Inside Kim Kardashian’s Fiberglass Met Gala Look

Do you wanna know my biggest Met Gala regret?

[Mario] Oh, yes. [Kim laughing]

[Chris] I'm just kidding. No.

[Chris] I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We don't have time.

[Chris] I'm kidding. We don't have time.

you don't have time

and I don't have the patience.

[both laughing]

[bright downtempo music]

Hi Vogue, it's Kim

and we're at my final fitting for my Met Gala look.

Lucky number 13.

Is this one your 14th, maybe?

I thought this was my 14th.

Oh, this might be the 13th.

Can we count?

Givenchy, Lanvin, Cavalli, Balman,

Vivienne Westwood, Versace.

[Chris] Mugler. Mugler,

Balenciaga, Marilyn Monroe,

Schiaparelli, Margiela, Chrome Hearts.

I did the math, guys.

Oh wait, wait. No, because COVID.

[Staff Member 1] Because of COVID,

so you didn't- Because of COVID.

Oh, there is a list.

Hold on, let me see. 2020, canceled.

So, they're including the 2020.

They're including 2020. Yeah.

[Staff Member 2] So, it's 13.

Do you wanna know what my COVID one was that no one knows?

My COVID one was Christian Lacroix.

I have all the sketches, we met up in Paris,

we picked fabrics, we were ready to roll.

[easygoing music]

Everything is art directed

and creative directed by Nadia Lee Cohen.

I love doing a shoot before the Met.

It's the best way

to test what hair and makeup we're gonna do.

After putting on this really, like, tonal neutral wig,

I kind of...

I'm not sure I want this for the final look.

I might wanna go a little bit more blonde.

So now, it gives us time to like dye it

and figure it out before the actual carpet.

To me, the theme is all about fashion and art

and I see a lot of conversations about bodies of art

and I think that really resonates with me.

Obviously, with SKIMS and everything that I do

is so focused on the body and my body

whether it's a fragrance that I launch

and it's my body as the perfume.

I can't wait to see how people,

like, represent their own bodies with art

and what that means to them.

[downtempo music]

Welcome to my world.

I don't travel

without 30 cameras. I know, I can see, yes.

You're not alone. [chuckles]

Ultimately, when I thought about

how your body is represented in art,

I felt like Allen Jones

who would make art pieces of breastplates in the mid '60s.

I have seen his work referenced so many times

by people in fashion

and I've always, like, been a big admirer of his work.

And so, when I really had to think about it,

I thought, like,

Allen Jones would be iconic, sexy,

classic, cool, innovative.

There's so many words that come to mind

when I think of Allen.

The one that I'm wearing,

we took his old cast

from 1967, '68

from a model that he had cast back then

and I wanted something original.

I didn't wanna cast my own body.

I wanted the original breastplate that he had made.

It is full to the floor and they are...

You can't move 'cause it's out of fiberglass,

so we cut it into, like, a bodysuit.

So, I found the most amazing, like,

sculptors of leather that make these corsets and pants,

Patrick Whitaker and Keir.

They made the bottom of the skirt that's connected.

I love Allen Jones' paintings as well.

So, he actually painted on our piece.

It was really cool.

He was, like, adamant

that it'd be something current and fresh

that he had, like, just worked on,

not just a piece from his past,

but something a little bit more current

as well mixed together.

Kate Moss had worn his original orange piece

from the mid '60s.

First it was gonna be pink and then we were like,

No, let's go with the classic, orangey gold color

that he did first,

and I had never worn that color before,

so I thought it was really cool to try something new.

[bright easygoing music]

For this particular look,

the color is quite vibrant and orange,

so for makeup, we're staying, you know, quite muted,

a little bit softer, very softly sculpted eyes,

a very, like, low to medium contrast

so it's not kind of fighting with the look

and just enhancing overall.

We're going for something way out of our comfort zone.

We would never normally go for a color like this.

But in all of Allen's work,

he uses, like, kind of synthetic looking wigs.

It's very wiggy,

which is obviously what we try not to do

if we're ever gonna use one,

but we're leaning into it today,

that's why we're trying these different colors.

Kim would always normally have a root which kind of,

you know, makes it look more natural and we didn't,

'cause we want to kind of play into it, you know?

I think this is the one time to really create the whole look

and you know, I think it's the Met Gala,

so we're gonna have some fun

and we do a shoot like this

'cause you can actually see

how it's all gonna come together.

It's tricky because things read differently on a shoot

to how they do on a red carpet

and in real life. Oh, isn't that, like,

the scandal of all time? Totally.

Something looks fabulous

with the perfect lighting

and the angles. The lighting.

And then, you go on the carpet.

And it's like, who's that? The worst lighting

on the planet. Yeah.

And it's, like, She's a fraud.

Like, What a catfish. Totally.

She looks nothing like that.

And it's like, no, no, no.

You have no clue what you're working with.

Like, when I went blonde,

not to bring this back up,

[Chris] but- Oh, we...

No, we can move past this.

Is there any more questions?

But Marilyn, like, I did not tan or anything.

I did a red carpet the day before, looked amazing,

but on the carpet you can look orange

if the carpet's red and it's bouncing off of,

you know, it's just, carpets are scary.

[bright easygoing music]

We had about three weeks max to make this happen

and to get fiberglass body forms

and painted at autobody shops

and figuring out the right color

and getting the leather skirt made.

So it was a big collaborative process,

but, like, no stylists,

like, no nothing.

It was like that was really hard for me this time

'cause I just kind of went in with my idea

and just made it all happen,

and, like, leaned on Nadia.

It was, like, a whirlwind few weeks.

[light upbeat music]

[Kim gasping]

Did I break this?

I ran into it so hard.

If I broke it or chipped it...

What about right here?

No. Okay.

We wouldn't have had a Met Look.

I would've had to cancel.

[light upbeat music]

Come in. Yeah. Okay, okay.

Are you happy with how the look turned out?

I'm very happy with how it looked on that,

because you are in it. [chuckles]

What did we have, two weeks, three weeks

from when I called you to today?

Three weeks.

Fortunately, I was just between paintings

and I had 10 days and I was thinking,

What am I gonna do?

And suddenly, there's the phone call.

I was just telling them,

fittings are so important because our final fittings,

'cause now we know maybe this isn't the right hair.

Allen wants my dark hair.

Yes, in my naivete,

I accepted Kim as I saw her for the first time

and the contrast of the dark hair

made me spark to these warm colors.

So, we might have to revert to the dark hair.

[Chris] Understood.

We will see. Met, Monday?

We shall make this a unique moment.

We will see. [Allen chuckling]

[light upbeat music continues]