Met Gala 2021: Kim Kardashian leads the return of fetish facewear

Kanye West’s DONDA has caused many things – public fights with Sony and Universal, endless streams of memes, but most unexpected has been the new style era it has ushered in for his separated wife, Kim Kardashian: sexy-meets-scary, total body-covering looks.

Last night she stamped her new image onto the Met Gala, hitting the cream carpet in an all-encasing black suit, complete with train and alongside a masked Demna Gvasalia, the Georgian designer at Balenciaga who created the outfit.

It’s a trend she has been pushing since Kanye debuted his album at the start of August. Since, Kim’s sported a whirlwind of variations which have veered from morph suits to full-hog Pulp Fiction Gimp mode when she wore an SS19 leather trench and hood from Vetements during New York Fashion Week.

And as kooky as the trend may be, it seems to be catching on… Also at the Gala was Gossip Girl star Evan Mock, who opted for a spiked, leather mask, while Erykah Badu was concealed by an engulfing black hat. Both were dressed by Thom Browne.

On Sunday night singer Kim Petras’ VMAs outfit was a latex suit with cut outs for her eyes and mouth, worn under an embellished pearl dress by London-based designer Richard Quinn.

But fashion has seen these full-hooded faces before. Belgian designer Martin Margiela was an early adopter of veiled faces on the runway. From his very first show in 1989, these masked figures represented his brand of mystery. The house brought them back, embellished with embroidery, disco ball style mirrors and crystals throughout the early 10s. The very ones that caught Kanye’s eye to become the statement of his 2013-2014 Yeezus tour, and likely the reference point to the pair’s style mask wearing today.

Since the Nineties, a string of fashion’s great designers have weaved this look into collections – whether they’re nodding to artist, designer and club legend Leigh Bowery, who stepped out in more than a few incredible face coverings, or using them as a means of provocation, thanks to their hint at the taboo.

But love them or hate them, they have allowed for a fair few memorable fashion moments. Here are the top 10, looking back:

Kim Kardashian in Vetements

During New York Fashion Week, Kardashian opted for Demna Gvasalia’s Vetements SS19 collection; a leather trench and total body covering suit, complete with zip eye holes and a shiny Balenciaga bag. Quintessential DONDA-age Kim.

Kim Petras in Richard Quinn

For the MTV VMA awards this year, Richard Quinn and his latex layered, pearl encrusted AW21 design made one sure statement on the German singer Kim Petras.

Thom Browne

Face coverings were also seen on the runway this New York Fashion Week – notably at Thom Browne’s SS22 collection, where designs were based on museum statutes.

Marine Serre

The French designer is another of the upcoming set pushing morph suits into the future. For her AW19 collection they came covered in her signature half-moon print.

Cardi B in Richard Quinn

An iconic Paris Fashion Week moment, the rapper announced her arrival posting a video in a full Richard Quinn, floral face wrapping outfit from AW19. “I’m here to serve it to you, and serve it to you cold,” she said.

Kanye West in Maison Margiela

For his Yeezus tour, a range of Margiela masks became West’s fall-back. Here performing in Sydney, 2014, he wears one decked out with appliqué metal wear and pearls.

Alexander McQueen

For the Horn of Plenty collection, AW09, McQueen’s long term collaborator and jewellery designer Shaun Leane took face coverings to a new heights in chainmail.

Leigh Bowery

The constant inspiration that is Leigh Bowery, known from his clubbing days in Eighties London, and hailed for his incredible costume design, is pictured in front of his Lucien Freud portrait at the Metropolitan Museum in 1993.

Jean Paul Gaultier

This full body suit from the AW91 collection came complete with bag, brolli, glasses and a cigarette holder. Now that’s called head-to-toe.

Martin Margiela

A moment from Margiela’s very first show, SS90 in 1989 where veiled faces and his infamous tabi boot were both shown for the first time.

Definitely one of the more unlikely styles the Met Gala could have kicked off, but if anyone can make a weird trend stick, Kim and Kanye can.