Lily James has no fewer than three secret weapons when it comes to executing a major Met Gala look: a “snatched” lymphatic drainage routine via Shila Beauty and The Beauty Sandwich (she always asks for Iván Pol on the facial front); a glam squad of “artists” who relish every beauty reference sent back and forth; and a date who seriously does their homework. Step up dear friend Erdem Moralioglu, whose exquisitely crafted clothes are so interlinked with historical tales that they are practically made for the Met’s Costume Institute.
Happily, 2024’s garden-themed Met Gala dress code reminded the avid researcher of the muse who inspired his Erdem fall 2024 collection: Maria Callas. Specifically, the roses that showered the opera singer as she took her bow following her spine-tingling performances. Erdem imagined a Met Gala gown similarly strewn with stems, as if the wearer too had been furnished with flowers by adoring fans, but flipped the script and rendered the poetic blooms in black. A crushed satin pink base with inky posies creeping up the strapless ballgown felt much more interesting for a man whose dresses always have a pretty yet punchy point of view.
James, who lapped up her time spent leafing through the rarefied coffee table tomes in Moralioglu’s artistic East London studio, signed up to the Canadian creative’s sugary (but a soupçon subversive) proposition straight away. “I feel inspired by the intricacy, romance, and the storytelling he weaves into every stitch of his designs,” says James, citing the striped Erdem look she wore to the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies premiere in 2016 as one of her all-time favorite red-carpet moments. “I am over the moon that we are reuniting for the Met. It can be an intimidating night, and I have never felt more confident and excited to have Erdem by my side.”
The pair agreed that the Met Gala is no place for wallflowers because, as per Moralioglu: “It is a really interesting moment when different creative spheres intersect—the most successful looks are those that are quite fearless.” James—who forces herself to resist the lure of NYC nightlife (“I tend to get carried away!”) to prioritize sleep in the run-up to the event—took up the mantle with Maria Callas-adjacent sass. “I’m always drawn to the drama and something bold,” shares James, whose stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray, hairstylist Halley Brisker and make-up artist Valeria Ferreira perfected a final look that allowed Lily herself to shine. “Confidence is key. If I feel good about myself, then I can really enjoy the craziness and relish the experience,” adds the Surrey-born star, who is the epitome of an English rose and fittingly ascended to fame as Lady Rose MacClare in Downton Abbey.
Moralioglu, naturally, had the career trajectory of the “extraordinary actress and talent” in his mind. “I wanted to create something that had a drama to it that was equal to her,” asserts Erdem, who treats each season as the latest chapter in his own narrative—one he, quite perfectly, imagines is set in a lush English garden filled with “colour, optimism, and oddities”. As he takes his bucolic and eccentric vision to the Met, his “force of nature” friend perfectly embodies the spirit of the Erdem world.
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