The Most Memorable Moments From the 2025 Met Gala

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Last night, fashion designers, models, actors, athletes, and more descended on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the fashion industry’s equivalent of the Super Bowl: the Met Gala.

From Rihanna’s showstopping look to Colman Domingo’s blue cape on that floral carpet, there were so many standout moments.

Who What Wear Shopping Director Bobby Schuessler sat down with Editorial Director Lauren Eggertsen and senior fashion and social media editor Tara Gonzalez to dig into everything from the night’s most memorable looks to the moments they think will go viral from the 2025 Met Gala.

In this roundtable episode, our editors share the looks they were most surprised by, their favorites of the night, and so much more.

For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.

Bobby Schuessler: We are sitting down moments after the Met Gala arrivals ended. When I say moments, Rihanna walked three minutes ago, and we are here recording this, and she looked incredible. It was worth the wait. Right off the bat, what are your thoughts?

Lauren Eggertsen: For anyone who maybe doesn't know how it works to cover the Met Gala, we are always waiting on Rihanna and rightfully so. The Met isn't over until she has appeared.

There was definitely a lot of hype circulating her arrival. She was arriving at the hotel in her fresh-off-the-fall-winter-25-runway Miu Miu look with her little hat and gray sweater and skirt.

We didn't want to speculate, but we were like, “Is she pregnant? Is she not pregnant? What's happening?”

We kind of saw a baby bump there and so that made her arrival just that much sweeter and much more anticipated, so it was very much worth it.

Tara Gonzalez: I also feel like it is so Rihanna of her to have two looks, you know, to have that really great Miu Miu look on the way to the hotel to then put on her actual look, which was amazing.

Of course, she would give us two looks so she can be as late as she wants, in my opinion. It's always worth drama, always.

BS: Who do you think had the most creative take? Did anybody else completely surprise you?

TG: I do feel like I was a little bit surprised by Gigi Hadid's look. The story behind it I thought was actually really interesting because she was wearing Miu Miu. It was a gold gown.

I feel like when I originally saw it really quickly, I was like, “Okay, I don't know how that's tying into the theme.”

In the interview, she got into how she was inspired by Josephine Baker, who was the first Black actress to star in a motion picture in the 1950s, and it was a specific reference to a gold dress that she had worn and that was made by her dress maker, Zelda [Wynn Valdes]. Basically [Hadid] and her friend Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who is also a stylist, wanted to pay homage to this Black dressmaker who also had the first Black-owned shop on Broadway in Washington Heights forever ago.

That was a really intricate story with all of these layers and was actually really thoughtful in a way that I think sometimes when you see a really beautiful, sparkly gown on the Met Gala red carpet, you're like, “Oh, they're just wearing a pretty gown.”

I thought that that was really cool to see and hear about.

LE: I totally agree. I had the same initial reaction, and that's why, especially with this theme, it was really important for us to listen to the inspiration and the stories behind a lot of the looks because that's where the magic and the intentionality is.

I think, for me, Jodie Turner-Smith and her Burberry look.

I just had imagined so many moments of that with a big coat with a train that almost feels like a huge gown, but it's very tailored and suiting and has all of those elements into it.

I actually really loved Hunter Schafer's Prada look. We didn't see a lot of women, specifically, take the very on-the-nose suiting route with its true three-piece suit.

She had the little hat, she had a turtleneck, she had a button-up, she had a cummerbund with buttons. She had the vest, she had the jacket.

It was all of it, and she looked gorgeous. She's never looked more beautiful.

BS: Who created some of the most memorable moments of the night? What's gonna go viral?

LE: For me, visually and just the meaning behind Colman Domingo's look. The first look when he had the blue cape on with all the embroidery. I think that’s just something we'll be referencing for a really long time.

His homage to André Leon Talley with the cape moment and then him shedding it and revealing this beautiful, very, very ornate mixed print—like contrast prints black and white—the whole suiting moment was just so amazing.

I already thought the cape look was the look, and I was blown away by that. I think having that duality was really exciting.

TG: I also feel like I can see a future meme happening and maybe it's a local New York meme, but Spike Lee, he was wearing a Knicks hat.

I'm from New York, so I only care about the Knicks or the Mets doing anything, and the Knicks are playing a game today.

I just thought it was funny that Spike Lee, of course, he's the biggest Knicks fan. I love that he showed up wearing a Knicks hat.

There's actually a Knicks hat also in the Met exhibit, so it makes sense.

I thought it was just really fun to see. Of course, he's on the red carpet, wearing this incredible outfit, but he's like, “I need to represent my team.” I kind of love that. I love the passion there.

Another fun thing that I think maybe people will dig into later is Teyana Taylor.

Her Marc Jacobs look was created in collaboration with Ruth E. Carter, who is a legendary costume designer, who worked on a bunch of Spike Lee movies and made some of the most incredible looks ever in movies.

Also, her train at the bottom said “Harlem Rose” and she's from Harlem. Also, she has a really good song from 2018 called “Rose in Harlem,” so maybe that song will also have a resurgence. It should. It's a bop.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.