It’s the first of May, which means that the Met Ball is back. This time, international celebrities flocked to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to pay homage to the late Karl Lagerfeld, in a theme aptly titled Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. The tribute to Lagerfeld’s reflected a reverence for his work dating his tenures at Chanel, Fendi and Chloé. Designers and stylists pored through a Lagerfeld lens, pulling from the archives to reflect the designer’s impact in his 65-year-long career. Dua Lipa donned a Chanel F/W’92 look from the Haute Couture collection, while Blackpink’s Jennie, who earned the nickname Human Chanel as one of Lagerfeld’s last handpicked muses for the fashion house, was dressed in Lagerfeld’s fall 1990 ready-to-wear collection.
To reflect the designer’s enduring legacy in the world of fashion, other elaborate and embellished works of tweed, gold and noir were fashioned by the houses of Valentino, Jacquemus, and Thom Browne. More literal odes to Lagerfeld took shape in the form of reference-heavy costuming. Jared Leto and Doja Cat dialled up the theatrics in larger-than-life Choupettes—the designer’s feline companion—while Simu Liu and Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Ke Huy Quan took inspiration from the designer’s institutional uniform, in fingerless gloves, sunglasses and a well-tailored monotone suit, in Versace and Dior respectively. From iterations of Chanel-emblematic Camelias and tweed to renditions of Lagerfeld’s signature sharp suits, celebrities showed up in their best full-glam looks inspired by the institution that was the designer.
With Asian representation garnering greater international appreciation in 2023—demonstrated by the buzz around Asian-centric programmes like EEAAO’s Oscar wins, Netflix’s Beef, and of course, the infiltration of Asian acts at this year’s Coachella music festival—these talents are making their presence salient on the iconic Met stairways. Beyond Ms Human Chanel, K-actress Song Hye-kyo and Jackson Wang made respective Fendi and Louis Vuitton debuts at the gala, joining a sizable number of Asian celebrities who flocked to the Met to show off their chops for one of the biggest nights in fashion.
Below, look through Grazia Singapore’s list of best-dressed Asian celebrities at the 2023 Met Ball.
Jennie Kim in Chanel
Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Valentino
Olivia Rodrigo in Thom Browne
Stephanie Hsu in Valentino
Ashley Park in Michael Kors
Devon Aoki in Jeremy Scott
Vanessa Hudgens in Michael Kors
Jackson Wang in Custom Louis Vuitton and Cartier
Mindy Kaling in Jonathan Simkhai
Also read: See Every Look From Robert Wun’s Debut Couture Collection In Paris
Eileen Gu in Robert Wun
Simu Liu in Versace
Eva Chen in Fendi
Cai Xukun in Prada
Alia Bhatt in Prabal Gurung
Liu Wen in Tory Burch
Song Hye-kyo in Fendi
Conan Gray in Balmain
Ke Huy Quan in Dior and Cartier
Sora Choi in Thom Browne
Kelsey Asbille in Prabal Gurung
Also read: The Best Dressed Asian Celebrities Gracing Milan Fashion Week