The countdown to the 2024 Met Gala continues—the biggest celebrities, models, and fashion types will bring their A-list fashion game to the red carpet on 6 May—and we can't wait to see all the iconic, outlandish, and showstopping looks. This year's Met Gala theme is "The Garden of Time" which screams maximalist florals. Although it's not just the fashion we'll have our eye on.
The Met Gala is also a showcase for iconic beauty looks. In line with last year's theme "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" Doja Ca showed off feline makeup and Janelle Monáe rocked a black-and-white dual eyeliner look. At the 2019 Met Gala supermodel Gigi Hadid literally added white feathers to her lashes. And who could forget Rihanna—whose Met Gala looks are the stuff of fashion legend— when she ignited the strawberry girl blush trend back in 2017, with those maximalist rosy cheeks.
And while we're all here for those outlandish makeup moments, we're also obsessed with Met Gala hairstyles, which also go next level on the red carpet. With that in mind, we turned to celebrity hairstylist and ghD UK ambassador Halley Brisker (who works with Kaia Gerber) to give us some hair insight ahead of fashion's night of nights.
Met Gala Hair is Human Art
Brisker considers the collaboration between fashion designers, makeup artists, and hairstylists to create memorable Met Gala looks as a form of human art. "I think there is a ton of respect when it comes to honoring one another's ideas as we all play an integral part in the final look and everyone has been specially selected to be a part of the event by the attending talent," she says. Human art certainly defined the gravity-defying bubble hair sculpture donned by Lupita Nyong'o at the 2016 Met Gala. Ditto Zendaya's copper bob with micro fringe at the 2018 Met Gala which along with her silver Versace armour-esque ensemble was a nod to Joan of Arc.
Brisker On The Return Of Short Hair
With stars like Zendaya and Jennifer Aniston returning to the bob, you can expect to see at least one shorter style on the Met Gala red carpet. "I think given the theme of this year's Met Gala "The Garden of Time" which is based on the book of the same name by English sci-fi novelist J. G. Ballard, we are likely to see a multitude of playful textures with interwoven accessories as an ode to the richness of the story itself and its relation to fashion", Brisker says.
Brisker On This Year's Sleeping Beauty Exhibition
This year's garden theme is actually a tie-in with The Metropolitan Museum of Art's latest exhibition to hit the Costume Institute: "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." The theme can take on multiple meanings but when it comes to hair Brisker offers this interpretation. "I think we will see an array of curl types and textures, up, down, and everything in between but I have a sneaky suspicion that it may lean more over to the whimsical updo side this year".
Brisker On His Go-To Tool For Emergency Fixes
"A lot of planning goes into every detail of a Meta Gala look but one thing that is always a looming dilemma is the shortage of time. One thing that helps me with my time is ghd's Duet Style. It saves me tons of time in my prep so hopefully there'll be a few in some of the Meta Gala kits on Monday". The go-to styling tool is a 2-in-1 hot hair styler that works to dry wet hair and style it at the same time (minus any heat damage). In the real world, you can use it to straighten hair, create sexy waves and volume, and give your hair a gorgeous glossy finish.
