Rihanna always delivers at the Met Gala.
The pop superstar and makeup mogul has attended the exclusive event multiple times. May 6’s upcoming gala, which she confirmed she will attend, will be her 11th appearance.
She recently teased her outfit for the dress code, which is described as “The Garden of Time.” The dress code accompanies the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s new exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” featuring about 250 rare items from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection.
Rihanna’s approach, given her history, is somewhat surprising.
“I’m actually keeping it real simple this year … very simple” she said in a conversation with Extra. “It’s gonna come to what my makeup and what my hair is going to do.”
Compared to what she’s done in the past, she said her options — she’s weighing two — are “very simple-ish.”
“I’m showing up for dinner! Shout out to Anna Wintour,” she said, referring to Vogue’s editor who serves as a co-chair for the event, which raises money for the Costume Institute.
2007
Theme: "Poiret: King of Fashion"
At her first Met Gala, Rihanna sported a white Georges Chakra dress, with black fishnet gloves and one red rose.
2009
Theme: "The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion"
Rihanna stunned in a Dolce & Gabba tuxedo. The look was accompanied with a slick hairdo, fully swooped to the side.
2011
Theme: "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty"
Rihanna showed up in a black, glimmering and lace-adorned Stella McCartney number. She wore her hair in a long red braid, draped down her shoulder.
2012
Theme: "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations"
Like the two years prior, Rihanna wore black to the Met Gala. This year's Tom Ford, long-sleeved dress had a textured pattern and a low backline. Her hair was styled in multiple buns.
2014
Theme: "Charles James: Beyond Fashion"
Rihanna went back from all-black to all-white, for 2014's red carpet. She told British Vogue that this two-piece, silk, Stella McCartney number was a favorite Met Gala look of hers.
2015
Theme: "China: Through the Looking Glass"
Bring on the color! Rihanna's Guo Pei gown took two years to make and four men to carry.
2017
Theme: "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Art of the In-Between"
For the 2017 Met Gala, she wore an off the runway Comme des Garcons piece, from the Fall 2016 collection. This dress featured floral fabrics, fashioned to look like petals.
2018
Theme: "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination"
Rihanna served as a co-chair and showed up as a high fashion pope to the 2018 Met Gala. Her bejeweled Maison Margiela by John Galliano look came complete with a large bejeweled crown.
2021
Theme: "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion"
Closing out the night and shutting down the red carpet, Rihanna stunned one again, this time wearing a black Balenciaga hooded gown with jewels. She came to play, and maybe be comfy, alongside her boyfriend A$AP Rocky, who wore a giant quilt by ERL.
2023
Theme: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”
Rihanna was one of the last to arrive to the carpet. Pregnant with her second child, she wore a white Valentino dress, a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld's "Chanel brides," who closed out his runway shows.
