After a much-discussed awards season run of red carpet appearances, what better way to cap things off than with a Met Gala debut?
Colman Domingo did just that Monday at his first Met Gala, in a custom look by Willy Chavarria.
“This feels like sort of the icing on the cake for my award season,” says Domingo, who was nominated for an Oscar this year for his role in “Rustin.” “I know that there’s been a lot of attention on my looks and style and the storytelling that I do with clothing and fashion, and I knew that this was going to be a major moment. So when [The Met] was offered, my stylists [Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald] did some reach outs to see who’d be interested in dressing me. I will quote what Wayman and Micah said: ‘Well, the king of the red carpet should be paired with the latest CFDA award winner.’”
Chavarria sent sketches to Domingo and the styling duo and their collaboration began. Domingo was looking for something romantic, and he wanted to continue the royalty theme he’d worked with throughout his awards season campaign.
“There were times where I felt like it looked like coronation tailoring, in many ways. I feel like it could look very much like British royalty at times, and I wanted this to be at the top of that,” Domingo says. “I’m like, if we’re going for coronation and being the king of the red carpet, [The Met] will be the true coronation.”
As for their interpretation of the exhibit’s theme “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” Domingo says that the romantic nature of Chavarria’s tailoring fits in with the archival pieces of the exhibition.
“I’m going to say this, I think that this Met Ball look will become a gorgeous archival piece that people will recognize and it will be in museums in the future,” Domingo says. “I love the detail, what Willy’s doing with the draping. There’s a beautiful classic strong men’s tailoring, and it’s a little exaggerated, which is what I love. The trousers are a bit exaggerated. The jacket fit is a bit exaggerated. It leans into costume, but it’s truly fashion.
“I love that Willy has inspiration from the 1940s, and he does very interesting shapes, and it’s sexy and it’s romantic, and it’s sort of absurdist at times, and it fits with me in every single way,” Domingo adds of the designer. “I feel like even the way I dress day to day, I may have a very different personality, but I felt like for my first time going to The Met, Willy seemed right. It seems like, ‘Oh, he understands my personality.’ I always want to have a bit of a wink and a smile on a carpet and his clothing does that.”
