Former Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance at the Met Gala Monday, quietly slipping into the building after skipping out on the event’s red carpet.
For her first Met, Harris wore a custom look from Off-White designed by creative director IB Kamara. The luxury fashion brand was founded by the late Virgil Abloh, a widely celebrated pioneer of fashion who arguably defined modern streetwear.
The former presidential candidate’s two-tone black-and-white dress featured a sweeping sleeve and long scarf, accessorized with some statement jewelry and a clutch purse. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, was also in attendance and donned a tuxedo from Brunello Cucinelli.
When reflecting on the Met Gala’s theme this year, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which celebrates Black dandyism and its lasting legacy on aesthetic and culture, Harris told Vogue: “Art has always had a significant impact on not just culture, but also our policies and politics.”
“Artistic expression—whether it’s dance, music, visual arts, or fashion—has a way of capturing the mood and language of the people without words,” she continued. “Art has the power to shape the conversation about where we are today and where we need to go.”
In a press release, Kamara noted that he honed in on Harris’ “strength and confidence” to complete the look.
“The precise simplicity of this black and cream look for Kamala D. Harris complements her own strength and confidence,” Kamara said. “Two qualities I consider to be the core of dandyism.”
A spokesperson additionally told The New York Times that Harris quietly slipped into the gala with Emhoff without posing on the carpet.
Harris is not the first high-profile politician to attend the glitzy fundraising event for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former First Lady Hillary Clinton attending in years past.
Anna Wintour, Vogue‘s longtime editor-in-chief and mastermind behind the star-studded gala, is also a prominent Democrat. She endorsed Harris’ 2024 presidential run last July and placed the vice president on the magazine’s cover in 2021
She even hosted a Biden fundraiser event in March last year.
