Fashion
Cynthia Erivo Honors Black Women’s Fashion Impact At 2022 Met Gala
The award-winning actress was white hot — and Black AF.
Cynthia Erivo understood the assignment Monday (May 2) night at the 2022 Met Gala. The award-winning actress wowed in pieces pulled directly from Louis Vuitton archives to tie into the event’s fashion theme.
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“We wanted to find something that felt like it was Gilded Glamour, so we have a layering of different textures and fabrics,” said Erivo on the red carpet.
The inspiration that really hit home, however, was her voluminous white headwrap crafted from upcycled fabric. Instead of rocking her signature platinum-cropped crown, Erivo opted to reference women of African descent who had to cover their hair during that time period.
“This is inspired by women of Louisiana from the 1800s, who had to cover their hair for necessity,” she said. “This was known as a tignon, but know it as a headscarf, some people know it as a gele. And I wanted to tie those things together because those women don’t get the credit they deserve for the fashion.”
She also tied back to her own Nigerian heritage, noting how the headwrap represents “this wonderful cyclical thing from immigrants to Black women today.”
The look calls to mind Jeremy Pope’s 2021 Met Gala tribute to enslaved Africans picking cotton.
Of course, no Erivo look would be complete without a fire set of nails. For the evening, she worked with her nail tech to craft lengthy coffin nails with black nail polish and golden charms, including a Black silhouette cameo with an afro puff on her middle finger.
