Met Gala 2024 highlights: See the best moments from fashion’s biggest night

Sanya Tawakley, 21, was among the crowd watching the departures outside the Mark hotel after first trying to reach the front of the Met (“that was a bust,” she said). A student at the Fashion Institute of Technology living in New York for the first time, she said she wanted to come to see the looks.

She arrived at 5:30 p.m. — a little too late to see Tyla, but just in time to see Jonathan Bailey, Doja Cat and the models led out by Karlie Kloss. She also got a glimpse of Cardi B, who reached her hand out of the umbrella fortress that had been hiding her look to tease the fans chanting her name.

“This was a night for the girls,” she said. “I honestly think in terms of favorites: Doja killed it. Ironically, she was iconic for wearing a towel.”

Tawakley studies communication design.

“It was honestly just so much fun in terms of everyone standing there judging the looks, it was like community bonding,” she said.

The Vogue livestream may be down, but the Met Gala carpet isn’t yet closed to couture.

The scene is chaotic, although the line of celebrities has slowed somewhat. Despite guests being summoned to dinner more than a half-hour ago, the new arrivals are leisurely making their way up the stairs.

Camila Cabello may be feeling the lateness more than most, though — her bag was a block of ice with a rose in it. It was dripping all over the carpet.

From video coverage of the pro-Palestinian protests in New York, it appears as if protesters have gone in circles around the Met — coming within a block of the entrance but redirecting after they hit police barricades.

The protest started earlier this afternoon at Hunter College. From livestreams, it appears as if the group became separated — it’s unclear how many different groups there are and how many people are marching.

A chorus of at least 50 singers suddenly appeared at cocktails, which most guests opted for over a first look at the exhibit.

This is the traditional sudden performance at cocktails to get everybody to go to dinner. Then someone rang a bell, and the entire chorus and accompanying performers called out: “To dinner!”

For Kim Kardashian, the Met Gala is a family affair. She has a group chat with her sisters and they plan to meet at the top of the stairs. Their mom, however, was “already inside partying,” Vogue host La La Anthony told her friend.

“When our families worked together for Skims, I was so thrilled,” Lana Del Rey told Kardashian on the Vogue livestream.

It’s almost dinner time. Tonight’s meal has been designed and provided by Olivier Cheng Catering. Dinner will be in the Temple of Dendur. There will be “tablescapes” of “enchanted candelabras entwined with floral arrangements, further transporting guests inside a fairytale narrative.” Here’s what’s on the menu:

To start: medley of spring vegetables paired with olive soil, elderflower foam and raspberry vinaigrette (no, that’s not a typo for “olive oil”)

Main course: filet of beef, pea tortellini, morels and spring vegetables

Dessert: assortment of petits fours inspired by the Brothers’ Grimm fairytale of — yep — Sleeping Beauty and a selection of “confections in the shape of bespoke hats”

AP cameras captured New York police shoving what appeared to be a protester off the carpet and over the barricades.

It’s unclear what preceded the scuffle. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been marching nearby, but it’s unclear whether this incident was related.

7:08 p.m.: Kris Jenner, in white Oscar de la Renta, chats with La La Anthony on the carpet, with Corey Gamble. “It’s just a wonderful night and we get to see the kids in a little while,” Jenner said. Anthony asked when her best friend, Kim Kardashian, would arrive. “Any minute,” Jenner said. “You know Kim.”

7:23 p.m.: Fresh from the Tom Brady roast, and undeterred by the previous night’s boos, Kim Kardashian seems to be spotted leaving The Mark, under cover of multiple umbrellas.

7:41 p.m.: Kim Kardashian posts a series of photos on Instagram previewing her silver Maison Margiela by John Galliano, showing off a tiny waistline that might make Scarlett O’Hara faint.

7:46 p.m.: Kendall Jenner walks the Met carpet in archival Givenchy by Alexander McQueen from 1999. She tells Anthony that she’s the first human to wear it. “I couldn’t do any tailoring … but it just fit perfectly,” she told Vogue. “It was meant to be.”

7:53 p.m.: Kim Kardashian, sporting platinum blonde hair, appears on the carpet.

8 p.m.: Kylie Jenner is on the carpet.

We have an umbrella cover-up again.

Shortly after a large bag — with only some black tulle popping out the top — was carried out of the Mark, someone surrounded by large Mark umbrellas was walked out of the hotel. The crowd started charting “Cardi!” as the group carefully made their way around a sprinter van.

It’s not just Gigi Hadid with a detachable dress. Newly minted Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph had half her Gap dress removed and carted away by Met Gala staff.

Here’s a look at some of the most notable accessories at tonight’s Met Gala:

• Colman Domingo left the Mark with a bouquet of white calla lilies
• Tyla, in a gown made to look like sand, held an hourglass
• Adam Mosseri wore a velvet jacket adorned with pins — flowers, a suitcase, a plane, a bow
• Sam Smith wore silver and gold metal roses tucked into the waist of their jacket
• Jack Harlow also channeled florals — but subtly with a silver and pearl floral boutonniere
• Alexandra Daddario wore a golden, snake-like crown with her butterfly-adorned Dior dress
• Elizabeth Debicki wore a floral headpiece, the same color as her flowing satin gown
• Michael Shannon held a bag meant to look like chips (cheese & onion flavor, specifically)

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An AP photographer outside the gala says protesters have begun moving away from the vicinity of the Met Gala.

Police ordered protesters to stay on the sidewalks and stay off the roadway. If they don’t comply, they were threatened with arrest for disorderly conduct. Photos showed a protester being detained, but New York police have not yet confirmed any arrests.

No.

(We’ll check in once an hour until she shows, though.)

The four celebrity co-chairs have arrived in a range of styles both traditional and bold — but all dressed by some of the most acclaimed designers.

Jennifer Lopez donned custom Schiaparelli. A 13-time veteran of the Met Gala, Lopez wore a sheer gown with sparkling rhinestones.

Zendaya went all-in on “The Garden of Time” theme in custom Maison Margiela. The “Challengers” star wore a blue and green dress adorned with a mockingbird and bunches of grapes.

Also wearing Maison Margiela was Bad Bunny. Holding a black floral bouquet, the Puerto Rican singer had on a navy jacket with red details inside his pants legs and a poofy beret-esque hat.

Chris Hemsworth, the first-time host who has joked that he is not fashionable, wore a tan Tom Ford suit. The Australian actor dressed things down a bit, foregoing a tie and leaving several shirt buttons undone.