Kendall Jenner's Historic Met Gala Gown

Who is Kendall Jenner?

Kendall Jenner is one of the most famous fashion models on the planet. She was born into the famous Kardashian-Jenner family and grew up on the television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Because her family was already famous, the world watched her grow from a young girl into an adult.

However, Kendall had her own big dream: she wanted to be a high fashion model. She worked very hard to prove herself. She practiced her runway walk, went to casting calls, and showed designers that she was serious about her job. Today, she is one of the highest-paid models in the world. She works with the biggest luxury brands, from Chanel to Prada. When Kendall wears an outfit, millions of people pay attention. She is known for her tall, athletic body, her sleek dark hair, and her ability to make any piece of clothing look like pure magic.

What was the 2024 Met Gala?

To understand why this dress is so important, you have to understand the event where she wore it. The Met Gala is often called the "Oscars of Fashion." It is a massive, highly exclusive party held every year on the first Monday of May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The party raises money for the museum’s fashion department.

Every year, the Met Gala has a special theme. Guests are supposed to dress to match this theme. In 2024, the theme was "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." The dress code for the night was called "The Garden of Time."

The goal of this theme was to celebrate very old, very fragile pieces of clothing. Some museum dresses are so old and delicate that they are like "sleeping beauties “they can never be worn again and can only be looked at through a glass box. Kendall Jenner took this theme very seriously. Instead of having a new dress made just for her, she decided to wake up a "sleeping beauty" from the past.

The Designer

The dress Kendall wore is from the year 1999. It was made for the famous French fashion brand, Givenchy. During that time, the head designer for Givenchy was a man named Alexander McQueen.

Alexander McQueen was a genius from Great Britain. He was famous for making clothes that were dark, dramatic, and completely different from anything else. He loved to combine rough, historical ideas with beautiful, delicate tailoring. Sadly, Alexander McQueen passed away in 2010, but he is still remembered as one of the greatest artists in fashion history.

This specific dress was from McQueen’s Fall 1999 Haute Couture collection for Givenchy. What makes it so amazing is that it had never been worn by a human being before.

The Dress and The Materials

The dress itself is a masterpiece of dark glamour. It looks like something a beautiful, fashionable villain from a fairy tale would wear, which fit the "Garden of Time" theme perfectly.

• The Shape and Cut-Outs: The dress is a long, black, figure-hugging gown. But it is not a normal solid dress. It features dramatic, clear cut-outs. There is a large V-shaped cut-out that exposes her lower back and hips, covered only by a thin, invisible mesh fabric. This makes the heavy black parts of the dress look like they are floating on her skin.
• The Materials: The base of the dress is made of a very fine, black net fabric called tulle. However, you cannot really see the tulle because it is completely covered in hand-sewn decorations.

• The Embroidery: The dress is heavily decorated with over 100,000 black and brass (gold-colored) beads and sequins. It took highly skilled artists over 500 hours to sew these beads onto the dress by hand.
• The Details: The neckline plunges deeply in the front and goes up high around the back of her neck. This high collar is heavily lined with thick gold beading that looks almost like spikes or armor. Falling from the shoulders are very long, heavy gold fringes that sway back and forth when she walks.

The Cost of the Dress

Because this dress is a rare, vintage piece of Haute Couture from 1999, it does not have a price tag. You cannot buy it in a store.

It is considered a museum quality archive piece. Between the hundreds of hours of manual labor, the thousands of glasses and brass beads, and the fact that it was designed by the legendary Alexander McQueen, the dress is technically priceless. If a dress like this were ever sold at a special fashion auction, it would likely sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. After the Met Gala, the dress went safely back into the Givenchy archives to be protected forever.

The Makeup and Hair

Kendall knew that the dress was the star of the show. Because the dress was so heavy, dark, and detailed, she did not want her face to look too busy.

Her makeup was done by famous celebrity makeup artists who specialize in "soft glam." They gave Kendall fresh, glowing, healthy- looking skin. She had a soft pink color on her cheeks, a very light, natural brown shadow around her eyes to make them look bright, and a soft, pinkish-nude lip gloss. She did not wear dark eyeliner or bright red lipstick, because that would have taken attention away from the gown.

Her hair was also styled perfectly to match the fairy-tale theme. Instead of putting it up in a tight bun, her hair was left very long with soft, beautiful waves. The top half of her hair was pulled back away from her face with twisted "crown braids." This half-up, half-down style made her look like a modern princess, and it allowed the photographers to clearly see the beautiful, high gold collar of the dress.

The Jewellery

Just like her makeup, Kendall kept her jewelry extremely simple. When you are wearing a dress that is already covered in 100,000 sparkling beads and heavy gold fringe, wearing large diamond necklaces or big bracelets will make the outfit look messy.

Kendall chose to wear a very small, simple pair of earrings by the famous celebrity jeweler, Lorraine Schwartz. The earrings were small, sparkling studs that sat perfectly on her ears. She did not wear a necklace, and she did not wear any bracelets. The dress was her main piece of jewelry.