New York is done with dressing down: the splashy black-tie Met Gala returned Monday, with Gen Z’s glitterati hosting the A-lister bash famed for its over-the-top panache—and, despite the pandemic, this year the fashion was so fierce one guest wielded a sword.

The crowd of some 400 actors, athletes, poets and performers—either vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19—was largely maskless on the cream carpet, defying the global coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s so surreal,” US rapper Megan Thee Stallion, attending the Gala for the first time and dressed by designer Coach to evoke old Hollywood glamor, told AFP. “I feel like, oh my gosh, Houston, Texas, we made it!”

But she did admit that it was “kinda weird” to be around so many people, more than 18 months into the pandemic.

“I’ve kinda gotten used to being a little introvert—but I’m excited to see everybody,” she said.

Canadian musician Grimes, who was one of the few wearing a face mask, set Twitter alight by carrying a sword—perhaps to, as one user suggested, “make sure people stay 6 feet away.”

Rapper Lil Nas X stripped down to reveal not one, but three gold outfits, singer Frank Ocean appeared with lime green hair and carrying what Twitter users described as a “robot baby” and Simone Biles’ glittering silver-and-black dress was so heavy that the gymnastics superstar needed six men to help her lift it.

The rapper ASAP Rocky appeared wrapped in a patchwork quilt, which he said was a sartorial message of unity.

“We part of the same cloth, part of the same quilt, you know?” he said with a grin—later tossing the quilt to the ground to reveal a sharp black suit underneath, to the delight of singer Rihanna, his date.

One mysterious guest appeared head to toe in black—her face, mouth, eyes and head also covered, with only a black ponytail visible, leading many to identify her as reality star Kim Kardashian.

‘Evolving language of fashion’

“Maybe? We think it’s her?” tweeted New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman.

Actor Timothée Chalamet, poet Amanda Gorman, singer Billie Eilish and tennis player Naomi Osaka co-chaired the charity ball often heralded as the celebrity world’s “party of the year.”

Normally held in early May, the Manhattan event was postponed to Monday with the hope that COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the pandemic.

The honorary cochairs were Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, designer Tom Ford and Adam Mosseri, director of Instagram, sponsor of the extravaganza.

The opulent spectacle had risked criticism, but the primary reason for holding the benefit was almost certainly financial.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute relies on the Met Gala to fund its work, and the cancellation of last year’s event badly damaged its finances.

The bash heralded the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual sartorial exhibit, which this year will happen in two parts.

The first show, titled “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” is opening to the public Sept. 18 to celebrate The Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary.

The second exhibit—”In America: An Anthology of Fashion”—will kick off May 5, 2022. Both will run until Sept. 5 of that year. —AFP