The American Horror Story creator worked with designer Christian Siriano to create the look Ryan Murphy Pays Tribute to Liberace in 100-Lbs. Pearl-Encrusted Cape at the Met Gala No one would have appreciated the theme of this year’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala better than Liberace. In honor of the icon and this year’s theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” Ryan Murphy worked with designer Christian Siriano to create a stunning look for Monday’s star-studded affair: a bejeweled orange tux and matching bowtie, complete with a spectacular cape that took two months to make. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Ryan Murphy Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Speaking to PEOPLE on the red carpet, Murphy, 53, revealed the pearl-encrusted cape weighs over 100 lbs. “I had to lay flat in the car to get here,” he said, adding that while he himself “didn’t take long” to get ready, he required extra assistance putting on the outfit. “It took five people to put on the hood, which has a harness in it because it weighs over 100 lbs., so it’s a lot,” he said. “But it’s based on a real costume that Liberace wore called the Neptune.” Be sure to check out all of PEOPLE’s Met Gala coverage to get the latest news on fashion’s biggest night. As for what the theme means to him?<doc-sep>Dapper Dan vowed to hold Gucci accountable for their recent racist scandal involving a sweater that resembles blackface, and he did so in the best way he knows how. Dan’s custom designs were on the backs of seven influential celebrities at the 2019 Met Gala in New York City on Monday. 21 Savage, Omari Hardwick, Regina Hall, Bevy Smith, Ashley Graham, Karlie Kloss, and Dapper Dan himself were all sporting the Harlem fashion icon’s designs to represent their camps last night. Dan told Elle.com that he was addressing the issues in his community through fashion. “People in the community are like, ‘Man, leave them! Leave Gucci and all this stuff.’ They don’t understand. Until I make them understand the beauty of this, the significance of this, the importance of this…” Advertisement It wasn’t long ago the Italian luxury brand shut down the designer’s store for using their logo with authorization. Now he has a partnership with a company, and flooded the 2019 Met Gala with his designs, which marked his first Met. “[Y]ou know who’s walking behind me?” Dan asked rhetorically. “Nelson Mendela’s walking behind me, Jackie Robinson’s walking behind me, Martin Luther King, all of those people are behind me. All those people who’ve suffered the slings and arrows of oppression in those difficult moments.” Scroll down to check out some of his styles below:<doc-sep>Dapper Dan (left) and Omari Hardwick at Dap’s Harlem atelier. Kathryn Wirsing Omari Hardwick is surrounded by velvet curtains in the dressing room of Dapper Dan’s Harlem atelier, hidden from view but still easy to hear when he shouts his first impression of the suit he’s wearing for his debut appearance at the Met Gala. “Dap! This is incredible!” He’s got a point. The suit—a gleaming three-piece custom-made from jacquard fabric by Gucci—truly is something to behold. In fact, it’s almost as entrancing as sitting down with Hardwick and Dap himself last week and watching the two men play against each other: riffing on ideas, interjecting with anecdotes, and talking about the cultural significance of the event they’re both attending Monday evening. Power star Omari Hardwick is attending the Met Gala for the first time in 2019 at Dapper Dan’s invitation. Here, he takes a closer look at his new suit from the legendary Harlem designer. Kathryn Wirsing It’s Hardwick’s first time attending the Met Gala (at Dap’s invitation), and he sums up his feelings on the matter the way a lot of us probably would before stepping onto one of the biggest red carpets in the world: “Crazy.” The actor grew up in Decatur, Georgia, and slept in cars or couch-surfed his way through Los Angeles and New York before landing the role of Ghost in the Starz drama Power in 2014. Since then, he’s become more and more visible. “My life has been that journey: a lot of pain, a lot of joy,” he says. “And this has been one of the most poignant moments of that joy column for me. It’s been a joy, a pleasure getting to know Dapper Dan.” Hardwick has a lot of names for the legendary Harlem designer: “King Dap,” uncle, friend. But ultimately, he feels like a kindred spirit to the man born Daniel Day, who famously outfitted a whole era of hip-hop stars and gangsters in high-fashion designs that generously used the logos of luxury brands—without their permission. Dapper Dan’s first Harlem store closed in 1992 after European luxury labels discovered he was using their logos without permission. A new atelier, run in conjunction with Gucci, opened in 2018. Kathryn Wirsing That practice ultimately led to the closing of his shop in 1992, but he came roaring back in 2017 when Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele walked a piece that looked a whole lot like Dap’s down the runway. Social media exploded, and instead of circling the wagons, Gucci decided to partner with the man it was accused of copying without credit. By 2018, a new Dapper Dan atelier was open on Lenox Avenue. It’s an incident that feels a little too close to something else that happened with