fashion

Rihanna won the Met Gala red carpet, hands down.

In case you missed it, Rihanna officially won the 2017 Met Gala red carpet.

Which, when looking back on her history with the fashion event, shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise. As it happens, the 29-year-old has had many jaw-dropping moments on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

2007, wearing Georges Chakra

rihanna met gala
Rihanna at the 2007 Met Gala. Source: Getty.

Okay, look, it's hard to believe, but Rihanna started off her Met Gala fashion career on a bad foot. The theme of the year was Poiret: King of Fashion, and even when taking that into consideration, there is still no valid excuse for this truly confused outfit.

ADVERTISEMENT

This was her 'Umbrella' period! Her 'Shut up and Drive' period! Honestly, we expected more. But then again, it was the mid-'00s -a truly befuddled time in fashion if ever there was one.

2009, wearing Dolce and Gabbana

rihanna met gala
Rihanna at the 2009 Met Gala. Source: Getty.

Here we go, YASSS QUEEN. Or, to borrow a line from her 2016 hit, this is what we came for.

ADVERTISEMENT

Two years on from her first attempt at nailing the Met Gala red carpet, Riri returned — this time to conquer the theme of The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion. And if commanding a red carpet in some ass-kicking pumps and a classic power suit isn't the embodiment of fashion, we don't know what is.

2011, wearing Stella McCartney

rihanna met gala
Rihanna at the 2011 Met Gala. Source: Getty.

Sure, it may not be the red carpet boundary-pushing Rihanna we know and love, but in 2011 the theme was a particularly sombre one. Through Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, the global fashion community paid tribute to designer Lee McQueen, who had died by suicide a year earlier.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wearing Stella McCartney, a close friend of McQueen's, Rihanna worked the event and the theme to perfection. 

2012, wearing Tom Ford

rihanna met ball
Rihanna at the Met Ball in 2012. Source: Getty.

2012: a year that saw Rihanna win her third Grammy, release her inimitable club hit 'We Found Love', and wipe the competition from the best-dressed lists of the Met Gala.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wearing a floor-length leather Tom Ford gown to the Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations-themed evening, this was the year Rihanna began to claim her stake as a major player at the fashion industry's annual night of nights. 

2014, wearing Stella McCartney

rihanna met ball
Rihanna at the Met Ball in 2014. Source: Getty.

Known as "America's first couturier," 2014's Met Gala theme paid tribute to the work of the late Charles James, a designer considered to be the master of structured aesthetic and expert cutting techniques throughout his career.

ADVERTISEMENT

Enter Rihanna wearing a minimalist twin set by Stella McCartney and stick a fork in it; this red carpet is done.

2015, wearing Guo Pei

Rihanna at the Met Ball in 2015.

It was compared to scrambled eggs and a melted cheese toastie, but food references aside, Rihanna's 2015 Met Gala dress was one of the most striking gowns we've ever seen. And incredibly, she found it on the internet.

Preparing for the year's theme - China: Through the Looking Glass - Rihanna found herself curled up with a laptop and deep in a Google hole when she stumbled upon the work of famous Chinese designer Guo Pei and the imperial yellow, heavily embroidered, fur-trimmed dress.

And while she could barely walk in it, thanks to the size of the train and the overall weight of the gown, she was one of the few attendees who actually went to the effort of wearing the work of a Chinese designer, and the Gala was all the richer for it.

2017, wearing Comme des Garcons

rihanna met gala
Rihanna at the Met Gala in 2017. Source: Getty.
ADVERTISEMENT

Yes, it kind of looks like someone has raided a fabric box, and yes, it's completely nonfunctional as a dress you'd wear to your average gala event, but an average gala event this is not.

It's a themed party, people! And Rihanna is one of the few A-listers who actually gets it and isn't afraid to be a good sport on the red carpet. So for the celebration of Rei Kawakubo, she went straight to the source, wearing a couture item straight from Comme des Garçons - Kawakubo's fashion line.

She came, she saw, she slayed.

Check out all of the other Met Gala red carpet looks below. 

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT