Getting dressed for the Met Gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s star-studded yearly fund-raiser, is often a bit of a challenge. Guests want to impress, and need to attire themselves appropriately for the night’s theme — this year, the gala was celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” a history-making look at the Black dandy.
The idea is to nail the brief and, more important, not to be the person whose outfit prompts criticism online. Some worried that celebrities may find Monday night’s theme particularly tricky.
“I just really don’t want to see any floor-length durags or pimp canes,” Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, a stylist and Vogue’s former global contributing editor at large, said ahead of the event.
Lisa, the Thai singer from the K-pop group Blackpink and a star of the latest season of “The White Lotus,” found herself a focus of discussion on Monday night after the pattern of her skimpy lace ensemble — a black lace single-breasted blazer over a bodysuit paired with Louis Vuitton monogrammed tights — raised a question online.
Whose face is in that lace?
Eagle-eyed blue carpet watchers noticed that the lace composing Lisa’s pants-less outfit appeared to contain a pattern of tiny, intricate faces.
“The lace replicates elements of an artwork by the American artist Henry Taylor depicting portraits of figures who have been a part of the artist’s life,” Louis Vuitton wrote in a statement about Lisa’s outfit construction.
Mr. Taylor, who has portrayed figures including Barack and Michelle Obama and the artist David Hammons, recently painted a portrait of Pharrell Williams, the men’s wear creative director for Louis Vuitton, for one of the covers of Vogue’s May issue.
Mr. Williams collaborated with Mr. Taylor for his debut show in Paris, embroidering miniature portraits by the artist on suits, jackets and accessories.
