Did Tyla or Zendaya Win the Met Gala Red Carpet? The Answer Depends
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With a guest list that totaled 400 bold-faced names, the 2024 Met Gala may rank as the best-attended celebrity event so far this year. But beyond the sheer volume of high-wattage stars who ascended the Metropolitan Museum of Art stairs on May 6, who really won the night’s red carpet in terms of brand exposure?
In the latest edition of the Red Carpet Power Rankings, an exclusive partnership between Launchmetrics and The Hollywood Reporter, the results are in.
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It should surprise no one that Zendaya performed well in the rankings of top-five women at the Met Gala, as someone who not only draws intense interest wherever she goes but also because the Euphoria and Challengers star did two laps on the red carpet, first wearing custom Maison Margiela, then changing inside the museum and climbing the steps once again, this time in vintage Givenchy, which she and star stylist Law Roach purchased at Lily et Cie in Beverly Hills. But in terms of how much one individual look performed in terms of earned media exposure, another star, Tyla, took the No. 1 spot for women’s outfits with her much-talked-about sand dress by Balmain, as the results, detailed below, reveal.
The night indeed was resplendent in such viral fashion moments, among the reasons that it usurped the March 10 Academy Awards as the biggest red carpet of the year, in both quantity of stars and in earned exposure. While the Oscars earned a media-impact value (MIV) of $1.1 billion, the Met Gala topped that figure, earning an MIV of $1.4 billion between online coverage and social-media conversations.
Beginning with the 2024 awards season, THR partnered with data company Launchmetrics to measure influence and exposure among both stars and the luxury brands they wear on red carpets. To tabulate the results, Launchmetrics employed a proprietary Media Impact Value (MIV) algorithm that determined the performers across five categories — women, men, fashion, watches and jewelry, and accessories — while for the Met Gala, THR and Launchmetrics added beauty brands to the mix. Launchmetrics is also posting the complete results for these and other categories on their site.
Here’s a look at the night’s winners in earned exposure. To see all the Met Gala arrival photos, click here.
Top 10 Fashion Brands: Maison Margiela Is the Night’s Top House
John Galliano’s decade at Maison Margiela was celebrated in a big way at the Met Gala — if not by an appearance from the designer, who has kept a low profile since he was ousted from Dior in 2011 and quietly joined Margiela three years later. But some major names embraced his designs, including co-chairs Zendaya and Bad Bunny, as well as Kim Kardashian, once again creating a viral moment on the Metropolitan Museum steps, this time in a silver corset cinched so tight, it spawned social-media conversations that ranged from her ability to breathe to questions from fans about whether the reality superstar and entrepreneur might have undergone rib-removal surgery. (“I don’t even know if that’s possible,” she’s previously said regarding that subject.) While that uproar negates the artistry of each Margiela design on the carpet, it also contributed to the brand’s top position among fashion labels, earning the house $40.8 million in MIV, more than any other brand seen at the event.
Met Gala sponsor Loewe, meanwhile, earned the No. 6 position, dressing 16 attendees, who ranged from style stars Ariana Grande, Ayo Edebiri and Greta Lee to Loewe favorites Josh O’Connor and director Luca Guadagnino — and Anna Wintour, whose custom look included a full-length jacket inspired by an 1889 Charles Frederick Worth design that’s included in the current Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition. (Winter has often worn Chanel and Oscar de la Renta to past Met Galas.) These stars and Jonathan Anderson’s designs combined for an MIV of $30.3 million.
Top 5 Women’s Looks: A Zendaya-Tyla Face-Off
Perhaps the most surprising element of the Red Carpet Power Rankings is that Zendaya did not take the top spot with either of her Met Gala looks — that honor went to Tyla, whose custom Balmain sand gown was crafted, as the house’s notes described, “of a sculptural bodice shaped by a plaster body mold and an organza train completely encased with three shades of sand mixed with micro crystal studs adding depth and sparkle.” Adding to the social-media chatter was the fact that the resulting construction made it difficult for Tyla to walk up the steps — she was carried by two assistants, while two more assisted with her train — and she promptly (and as planned) cut off the skirt and wore the design as a minidress once inside. Fold all the details together, and it’s little wonder Tyla’s dress nabbed the top spot with $26.8 million in earned exposure.
Zendaya fans, however, might quickly point out that, when adding together the two looks she wore on the red carpet — Maison Margiela, which earned $19.1 million in MIV, and Givenchy, which garnered an MIV of $13.6 million — the megastar takes the top spot, with a combined MIV of $32.7 million. Because the Red Carpet Power Rankings measure the combination of star and brand, however, Tyla and her Balmain won the night.
