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Swarovski illuminated the Met Gala red carpet with four one-of-a-kind couture looks envisioned by Global Creative Director Giovanna Engelbert, who was accompanied by Friends of the House Adut Akech, Alex Consani, and Sora Choi.
Engelbert’s creative direction for this year’s MET Gala offered a rich tapestry of inspiration that celebrates transformation, elegance and heritage, deeply rooted in the identity of Swarovski. In a nod to the House’s 130th anniversary, she blended Swarovski’s House emblem, the Swarovski Swan, with this year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, to create a captivating presentation of craftsmanship, ripe with deep significance to both the House and the underpinning characteristics that define dandy style. The resulting Swarovski couture pieces perfectly balanced tradition and modernity to showcase powerful, yet graceful silhouettes for the House’s second Met Gala red carpet presentation. Echoing last year’s red carpet moment, Engelbert has once again dressed an inclusive and relevant group of supermodels, striking a perfect symmetry between brand codes, high couture, and individuality.
Responding to this year’s dress code, ‘Tailored for You’, Engelbert conceptualized the custom couture looks that honored Swarovski’s 130th anniversary with symbolic representations of the Swarovski Swan, which beautifully connected to the world of the dandy through its ties to sartorial elegance, poetic masculinity and theatrical refinement; all values expressed in the resulting silhouettes, tailoring, embroidery, and jewelry.
The looks reflected Swarovski’s joyful House colors of green, pink, white, yellow, and blue and were embellished with hundreds of thousands of precision-cut Swarovski Crystals overlaid with intricate crystal jewels and embroidered feather details and completed with exquisitely crafted custom and yet-to-be-released jewelry.
Giovanna Engelbert commented: “This year my approach was to embody the characteristics of the Swarovski Swan and to merge them with a study of dandy style. I looked at each garment as a canvas – creating colorful, artistic representations of swan feathers in combination with crystal and world class tailoring to bring the same level of artistry and creativity to each look that we bring to our jewelry, and to capture the elegance and extravagance of this important moment in fashion pop culture. This project is not only a celebration of beauty, but also a tribute to craft, culture, and creative legacy. It’s something deeply personal to me and I am honored to bring it to life through Swarovski at the Met Gala.”
For each couture creation, Engelbert used a pictorial eye, hand-sketching each embroidered feather to achieve a painterly effect and selecting crystal placements as if marking brushstrokes. The effect, paired with striking silhouettes, created depth, movement and emotive texture, a nod to the Austrian artistic spirit that is celebrated at the historic Schönbrunn Palace, and is part of Swarovski’s cultural heritage.
Two of the finest Parisian couture ateliers, Baqué Molinié and Lesage, contributed their embroidery expertise to create exquisite detailing for each of the looks. Each one was complemented with custom Manolo Blahnik silk heels featuring hand-embroidered crystal feathers and a billowing silk overcoat, with tuxedo lapel details, in corresponding monochromatic color.
Adut Akech embodied regality and opulence in a pink look designed to echo the grandeur of a swan and the theatrical refinement of dandy style: which very much reflect the attributes of her own style and personality, a perfect blend of youthful allure and fashion extravagance. Crafted from two pieces – a gilet-inspired mini dress and a floor-length tailcoat, the ensemble was hand-made and featured hand-crafted organza feathers. To complete the look, Adut wore a pair of ear cuffs from the Swarovski Vienna collection, and a feather-inspired custom jewelry collar necklace designed to evoke the moment of metamorphosis. The sculptural collar, featuring Pointiage™-encrusted feathers in a degrade pattern, was crafted using a total of 25,550 Swarovski Crystals. The Pointiage™ took a team of four 145 hours to apply. Swan rings from the Vienna Collection showcase the open wings of a swan, feathers wrapping the fingers.
Alex Consani exuded graceful sensuality and elegance in a Swan White inspired look, infused with golden yellow crystal embroidery: echoing the strength and timelessness of her own silhouette, halfway between sculptural shapes and futuristic allure. The two-piece skirt and jacket set combined in a reimagining of a full-length suit with sharply-placed cut-outs on her body – complete with a unique jewelry-revere: a hand-crafted, sculptural necklace, inspired by the Vienna Collection, made of 18,400 crystals seamlessly integrated into the tailoring of the jacket. The jewelry-revere required over 275 hours of craftsmanship and the collaboration of 15 artisans, combining traditional goldsmithing, stone setting, and tailoring techniques into one unified couture gesture. Swan feather-inspired ear cuffs and rings from the Vienna collection completed the look.
Sora Choi stunned in a blue ensemble/dress that captured the romantic and sharp lines of the swan’s form through sleek yet soft tailoring. A formal dress coat transitioned into a balletic, swan-like skirt front to lend an overall punk effect to her look creating an external representation of her edgy inner strength. The skirt is embellished with a spectacular, jewelry-like belt featuring metal feather elements and 16,300 Swarovski Zirconia stones; taking up to 70 hours of Pointiage™.The belt seamlessly fuses with the hand-crafted organza feather skirt, which took up to 650 hours to create, resulting in a true work of art. A hook and needle technique was used on the coat, which was embellished with 50,000 stones including Swarovski Crystal pearls, crystal faceted beads and fancy stones, taking 700 hundred hours to complete. A feather headpiece with 12,600 Swarovski Zirconia stones and Pointiage™ application, that took 50 hours to create, finished the look. Additional pieces include swan ear cuffs from the Vienna Collection and unique, showpiece swan rings inspired by the Vienna swan ear cuffs.
Giovanna Engelbert embodied the dandy theme in a perfectly tailored, verdant green three-piece pantsuit, a personal interpretation of the dress code that seamlessly integrated individuality and rich artistry. An organza feather pattern, embellished with over 200,000 faceted crystals and Swarovski Crystal Pearls, envelops the silhouette of the jacket and pant; while the gilet features crystals in a chevron inspired embroidery. Alongside the green color palette, a key finishing touch was a bow-tie transforming into feather jewelry featuring 1,800 Swarovski Zirconia stones. It took 120 hours of 3D construction and 120 hours of goldsmith setting by four people and brought tailoring accessories into the world of Swarovski jewelry. In addition, Giovanna wore earrings from the Vienna collection and articulated, individual Swarovski crystal-inlaid feathers placed in her hair.
For more information, please contact: global.pr@swarovski.com