Brandon Maxwell shares the making of her custom Balenciaga Met Gala Look

[NewYorkCity 10,536]

Lady Gaga attended last night’s hugely anticipated Met Gala on the arm of Alexander Wang, in a look created by his Balenciaga team and Brandon Maxwell, her stylist and fashion director since 2012. Here, Maxwell recounts his preparations for her red-carpet masterpiece.

[Lady Gaga gets ready before last night's Met Gala.]

Alex and Gaga are both iconic New York figures. I’ve been friends with Alex for a while, and when it came time to think about the Met Gala, Alex called and asked if Gaga would be his date. I thought they’d be a great match because they are similar in so many ways and, surprisingly, hadn’t previously collaborated. Knowing both of their minds, which are both so vast, diverse and energetic, I knew that if they joined forces the outcome would be amazing.

We all started spending time together when Gaga and I went to Paris for Alex’s Fall Balenciaga show. The next morning, we visited the atelier and pored over inspiration, fabrics, hair and makeup. We sat for hours discussing the possibilities, taking measurements and going through the Balenciaga archives, which was a really inspiring experience in itself. The whole team at Balenciaga welcomed us with open arms, and it was truly the collaborative experience that I had imaged it would be.

The first idea that Alex and Gaga came up with was to wear a beautiful, encrusted comb and cover her hair in hand-laced crystals. Alex prepared an entire room full of inspiration images and was gravitating towards traditional Chinese coats and robes. Together from there, we went over fabrics, embellishments, and came up with the idea of hand-crystalling ​an evening coat and adding hand-placed feathers to give it dimension. While spending time together, Gaga and Alex decided they wanted to throw an afterparty, so with​ that​ in mind we decided to make a completely crystallized ​black crepe jumpsuit embroidered with black Swarovski crystals to go underneath the cape, so she had the flexibility of removing it when it came time to party​​. Alex also designed black wedge boots that were also embellished in ​black Swarovski crystals.

Brandon Maxwell, Lady Gaga’s stylist and fashion director since 2012, shares every intimate detail of the making of her custom Balenciaga look for the Met Gala — and these images of her getting ready before last night’s red carpet.

 

Over the past few months, Alex was so gracious to fly wherever Gaga was at the time for fittings, overseeing every detail by hand. We continued to work together refining each element up until the morning of the Gala.

The morning of the Met, Alex and his Balenciaga team met at Gaga’s apartment for a final fitting to make sure everything was perfect. We went over jewelry, eventually choosing a large, beautiful pair of Fred Leighton earrings and an amazing Art Deco ring. We originally looked at a smaller pair of black drop earrings, but when she had the final look on in her house, I decided to switch to something bolder because the look itself was very bold, and I felt that we needed to carry that through in every element.

Balenciaga made a beautiful pink clutch in the same fabric used for the​ evening​ coat, but ultimately we decided that carrying a bag was too much. After we made that decision, the Balenciaga team created a pouch in the bow for Gaga to carry her phone.

When it comes to glam, I always like to ask the designer what his or her vision is for the look, and we always try to follow that almost exactly. Alex sent reference images with handwritten notes last week, with a very specific eyebrow that we spent time perfecting. A considerable amount of time before the Met was spent handpainting the hair with black paint and Swarovski crystals.

After hair and makeup was finished, it was my time with her to get the clothes on. It was a very special moment for Gaga and me, as this was her very first Met Gala red carpet, she was Alex’s date and we were very proud of what he had created for her. We spent so much time standing in the mirror soaking it in, and making sure each detail was right.

Alex sent a special bus for her to arrive in due to the size of the coat, and as we arrived it was so exciting for me thinking about the initial meetings while I watched her walk out onto the carpet in a sea of flashes.

SOURCE: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/lady-gaga-met-gala-balenciaga/?_r=0
 

 

[JustPokeHerFace 2,564]

It's always so interesting to hear about how much time and effort was put into some of Gaga's looks. 

[Dolev 866]

Brandon is making great choices lately.

[LoveandMagic 1,731]

It's always so interesting to hear about how much time and effort was put into some of Gaga's looks. 

​Indeed. I think it really paid off as well. 

