Met Gala 2023: What Made the Headlines Online?

The fashion industry as a whole tends to enjoy very positive conversations. Why? Fashion houses and designers have more than consumers: they have fan bases. Many people who might not even own a single designer piece will routinely advocate for these brands online. This is a result of carefully crafted brand identities that are working to evoke strong emotions in consumers.

The hosts

This year’s Met Gala was hosted by an impressive lineup. Dua Lipa, Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, and Roger Federer took on host duties this year, helping with everything from collating the guest list to deciding on the menu.

Looking at online mentions surrounding each of the four hosts for the broadcast time frame, we can see that they accumulated nearly 72,000 mentions collectively. Dua Lipa had the largest conversation by far, accounting for 74% of all host mentions online during the broadcast.

Dua’s outfit for the night consisted of over $10 million worth of diamonds, which caused plenty of chatter online. This, combined with her stunning cream archival CHANEL gown, are how she stole the show when it came to host mentions.

The most talked-about celebs

Each year, the exclusive celebrity guest list makes the Met Gala an event to watch. This year, a handful of celebs stole the show. When looking at which single minute accumulated the most mentions, we can see that this was 7:48pm EST – when Anne Hathaway took to the carpet. Fans marveled at Hathaway’s look, a white tweed Versace gown with a full-length leg slit.

Anne was, by far, the most talked about celebrity who walked the red carpet. The conversation around her appearance was impressively positive, with 74% of emotion-categorized mentions about Hathaway showing joy.

Doja Cat followed Anne as the second-most discussed celeb. Doja arrived at the carpet dressed as a cat, and wore a backless hooded silver sequin dress by Oscar de la Renta. The dress took more than 5,000 hours to create.

Met Gala royalty, Rihanna arrived fashionably late to the red carpet this year. It was believed she would not be attending – yet she did arrive with partner A$AP Rocky after the red carpet had finished. This didn’t stop online commenters guessing if she’d make an appearance and reminiscing her previous looks earlier in the night.

Let’s talk designers

While the Met Gala’s guests encourage plenty of online discussion during the event, we can’t forget the designers. The Met Gala is one of the fashion world’s biggest annual events, and designers make sure their names are heard.

CHANEL accounted for over 182,000 mentions during the broadcast. That’s 71% of all designer mentions throughout the Met Gala red carpet. Karl Lagerfeld, who inspired the event’s theme, received widespread acclaim for his work at the fashion house. This accounts for a large portion of the fashion house’s mentions. Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Campbell, and Dua Lipa were among those dressed in CHANEL this year.

Versace and Thom Browne came in second and third place, respectively, for most mentioned designer. Versace’s mentions can be attributed to Anne Hathaway’s appearance alongside Donatella Versace during the carpet.

Thom Browne styled Jenna Ortega, Janelle Monáe, Sora Choi, Trevor Noah, Bella Ramsey, and more for this year’s Met Gala – and fans were impressed. Many took to social media to appreciate the looks created by the American fashion designer.