Small, blood-red vines hung from the flowers clustered on Taylor’s velvet skirt that ballooned dramatically around her hips. A crimson train, which was attached to the dress, cut to a high slit on her right thigh and flowed behind her. Gold stilettos and David Yurman gold bangles and earrings accessorized the look. With her white-blonde hair teased into an electrifying updo, she was certainly the most magnetic rose in the Met Gala garden.
While each look was unique, Zendaya’s, Lana Del Rey’s and Teyana Taylor’s definitely shone bright in the Met Gala garden that night.
Works Cited:
Allaire, Christian. “Lana Del Rey’s 2024 Met Gala Look References an Iconic Alexander McQueen Collection.” Vogue, 7 May 2024, https://www.vogue.com/article/lana-del-reys-2024-met-gala-look-references-an-iconic-alexander-mcqueen-collection. Accessed 16 November 2025.
Pierre, Mekishana. “Teyana Taylor Sports One of Her Burlesque Costumes to the Met Gala.” Entertainment Tonight, 7 May 2024, https://www.etonline.com/teyana-taylor-sports-one-of-her-burlesque-costumes-to-the-2024-met-gala-exclusive-224912. Accessed 16 November 2025.
Sanchez, Rosa. “Lana Del Rey Is Wrapped Up in Twigs at the Met Gala.” Harper’s BAZAAR, 6 May 2024, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a60701767/lana-del-rey-red-carpet-photos-met-gala-2024/. Accessed 16 November 2025.
Vogue. “Met Gala 2024 Red Carpet Looks: See Every Celebrity Outfit and Dress.” Vogue, 8 May 2024, https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/met-gala-2024-red-carpet-see-every-celebrity-look-outfit-and-dress. Accessed 16 November 2025.
Do You Actually Read the Terms and Conditions?