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From right: Jourdan Dunn, Sasha Lane, Stella Maxwell, Jourdan Dunn, Ashley Graham and Future
Credit: Supplied

It’s no secret that A-listers who swan down red carpets rarely need to dig into their own wardrobes for the perfect outfit, but how does the ‘dress loan’ process really unfold?

Global high street store H&M, which is better known for its fast fashion than formalwear, turned that notion on its head by dressing seven big-name stars for the 2017 Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit held in New YorkNicki Minaj, Future, Ashley Graham, Joe Jonas, Jourdan Dunn, Sasha Lane and Stella Maxwell.

“Once I saw the sketch I was ‘OK, cool, this is totally me, but also true to the theme’,” says Victoria’s Secret model Dunn, speaking from her suite at the Carlisle Hotel of the Gala held to honour the work of Comme des Garcon founder Rei Kawakubo. Dunn’s dress, a body-skimming gown that resembled a giant asymetrically decontructed man’s shirt with navy pin-stripe skirt held together in a series of tied bows, was custom made for her by the H&M design team.

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Future and Jourdan Dunn at the Met Gala 
Credit: Getty Images

Likewise, the other outfitees. “I basically said ‘I want to be a bad-ass fairy goddess, then we went from there,” says actress Sasha Lane of the design process behind her outfit, a structured rafia, velvet and net dress decorated with one of Kawakubo’s signature motifs: giant polka dots. “It’s like a mix of having an edge but also being so graceful and pretty and flowy.” 

It’s no surprise that H&M was acquainted enough with the 74-year-old Japanese designer’s approach to fashion to represent parts of it: in 2008 Kawakubo created a capsule collection under her Comme des Garcon label for the chain.

Vital to the process too was proving red carpet couture could be sustainable. Future’s suit for example was made from sustainable fabrics (Tencel, organic silk and wool) and sported a hand-embroidered black skull with a red Swarovski crystal heart on its back. Likewise, his shirt was 100 percent organic silk.

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Ashley Graham and Stella Maxwell
Credit: Supplied

“Everything that we do should be sustainable, so it’s just a cool thing that H&M have been aware of that,” robed model Stella Maxwell says to the camera as a stylist works on twisting her blonde hair into the up-do she fronted for the papparazzi just hours later. Her Gala dress was made of sheer organic silk chiffon covered in strands of pearls, which started as a necklace that draped across an open back.

The only thing missing for Maxwell was girlfriend Kristen Stewart. Now, that would have been a new spin on sustainable embellishment.

Watch the Behind-the-scenes video here:

Credit: Cover image supplied