Come Monday night, will Lauren Sánchez go overtly demure, or all out for flesh-showcasing attention at the Met Gala? How is Anna Wintour masterminding the final look? The questions are fascinating fashion-watchers because of the headlines around a White House State Dinner in April, where Sánchez turned heads in a low-cut ruby red corset dress with sheer detailing from Rasario, an independent brand established in 2012 by designer Rasida Lakoba.
Once images of Sánchez in the dress began circulating on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) users had a lot to say. Some commented saying Sanchez’s look was “totally inappropriate” and “embarrassing.”
Sanchez is known for her risqué fashion choices. In January, at husband Jeff Bezos’ 60th birthday during Milan Fashion Week, she wore a low-cut sheer floor-length dress with lace detail that was very revealing.
There has been as much cheering as pearl-clutching at all this, and arguably if Sánchez decides to court more headlines there is no better venue than the Met Gala. The so-called Super Bowl of Fashion features wild outfit after wild outfit, each cheered more than the one before. It is one occasion where any chosen Sanchez excesses would feel on the money—and where dressing down could come off, counter-intuitively, as radical. Which way will she go?
Nolan Meader, a fashion editor and stylist to New York’s socialite crowd, said, “I’m hoping Lauren uses the Met Gala as an opportunity to respond to a lot of the criticism of her. This is the ultimate opportunity to shut down critics and elevate her style to a more elegant level. She usually goes for sexier and more form-fitting looks, and I would love to see her really embrace fashion. If Anna Wintour is advising her on fashion, I’m hoping that means she’ll be wearing a brand favored by Vogue’s editor-in-chief. I’d personally love to see her in Chanel, but Oscar de la Renta or Dolce & Gabbana would also be great options for her.”
An insider told journalist Amy Odell that Wintour was “personally helping Sánchez with selecting her dress, and that she was choosing between custom looks by Oscar de la Renta and two other designers,” while Page Six reported that Wintour would use the occasion, which raises funds to support the Met’s Costume Institute, to crown Bezos and Sanchez as nothing less than “new American royalty.”
The mastermind behind the Gala is longtime Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast artistic director Wintour herself, whom the Costume Institute is named after. One of Wintour’s biggest tasks for the evening is curating the star-studded guest list, which is typically kept under wraps with only Wintour and those within the Vogue and Met circles privy to who will attend beforehand.
The Daily Beast reached out to Vogue’s parent company Condé Nast for comment on Wintour advising Sánchez on her look, and they did not respond for comment.
This year’s Met Gala theme is Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, taking its title from the Met exhibition of the same name, in which “approximately 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries will be on view, visually united by iconography related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion and a vehicle to examine the cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal.”
On Monday the dress code is “The Garden of Time,” which means maybe expect greens, and crazy vegetation-resembling structures, topiary—anything goes. Some guests observe the theme, and try to craft something witty and striking derived from it. Others just go full glam.
Sánchez has been one of the most talked about public figures since she began her relationship with Amazon founder and executive chair Bezos in 2019. In May 2023, when the pair got engaged, the spotlight on Sanchez began shining brighter, as the press couldn’t get enough of the woman poised to become Bezos’ next spouse. The duo solidified their position among the fashion elite in December 2023, when they posed for a Western-themed photoshoot for American Vogue shot by veteran fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz.
On Monday night, Sanchez could potentially dance the line between the Garden of Time theme and her usual aesthetic. Nicholas Collins, a New York-based personal stylist who caters to luxury customers and the wealthy, said, “Versace could be a safe bet for her, as it’s still a sexy brand. I doubt she’ll go with an American designer, and aside from Versace, she would like to turn to a French or Italian brand [Gucci, Prada, Dior] etc.”
Sánchez’s style choices for her red carpet appearances have been the work of stylist and costume designer Kelly Johnson, who has also worked with Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, Emmy nominee Laverne Cox and Screen Actors Guild winner Lisa Ann Walter. Johnson has typically opted for more independent designers for Sánchez.
At this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars party, she dressed Sanchez in an ethereal red corset gown by eco-conscious designer Laura Basci, who became popular among the A-list crowd with clients including Sofia Vergara, Mariah Carey and Gwyneth Paltrow. Johnson has also dressed Sánchez in brands and designers, such as Diane von Fürstenberg and Balenciaga Couture.
Los Angeles-based Swiss designer Basci has become one of Sanchez’s go-to designers on the red carpet, and while many are speculating Sanchez will wear a more household-name luxury brand, it’s possible that she will stick to one of her tried and true favorites.
“I have an inclination she will surprise us with something different than her usual evening wear, like a big princess over-the-top look, especially since the theme is Garden of Time.”
— Talya Bendel
The Daily Beast reached out to Johnson for comment on whether or not any brands have been courting Sanchez for the Met Gala, and if she’s narrowed it down to a shortlist of designers. Johnson did not immediately reply for comment.
Some fashion industry insiders think that the Met Gala will be the time for Sánchez to debut a new style, and have this be a shift in her fashion aesthetic.
Talya Bendel, a New York-based stylist and costume designer who has been named to the New York Times Best Dressed List twice, said, “Sánchez has been wearing a lot of up-and-coming designers, but I think she will definitely go with a big name this time, especially if Anna Wintour is working with her to select the look. I think the likely choices would come down to Alexander McQueen or Versace, but we’ve also seen her in quite a bit of Dolce & Gabbana.
“I have an inclination she will surprise us with something different than her usual evening wear, like a big princess over-the-top look, especially since the theme is Garden of Time. We don’t usually see Lauren in head-to-toe florals, but it would be great for this to be the first time we do. This is her chance to elevate her style and wear something you’d never expect from her. It would be like starting a clean slate, and going forward she can continue experimenting with fashion. I hope she goes all out and surprises us with something out-of-the-box.”
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