This Brand Won the Met Gala Red Carpet, According to Instagram's Favorite Trend Analyst

The Met Gala has long been fashion's most anticipated red carpet. Still, in 2025, a shift toward refined tailoring and subtle statements marked a departure from the over-the-top extravagance we've come to expect. As someone who's covered countless fashion events, nothing has brought me more joy than what was inspired by the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style theme. It ushered in a refreshing "less is more" aesthetic that still managed to captivate the cultural conversation, leaving room for extravagance and dandyism but with a sharp attention towards tailoring as well. To decode what this means for the fashion industry at large, I turned to Instagram's favorite trend analyst, @databutmakeitfashion.

With over half a million followers hanging on her every percentage and getting an incredibly relatable fashion-girl meme along the way, @databutmakeitfashion has quickly risen to become the digital authority on what matters in the fashion ecosystem, with Instagram being her main platform. Her unfiltered, real-time analysis cuts through the noise of traditional fashion coverage and offers insights that resonate with the facts (and incredibly accurate data points) behind the trend cycle.

In our conversation following fashion's biggest night, she revealed why one particular designer stood out as the undisputed winner of the Met Gala red carpet, noted on some of her favorite looks, and let us know the takeaways that can't be missed this season. Below, discover everything you need to know if you want to analyze the Met Gala red carpet with us.

Here we go, another Met Gala in the books. What are your initial thoughts of the evening?

I thoroughly enjoyed this carpet. It was a lot more cohesive than previous years. What I thought was a bit interesting was that there were some more "traditional extravagant looks," such as Diana Ross's look, which was fantastic and larger than life, or Doja Cat was pretty extravagant as well. But amongst the other looks, it was more of a "less is more" vibe than it's been in Met Galas of years past.

I saw a lot of online discourse of people arguing over Zendaya's look because it was really a "less is more" moment. For a look to be important at the Met Gala, does it need to be larger than life? To me, it was on-theme, showing off the artistry of the house and the brand, which I found interesting because people see the Met Gala as the place to go all out. The theme Camp: Notes on Fashion in 2019 gave us the expectation that if people don't dress in an over-the-top gown, they didn't get it right. So, I like how the Met this year was maybe a little bit more balanced, just kind of showing off the artistry of brands and doing really nice, more subtle, but still very pointed and important messages through clothing. I saw some discourse saying, "Is this a recession indicator?" And I don't even want to get into that. I thought it was great.

I actually kind of want to dig into that "recession indicator" discourse. Is there validity in the argument that these minimalist, "less is more" approaches to such a big red carpet could be perceived as a sign of economic instability?

I don't think it's a recession indicator at all. If anything, I think it's a very appropriate response to the theme in question and to the political climate that we live in. I love a good "less is more" moment. I actually think that Zendaya's look was my favorite. You know how every year there are all these comparisons of the Met to things like The Hunger Games? Critics say, "These are such extravagant displays of wealth," but I appreciate that it is a fundraiser for the arts. There's a lot of defunding that's happening in arts programs right now.

A big conversation every year after the Met Gala red carpet is revealed is whether or not people correctly paid homage to the theme and how they honor it. Tell me if you think people hit the mark with the theme of Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

The theme was approached better than it has been in previous years. I really liked seeing a lot of the emphasis on the tailoring and how you can have a minimalistic look, but the tailoring is what makes it. Zendaya's look again makes for the perfect example. It goes back to the roots of how a lot of people start in fashion as tailors, and that's where fashion comes from in the first place. Janelle Monáe was fabulous. This night was Thom Browne's moment.

What's nice about the Met Gala is that you always see initial reactions when celebs walk down the carpet, but a lot of looks that are paying homage to something don't make their message obvious at first glance. I've seen a lot of discourse on how the Miu Miu girls were wearing homages to historical Black female figures, contradicting initial statements when they walked down the carpet, and people sighed, saying, "Oh, Gigi's not on-theme."

Which designer do you think walked away as a name to know from this red carpet?

Definitely Thom Browne. The brand is not as well-known as other big names on this carpet, but this year, Browne really broke into the masses and is becoming a household name because of the incredible stunts they pull at the Met Gala. It's Thom Browne's time to shine.

Thom Browne is just so genius with the people they choose to wear Thom Browne on the red carpet. People appreciate that Browne brings a little bit of the magic back to fashion, in a way that you know how people miss or always talk about how they miss the Alexander McQueen runways and how artistic they were, and how he would push the envelope. I feel kind of the closest thing we have to that right now is Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli, and then, of course, Thom Browne.

How do you think the Met Gala influences the the fashion industry differently than other major red carpet events or fashion week even?

It's tough because other red carpet events don't capture as wide an audience. All eyes are on the Met Gala carpet, even with how many people watched my Instagram stories last night versus Oscars night or any other night of the year. It really is the Super Bowl of fashion.

That's why it's great for brands such as Thom Browne, that maybe aren't as widely known as Louis Vuitton, to really put a lot of their eggs in the Met Gala basket because they get so much exposure. It definitely has a big influence on what people talk about and what people reference year after year. I still see a lot of people reference Rihanna dressed as the pope for the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination Met Gala. I see Blake Lively's look all the time coming up again and again, and Emily Ratajkowski's look for Camp. This is the stage for fashion moments that people will reference years from years and years.

Were there any trends that you saw last night that you think are going to pop up in the data in the coming months?

A lot of hats. Definitely the hats. It was interesting how Zendaya's hat kind of covered half her face, and then Rihanna as well, usually at a red carpet event people want to show off the glam. That's something that will stick.

How do you think growth in social media platforms like Instagram have impacted the Met Gala fashion?

Oh, so much. It's a free-for-all. You no longer need to have a publicist present on the steps or have a full content team to get your brand out there, to get your look out there. You just have, and you saw it in the Mark Hotel penthouse yesterday—a ton of people on their laptops and on their phones, posting to their audiences that are tuned in, and they can post about whatever they want.

It democratizes what you can see; instead of having to only refresh what Vogue.com is saying or what a publication is saying, you just have so many more opinions out there. Even this morning at 7 a.m., I was on social media and looked up "Janelle Monàe Met Gala," and there were already dozens of videos analyzing their look, which I thought was very interesting. So you just get so much more access to content, to designers, to celebrities, and then, of course, to people's opinions, that you just would not have that without social media, which I think is really interesting.

Why should people value the voices of creators on Instagram when we have traditional press?

There is something nice about not needing any formal approval before you post something, because you can. I Deserve Couture is fabulous and very well-liked because of how blatantly and openly he expresses his opinion. Sometimes that's a very positive opinion, and sometimes, he has his critiques as well, which I think is interesting because if you're a commentator and you have to go through a more formal approval process or if you work for a publication that receives funding from certain brands, maybe you do have a little bit of guardrails in what you can say. With a lot of social media commentators being independent, it is really nice sometimes to just hear people's unfiltered thoughts about what people are wearing.

It's also nice because you can get stuff out in real time. You don't have to build a webpage; you don't have to do an official press release. It's cool to be able to post as things happen.

Lastly, do you want to leave us with your favorite look of the evening?

I just love everything Bad Bunny does. He is putting his culture first and foremost, and adding a little bit of resistance. I saw a creator say how much they love that whenever Bad Bunny speaks to people, even at an event as big as the Met Gala Carpet, he will speak to them in Spanish. Even if he's not sure if the person speaks Spanish, in the same way that people just speak English to him. That's his whole thing, and this Prada look sealed the deal.

If you liked this year's theme, you'll want to shop these pieces: