The Met Gala, the most anticipated event in the world of fashion and entertainment, once again dazzled us with its opulence and extravagance in its 2024 edition. Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 6, this iconic gala brought together celebrities, designers and prominent industry figures for a night of glamour and boundless creativity with the theme: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, and with a very specific dress code: The Garden of Time.

For the creative team at Splash by Lo, this gala is an endless source of inspiration. From Zendaya’s bold geometric patterns to Emma Stone’s sophisticated embroidered flowers, each design told a unique story. We could notice a notable trend towards sustainability, with many stars choosing eco-friendly fabrics and green printing techniques.

However, what impacted everyone the most was the South African singer Tyla and her sand dress. Not only was it a startlingly original idea, but one that also made Tyla’s movement so restricted that she had to be helped to move around. This led to some critical voices being raised about the use of the image of women as mere objects at the service of fashion.

The mobility problem was solved by Olivier Rousteing himself, creator of the dress and creative director of Balmain, by cutting off the entire bottom half of the gown with a pair of scissors. 

The Dress

Given that one of the key words of the night was time, the Balmain team seized the opportunity to make Tyla a dress made of sand, a nod to “the sands of time” and to those hourglasses that were used in ancient times.

Olivier Rousteing, creative director at Balmain, was particularly intrigued by the idea of the ephemeral when creating Tyla’s dress: “The inspiration behind this creation stemmed from a desire to redefine boundaries and transform a transient material into an everlasting masterpiece. The idea of sculpting a garment from something as ephemeral as sand ignited my imagination, and I could not be happier with the end result.”

The strapless dress was made to hug every inch of the singer’s body before transforming into a striking organza tail. Crafted using three colours of sand and mixed with microcrystal studs, the dress sparkled with Tyla’s every move.

Controversies aside, these events are the perfect showcase to experiment with new materials, contributing to the evolution of the fashion world and always looking for