Gucci recently: In February of this year, the brand released a “balaclava jumper” with a pair of exaggerated red lips around a mouth cutout. It looked, frankly, like blackface. Social media once again exploded, and once again Gucci repented. It pulled the item from stores, apologized, and announced a new commitment to education and diversity in its organization. Dapper Dan was among the most vocal critics, writing, “There cannot be inclusivity without accountability. I will hold everyone accountable.” Dap and Hardwick at the fitting. Kathryn Wirsing Since then, Dap has held a town hall with Gucci leadership and community leaders in Harlem, and things seem to be moving in the right direction. Still, neither Hardwick nor Dap are unaware of the specter looming over this Met Gala. “When he invited me, I thought, ‘Well, damn. I gotta wear his clothes,’” says Hardwick, citing his respect for Dapper Dan’s designs, but also his stature in the black community. “Gucci made some mistakes as a brand, but I would be nothing if I wasn’t about growth.” “They [Gucci] were going into a community because within fashion they made a mistake,” he continues. “But within the reality of learning this community, you’re going to walk around and get an education that you wouldn’t have otherwise had.” Hardwick in his final look for the Met Gala 2019. Courtesy “You know how proud I am to have him at the table, man? With me?” Dap asks. “You know how big this moment—this is a huge moment, man. And I wanted to be in there with somebody who has confidence in himself and understands, on a lot of levels, what this moment means. There’s a controversy going on! Not one time did he say, ‘Hold up, man. What’s going on around here?’ He is his own man, for real. He said, ‘I’m with you man. Let’s do this.’” “I’m always going to be with him,” Hardwick says. Dapper Dan at the 2019 Met Gala. Neilson Barnard Getty Images They’re of different generations, and both men acknowledge that they sometimes see things differently and react accordingly. Still, they also see this Met Gala—a platform with the eyes of the world firmly fixed on it—as a chance to make a statement. They’re planting a flag for their community and declaring its place at the table, both literally and figuratively. “It’s a great moment, not for just he and I, but for Harlem as a community and black people globally,” says Dap. “Right now, we’re piercing the shield. And I’m so happy that this is happening while Anna Wintour is still at the helm. That’s very important to me. I don’t want it to be a change of administration to pass this hill. I want it to be a coming of age. Anna Wintour being at the head of the Met and saying, ‘No. This ain’t got nothing to do with no hand-me-downs or pass-me-overs. This needed to happen, we’re going to make it happen.’” Omari Hardwick at the 2019 Met Gala. Dia Dipasupil Getty Images “It’s an interesting movement, and moment,” Hardwick says. He’s keenly away, just as Dap is, what this Met Gala can mean not just personally but for a whole generation of people watching from the outside in. “I get to be with a friend, and play dress up,” he says. “But to get the ultimate costume designer of all, who looks like me? To be able to go to the Met Gala with him…and to be able to forgive a company or be in the process of that, and make sure they take care of my community? It’s pretty freaking dope, man.” Photography by Kat Wirsing - Grooming for Omari Hardwick by Billie Gene for Exclusive Artists using Giorgio Armani Jonathan Evans Jonathan Evans is the style director of Esquire, covering all things fashion, grooming, accessories, and, of course, sneakers. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
Darren Criss is a singular man. I've been lucky enough to work with him, styling the actor for a photo shoot when The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story was just making its way into the national consciousness. I was struck by two things. First, he remembered every single person on set's name. That's a hell of a feat. Second, he knows fashion, loves fashion, and isn't afraid to go for it. So of course the actor looked incredible on the red carpet of the 2019 Met Gala. How could he not? Not only does he have a genuine appreciation for getting dressed, he was also in a show that showed us all how great camp can be in the context of mainstream cultural consumption. Please, before you get bored with my appreciation for the Criss-ness of this all, gaze upon his Met Gala look: Darren Criss knows exactly what he’s doing on the 2019 Met Gala red carpet. Getty Images I want, with all of my heart, to make a good "harlequin romance" joke here. It seems like the right thing to do. But it's just not coming to me. So let me say this: He's wearing a harlequin jacket, and I love it. Are you not satisfied? You should be. No, seriously. You should be, because aside from any poor attempts at wordplay, Criss really delivered on tonight's theme. The jacket? Sure, that's a lot. But camp means going so far past "a lot." So he topped it off with a big-ass bow. Great! And then he got his makeup game going with a dramatic (if minimal) lip and some serious eyeshadow. It's too much. Which is exactly the right amount. Jonathan Evans Jonathan Evans is the style director of Esquire, covering all things fashion, grooming, accessories, and, of course, sneakers.