The first Monday of May just passed us by, which only means one thing: it’s time to browse our favourite Met Gala looks. This year, the biggest night in fashion is a grand tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld, a visionary designer who helmed storied luxury giants such as Chanel, Fendi, Balmain and Chloé. To celebrate the Costume Institute exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, attendees were invited to dress “in honor of Karl“.

As global recognition increases for Asian talents across music, film, fashion and sports, familiar Asian faces, especially those at the forefront of the Hallyu wave, have taken centre stage at the Met Gala to flaunt their sartorial prowess over the past few years. Cue: NCT’s Johnny Suh in Peter Do, Blackpink’s Rosé in Saint Laurent and 2NE1’s CL in Alexander Wang.

On this year’s white carpet, all eyes were on Blackpink‘s Jennie as she made her Met Gala debut in look 164 from Lagerfeld’s fall 1990 ready-to-wear collection, reinterpreted by the Chanel team into a mini dress adorned with a white camellia and a black ribbon at the bust. The K-pop sensation’s appearance at the Met Gala comes as no surprise: nicknamed “Human Chanel”, Jennie is among the last of Karl Lagerfeld’s handpicked muses for the French fashion house and shares a close relationship with Chanel’s current Creative Director Virginie Viard.

Jennie was spotted taking a selfie with Korean actress Song Hye-Kyo, who also made her Met Gala debut this year. Fresh off winning Best Actress at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards for her riveting performance in the Netflix thriller series The Glory, Song looked ethereal in a pale pink lace dress from Fendi, of which she is the first Korean global ambassador.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vogue Hong Kong (@voguehongkong)

Also walking the famous Met Steps for the first time were Jackson Wang and Cai Xukun (Kun), who each channelled Karl Lagerfeld in their own way. Wang looked effortlessly cool in an all-black ensemble from Louis Vuitton and completed his look by dying his hair in a contrasting ashy grey which recalls the late designer’s white locks. On the other hand, Kun chose to accessorise his embellished tailored look from Prada with a hand fan — a practical accessory often spotted in the lands of Lagerfeld. Kun’s fan was printed with traditional Chinese calligraphy, which also nods to the singer’s Chinese roots.