Met Gala: Usher and Other Male Celebs Slammed for Wearing Black Tuxedos

Daniel S. Levine

05/01/2023 08:12 pm EDT

The Met Gala is one of the biggest fashion events of the year, with designers going all-out to create intricate looks for the event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Each year has a unique theme, with this year's being a tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld. Still, many male celebrities showed up wearing variations of black tuxedoes, much to the chagrin of observers on social media.

The dress code for the theme "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" was simply to dress "in honor of Karl." Penelope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer, and Anna Wintour served as the night's co-chairs. Wintour has overseen the event since 1995. It serves as a fundraiser for the Met's Costume Institute, which often features an exhibit with the same theme as the gala.

The Costume Institute's Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, Andrew Bolton, created the Lagerfeld exhibit with the help of Amanda Harlech, who worked with Lagerfeld, as a creative consultant. The exhibit opens on May 5 and closes on July 16. Around 150 looks will be featured in the unconventional retrospective.

Actor Manu Rios

"Well the one thing I knew for certain is that we could not do a traditional retrospective," Bolton told Vogue. "For one thing, I think Karl would have hated that. Even though one of his facets was that he was a historicist, and he would revisit themes in his work, he was always looking to the future in his own work-he hated looking back at the past. It was something he had a very conflicted relationship with."

Usher

While some male stars like Taika Waititi and Brian Tyree Henry went with wildly intricate looks that would have made Lagerfeld proud, many wore similar black tuxedoes. Here's a look at some who got reamed by fashion fans. Others also celebrated any time a male star didn't wear a boring tux.

Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are the co-founders of the fashion house Proenza Schouler. They didn't seem interested in wearing flashy designs themselves.

Daniel Ricciardo

Italian-Australian racecar driver Daniel Ricciardo wore a black tux to the event, but many of his fans were completely fine with the simple look.

Fendi CEO Serge Brunschwig

Fendi CEO Serge Brunschwig attended alongside South Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo. Fans were not happy to see another boring black tux when he walked by the cameras.

James McAvoy

James McAvoy's fans know he could do better than a boring tux. He carried a black hand fan though, so that may have been his big creative move.

Rami Malek... Worse than a black tux?

Rami Male went a very simple route that had some scratching their heads. A few even suggested that his white-vest-over-white-shirt look was even worse than a black tux.

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