Every year, the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, sees fashion obsessives eager to see how the event’s star-studded guest list will interpret the event’s dress code.
The Gala has seen its fair share of ups and downs in terms of themes. Most fashionistas lauded the kitschiness of 2019’s Camp: Notes on Fashion, while others weren’t too thrilled about the blandness of 2021’s In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.
However, this year’s theme promises a fresh pivot to the rarely explored fashion of Black Dandyism. Superfine: Tailoring Black Style takes a look at the figure of the Black dandy, a flamboyantly dressed Black man that uses fashion to push against the narrative of Eurocentric dandies. “Black people have used fashion, dress, and style as a way to imagine their political and cultural possibilities over time in the African diaspora,” 2025 Met Gala guest curator Monica Miller said in an interview with Barnard College.
While the world waits to see how Hollywood’s elites and fashion’s biggest names will bring Black dandyism to life, we’re taking a moment to look back on all the times Filipino stars have graced the Met Gala red carpet. From goth glam to heritage-inspired couture, here are four celebrities with Filipino heritage who’ve crushed the Met Gala red carpet each time.
Vanessa Hudgens Serving Goth Chic
With a theme like Gilded Glamour, the 2022 Met Gala saw celebrities donning their flashiest, classiest, and grandest takes on fashion inspired by late 19th century New York. Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical, Spring Breakers, The Princess Switch) turned heads as she stepped onto the red carpet as one of the evening’s co-hosts. In a Moschino sheer black gown, the longest black train the Met has ever seen, and a matching pair of black lacy panties peeking through for everyone to see, the Filipino-American star served modern-day dark glam that would make even the goth community nod in approval.
Saweetie Wears Philippine Colors
While the Met Gala’s theme in 2021 — In America: A Lexicon of Fashion — may have been a bit too broad for many celebrities to nail down, Filipino-American rapper Saweetie proudly showcased her heritage on the red carpet. Wearing a Christian Cowan gown adorned with 10 million hand-placed crystals, she stunned with not one, but two separate trains: one featuring the colors of the Philippine flag, and the other the colors of the Black American heritage flag.
Olivia Rodrigo Rocks Three Looks
The Guts superstar has sashayed down the Met Gala red carpet three times, each look more iconic than the last. In 2021, Olivia Rodrigo wowed in a Saint Laurent all-black lace bodysuit. The following year, her Versace ensemble brought her signature purple to life, bedazzled and paired with opera gloves and matching butterflies. Then in 2023, for the Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty theme, Rodrigo was one of the few to truly nail the black-and-white dress code, donning a striking frilled gown by Thom Browne that perfectly balanced elegance with edge.
Hailee Steinfeld Being A Met Gala Regular
Hailee Steinfeld has been a Met Gala regular since 2011, consistently delivering standout looks that blend youthful energy with high fashion. At the 2013 Gala (PUNK: Chaos to Couture), she served elegant punk rock in a cream gown adorned with flowers made of safety pins. The next year, she nailed the Charles James: Beyond Fashion theme in a chic black-and-white Prabal Gurung number that balanced structure with sophistication. In more recent years, she rocked the 2021 red carpet in a futuristic Iris van Herpen creation and turned heads in 2019 with a cheeky, ultra-camp Viktor & Rolf gown that boldly read “No Photos Please” — a look that screamed irony in the most photogenic way possible.
