NEW YORK, United States — Lupita Nyong’o made a striking Met Gala debut on Monday, May 5, 2014, arriving at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in a custom emerald Prada dress embellished with glass beads and green feathers.
Worn over a brown slip, the netted dress featured a plunging neckline and cascading fringe that moved as Nyong’o walked. She completed the unconventional ensemble with a vintage Cartier diamond headpiece customised with a green ribbon, matching Prada sandals, and a green clutch.
A Modern Response to Charles James
The gala celebrated Charles James: Beyond Fashion, an exhibition examining the work of the influential Anglo-American couturier. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the retrospective featured about 75 of James’s designs, including his sculptural ball gowns and innovative “Taxi” dress.
Although Nyong’o’s loose, feathered outfit differed sharply from the structured gowns associated with James, her ensemble was inspired by the designer’s Taxi dress.
In Vogue footage from the event, Nyong’o revealed that she and her team initially rejected Prada’s original proposal.
“This was the first sketch they showed us, and we nixed it,” she said. However, Prada produced the dress, and Nyong’o reconsidered after seeing the finished creation.
A Deliberate Fashion Risk
The look offered a playful counterpoint to the evening’s formal white-tie dress code. Its beads, feathers, and headpiece drew comparisons with 1920s flapper fashion, while Vogue described the ensemble as having a Josephine Baker-inspired quality.
Reaction to the outfit was divided, but its theatrical construction reinforced Nyong’o’s growing reputation as a celebrity willing to experiment on the red carpet.
Her appearance came two months after she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave, attending that ceremony in a widely celebrated powder-blue Prada gown.
