The 'Grown-ish' star shares with ET the inspiration behind her Jean Paul Gaultier gown.
Yara Shahidi brought the '90s to the 2023 Met Gala! The 23-year-old actress tapped into her inner supermodel on Monday night, as she strutted up the Metropolitan Museum of Art stairs like it was her personal runway.
Shahidi stunned in a Jean Paul Gaultier gown with Cartier jewelry and Jimmy Choo shoes. Inspired by '90s Chanel couture, the bronze gown features a pearl-detailed corset with a ruched micro-miniskirt, accented with an overlapping drape in the front and mermaid tail in the back.
"I love the many eras of Karl [Lagerfeld]," Shahidi told ET's Rachel Smith, sharing her personal connection to the late Chanel House creative director. "Chanel was the first house to really embrace me and take me in. It was the first show I went to so I think it's really an honor to grow up feeling his influence and legacy."
And, of course, the Grown-ish star's look was an homage to the supermodels that made fashion so iconic. "The Yasmeens and Cindys and Naomis of the world are forever inspirations so we had to take it to the '90s," she added.
This year's Met Gala theme was "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" to celebrate the full work and life of the late designer. The exhibition -- which opens to the public on May 5 and closes July 16 -- features 150 of Lagerfeld's designs from Chanel, Balmain, Patou, Fendi, Chloe as well as his own personal line and are accompanied by his sketches. The Chanel creative director died in February 2019. He was 85.
After the theme was announced in September, it sparked backlash due to Lagerfeld's alleged past problematic comments, including in 2009 that "no one wants to see round women." In 2018, he also said he was "fed up" with the #MeToo movement.
The dress code this year was "in honor of Karl" with Michaela Coel, Penélope Cruz, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour tapped as co-chairs for the spring fashion event. The annual gala is a fundraiser for New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Entertainment Tonight was on the iconic Met Gala red carpet, so check out ETonline for more coverage from fashion's biggest night, including all of the jaw-dropping red carpet looks.
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