Is fashion art? The Met’s Costume Institute certainly thinks so. Since the very first Met Gala in 1948, the museum has tried to prove that fashion deserves a place alongside some of art’s greatest masterpieces. “Some people have a very 19th century idea of what art is,” said chief curator Andrew Bolton in 2015. “There are people within the museum who still dismiss fashion.” No one can dismiss the power of fashion on the first Monday in May, especially at this year’s Gala, which raised a record-breaking $42 million for the Costume Institute.

This year’s exhibition is titled Costume Art, meanwhile the dress code for this evening’s carpet was “Fashion is Art” – which some guests took more literally than others. There were several different takes on the theme: fashion inspired by specific works of art, fashion becoming a work of art in its own right, the body as art, and fashion inspired by the human body. Basically, the parameters were pretty wide.

As ever, some of the world’s biggest names in music, film, fashion and sport were in attendance, starting with the evening’s hosts: Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. While Kidman and Williams turned up on time – the hosts usually arrive first, alongside Anna Wintour – Beyoncé was one of the last to arrive, but was well worth the wait. Wearing a diamond-encrusted skeletal gown designed by ex-Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing, the singer was accompanied by husband Jay Z, as well as daughter Blue Ivy – who made her Met Gala debut, despite being only 14 and therefore under the 18+ age requirement. 

Clearly Wintour was willing to look past age this year, with 17-year-old Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban also in attendance and accompanying her mother (Nicole). Maybe next year we’ll see North West’s debut. Beyond the hosts’ underage children, multiple trends quickly began to form. Firstly, things got very handsy. Then, it was all about mask4mask, not to mention the many, many nip-slips. Of course, there were art references galore – from at least three different Yves Klein tributes (as we predicted), to Madame X and Lady Jane Grey. 

There were some major surprises too. 77-year-old Stevie Nicks made her Met Gala debut wearing our first glimpse of John Galliano’s Zara. Madonna was accompanied by seven models, each holding a corner of her train. Bad Bunny had aged by 53 years, stepping out as Old Bunny, because… why not? And Rihanna closed the carpet, accompanied by A$AP Rocky and wearing a dazzling custom gown by Glenn Martens for Maison Margiela. 

A lot happened. Some of it wonderful, some of it weird, but all of it worth catching up on. Scroll through the gallery above for all our favourite looks of the night.