The Met Gala 2018 theme: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, explained

Hallelujah, it's back again
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Chloe Street9 May 2018

The Oscars of the fashion world, The Met Gala, has arrived, and with a sartorial spectacle like no other.

Hosted by a stellar line up of Rihanna, Amal Clooney and Donatella Versace, alongside fashion’s high priestess herself, Anna Wintour, this year’s event was arguably the most controversial red carpet spectacle to date.

Guests at this year’s event dressed to the theme of "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," and left us in awe with the fashion that unfurled - from the sublime to the contentious.

"Some might consider fashion to be an unfitting or unseemly medium by which to engage with ideas about the sacred or the divine, but dress is central to any discussion about religion," said exhibition curator Andrew Bolton (Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute) at a press conference in Rome. "It affirms religious allegiances and, by extension, it asserts religious differences."

The exhibition is the largest yet, featuring some 150 items. 40 Vatican vestments and accessories spanning 15 papacies will be on show - some which have never left the Vatican's possession before. These will go on display alongside pieces by Coco Chanel, who was educated by nuns, John Galliano, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Donatella Versace, who’s an exhibition sponsor.

Met Gala 2018: Red Carpet Fashion - In pictures

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But as interesting as the exhibition sounds, it’s the sartorial exhibit that really got us on the edge of our pews.

Madonna's dress was Just Like a Prayer, as Rihanna went full Pope.

There’s certainly no shortage of church-inflected fashion for the A-list attendees to choose from – everyone from Dolce and Gabbana to Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen have, over the years, delved into the vernacular of the devotional with their designs.

Rihanna at the Met Gala
AFP/Getty Images

The theme has led to looks ranging from the heaven-sent to the hell-bent - and we're grateful for the latter.

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