The Story Behind A$AP Rocky's Thrifted Met Gala Quilt

Sean Zanni/getty ASAP Rocky

A$AP Rocky's Met Gala look has a special history.

The rapper, 32, wore a quilt as a cape as he arrived on the red carpet alongside Rihanna for fashion's biggest night on Sept. 13. After discovering the quilt in a California thrift store, ERL designer Eli Russell Linnetz used it as inspiration for Rocky's ensemble — and the family who once donated the handmade blanket is now sharing its story.

A woman named Sarah shared a photo on Instagram last week of Rocky and Rihanna on the Met Gala red carpet side-by-side with a photo of the quilt laying on a bed at home.

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"So my great grandmothers quilt was donated to an antique/thrift store a while back. When I saw the #metgala Photo I realized instantly that it had to be the same quilt," Sarah wrote in the caption.

"I read the Vogue article about the designer finding the quilt in Southern California and with his office not that far from us in Venice, California, I demanded that my mom go look for the photos of it on our old bed," she explained.

Mike Coppola/Getty ASAP Rocky and Rihanna

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"Looks like great grandma Mary went to the #metgala with @asaprocky and @erl__________ they wrote a @voguemagazine article too 🤩" she added.

Sure enough, Linnetz told Vogue that he had found the quilt at a thrift store and added on to it to encapsulate the Met Gala's "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" theme.

"I quilted on things that were important to me, from my dad's bathrobe to my boxers," Linnetz told Vogue. "Then we used these amazing plaids and flannels and embroidered my family's name all over the quilt."

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Linnetz worked with Zak Foster, a Brooklyn-based quilter who "specializes in burial and memory quilts" to add the personal touches to the thrifted quilt.

"There's an irony to it that I liked, using the clothing of the deceased to create this beautiful new quilt then [in their honor] that lasts forever," Linnetz said.

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Sarah shared a second post on Instagram Friday to clarify that her family is nothing but proud that their great-grandmother's quilt made it to the red carpet.

"I posted this because I found it amazing that some thing that my great grandmother made out of love for my mother, to be used to keep her warm, and was donated so that it might keep somebody else warm or sold to raise funds for a lovely charity, ended up being used for an amazing statement art piece by amazingly talented people who took it to the next level," she wrote, sharing more photos of the quilt in its original form.

She added that she had spoken with Linnetz and Foster, describing them as "both lovely people."

Sarah ended by reassuring people interested in her story that her family still has plenty of mementos made by Great Grandma Mary: "And to everyone who is concerned that we gave away this quilt, please don't be worried we still have many quilts and afghans and handmade lovey's that she left behind for us."