Kim Kardashian has not missed the Met Gala since 2013, and she wasn't about to start now.
Given Kardashian's history of cultural appropriation and this year's theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” celebrating the evolution of the Black dandy, many onlookers have been bracing themselves to see how she would interpret the broader dress code, Tailored for You.
On May 5, Kardashian ascended the Met steps in a dramatic leather look by Chrome Hearts, styled by Rihanna's longtime stylist Jahleel Weaver. With the help of Weaver, the 44-year-old reality star committed to her signature hourglass silhouette in a fitted croc-embossed leather vest and skirt, topping everything off with a black leather hat and a neck full of diamonds.
The back of the look is where things get more interesting. Unlike last year, Kardashian's look featured a more open back, as opposed to a constricting corset. Meanwhile the ultra low-rise skirt features a dramatic train and two strings of luxe pearls, possibly in reference to Kim Kardashian's 2023 Met Gala look.
Kardashian's trips to the Met have been the subject of controversy since her first-ever visit in 2013, when she arrived as Kanye West's plus one in her infamous rose-patterned Givenchy gown. “I didn’t know anyone & I’m sure no one wanted me there lol,” Kardashian later said of her Met Gala debut, admitting she “went home & cried” after the evening was over.
That didn't stop her from returning to the Met Gala on her own accord, eventually scoring her entire family their own invites. However, as her style evolved throughout the years, so did her ability to spark heated discourse during fashion's biggest night, from her divisive decision to borrow Marilyn Monroe's historic Bob Mackie dress for the event in 2022 to the "alarming and outdated” diet culture her more recent ensembles seem designed to promote.
In February 2025, Kardashian revealed she even had a panic attack while wearing her waist-cinching Maison Margiela Couture to last year's gala, admitting she “never felt this much pain in my life” in footage shared on The Kardashians. Per E! News, she decided the discomfort was “abso-fucking-lutely” worth it, adding, “If you look good, it's all worth it.”
Even so, it appears Kardashian went for something slightly less constricting this time around.
This feature originally appeared on Glamour US.