Top 5 Men’s Looks: Stray Kids Dominate Wearing an American Designer
Tommy Hilfiger scored an undeniable coup by dressing all eight members of Stray Kids, the hugely popular South Korean boy band, for the Met Gala. It’s a doubly impressive feat considering individual members have signed ambassador relationships with other labels — Hyunjin with Versace, Felix with Louis Vuitton — while Lee Know wore Gucci while attending the Italian house’s resort show in London on May 13. But Hilfiger upped the ante by signing Stray Kids, the group, to back-to-back campaigns, for fall 2023 and spring 2024.
The band appeared at the bottom of the museum steps wearing matching peacoats, each lined with an American flag print, which were removed to reveal their coordinating evening suits in varying combinations of red, white and blue. The overall vibe felt like something seen at an Olympics opening ceremony, but the impact for Hilfiger was likewise impressive, garnering the band and the house an MIV of $24.3 million, a figure that eclipsed the total earned exposure of the four stylish men who followed.
Following Stray Kids on the list were co-hosts Bad Bunny and Hemsworth, Barry Keoghan and Sam Smith.
Top 10 Jewelry & Watches: Swarovski Stuns
If any jewelry brand understood the “go big or go home” aesthetic that’s increasingly called for at the Met Gala, it was Swarovski. The famed crystal house wasn’t content to showcase their craft via jewels alone; instead they created five head-to-toe couture looks, worn by friends of the house and stars of their spring 2024 campaign, with each one-of-a-kind design conjuring a different element of nature. Among them: Karlie Kloss represented floral in pink, Irina Shayk’s mesh gown symbolized air and Anok Yai evoked thoughts of water in her tulle catsuit, fully embellished with tonal blue crystals in shades of ice, sapphire and aquamarine. Each look was paired with major jewels, including Yai’s statement necklace from Swarovski’s Galaxy collection, crafted using 1,050 lab-grown diamonds totaling 156.62 carats. The artful strategy was a success, propelling Swarovski into the No. 1 position with $15.2 million in MIV.
Cartier’s second-place finish is not unexpected, with 13 high-profile stars wearing the house’s jewels, including Demi Moore, Elle Fanning, Eiza Gonzalez and Donald Glover. By contrast, Tiffany & Co. lent their jewels to seven stars, with one of them garnering substantial coverage upon her arrival: Jennifer Lopez, who paired her butterfly-inspired Schiaparelli gown with pieces that included a bird-inspired statement necklace, showcasing approximately 100 carats of diamonds, from the house’s Blue Book 2024 high-jewelry collection.
Top 10 Accessories: Red Soles Rule the Night
Christian Louboutin’s ongoing collab with Maison Margiela played an integral role in his first-place finish, with Bad Bunny, Zendaya and Gwendolyn Christie all wearing Louboutin’s luxe takes on Margiela’s iconic Tabi split-toe shoes. Meanwhile, Colman Domingo, Dwyane Wade, Law Roach, Charlie Hunnam and Ben Platt also were seen in designs from Louboutin’s eponymous label, with the combination earning the famed designer an MIV of $3.3 million.
Seen on stars including Lily James, Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling and Taylor Russell, Jimmy Choo took the second-place spot with $1.2 million in MIV. Among the surprises in the category: New Balance, worn by Jaden Smith, who paired his MSFTSrep x New Balance 0.01 collab sneaker with a Thom Browne suit and earned an MIV of $311,000 for the footwear brand.
Top 10 Beauty Brands: Pat McGrath Confirms Her Queen Status
Pat McGrath’s beauty-queen status was cemented when she played royalty in Taylor Swift’s 2022 “Bejeweled” video, and her command of Met Gala beauty looks only confirms that title (she also carries an actual royal title, having been named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021). Pat McGrath Labs created the beauty looks for eight women at the Met Gala, including Tyla, who McGrath said was designed to be “glowing from head-to-toe. The inspiration behind her overall look was the ‘sands of time,’ so her makeup was based all around sparkling sepia and brown tones.” Other stars wearing McGrath’s makeup artistry included Elizabeth Debicki — meant to evoke “the definition of modern elegance,” she said — as well as Doja Cat’s much-discussed look, which McGrath called “enchanted chrome tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.”
Other high-profile beauty looks included Amanda Seyfried in Lancôme (the actress is a house ambassador), Sabrina Carpenter in Armani Beauty, and Michelle Williams, whose head-to-toe Chanel included the house’s makeup by artist Angela Levin, who said she wanted to create “an ethereal, yet edgy, makeup look which represented Michelle at her core.”
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