[HausAlly 799]

gorgeous as always, i really like these behind the scenes pictures of gaga getting ready, keep em up!

[Haroon 49,685]

I love reading stories about how these big moments come about, like the process from the brainstorming to the constructing to the actual physical act of putting it on before the event  Really gives a glimpse into the months of planning and preparation that all go into one night - except that "one night" lives on for years in the memory of thousands/millions, if not history if you're lucky  

[elijahfan 26,202]

So that is what all this Balenciaga fuss was about when she was in Paris back in March! They were actually planning the MET Gala outfit!

[lego 44,165]

Lady Gaga attended last night’s hugely anticipated Met Gala on the arm of Alexander Wang, in a look created by his Balenciaga team and Brandon Maxwell, her stylist and fashion director since 2012. Here, Maxwell recounts his preparations for her red-carpet masterpiece.

[Lady Gaga gets ready before last night's Met Gala.]

Alex and Gaga are both iconic New York figures. I’ve been friends with Alex for a while, and when it came time to think about the Met Gala, Alex called and asked if Gaga would be his date. I thought they’d be a great match because they are similar in so many ways and, surprisingly, hadn’t previously collaborated. Knowing both of their minds, which are both so vast, diverse and energetic, I knew that if they joined forces the outcome would be amazing.

We all started spending time together when Gaga and I went to Paris for Alex’s Fall Balenciaga show. The next morning, we visited the atelier and pored over inspiration, fabrics, hair and makeup. We sat for hours discussing the possibilities, taking measurements and going through the Balenciaga archives, which was a really inspiring experience in itself. The whole team at Balenciaga welcomed us with open arms, and it was truly the collaborative experience that I had imaged it would be.

The first idea that Alex and Gaga came up with was to wear a beautiful, encrusted comb and cover her hair in hand-laced crystals. Alex prepared an entire room full of inspiration images and was gravitating towards traditional Chinese coats and robes. Together from there, we went over fabrics, embellishments, and came up with the idea of hand-crystalling ​an evening coat and adding hand-placed feathers to give it dimension. While spending time together, Gaga and Alex decided they wanted to throw an afterparty, so with​ that​ in mind we decided to make a completely crystallized ​black crepe jumpsuit embroidered with black Swarovski crystals to go underneath the cape, so she had the flexibility of removing it when it came time to party​​. Alex also designed black wedge boots that were also embellished in ​black Swarovski crystals.

Brandon Maxwell, Lady Gaga’s stylist and fashion director since 2012, shares every intimate detail of the making of her custom Balenciaga look for the Met Gala — and these images of her getting ready before last night’s red carpet.

 

Over the past few months, Alex was so gracious to fly wherever Gaga was at the time for fittings, overseeing every detail by hand. We continued to work together refining each element up until the morning of the Gala.

The morning of the Met, Alex and his Balenciaga team met at Gaga’s apartment for a final fitting to make sure everything was perfect. We went over jewelry, eventually choosing a large, beautiful pair of Fred Leighton earrings and an amazing Art Deco ring. We originally looked at a smaller pair of black drop earrings, but when she had the final look on in her house, I decided to switch to something bolder because the look itself was very bold, and I felt that we needed to carry that through in every element.

Balenciaga made a beautiful pink clutch in the same fabric used for the​ evening​ coat, but ultimately we decided that carrying a bag was too much. After we made that decision, the Balenciaga team created a pouch in the bow for Gaga to carry her phone.

When it comes to glam, I always like to ask the designer what his or her vision is for the look, and we always try to follow that almost exactly. Alex sent reference images with handwritten notes last week, with a very specific eyebrow that we spent time perfecting. A considerable amount of time before the Met was spent handpainting the hair with black paint and Swarovski crystals.

After hair and makeup was finished, it was my time with her to get the clothes on. It was a very special moment for Gaga and me, as this was her very first Met Gala red carpet, she was Alex’s date and we were very proud of what he had created for her. We spent so much time standing in the mirror soaking it in, and making sure each detail was right.

Alex sent a special bus for her to arrive in due to the size of the coat, and as we arrived it was so exciting for me thinking about the initial meetings while I watched her walk out onto the carpet in a sea of flashes.

SOURCE: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/lady-gaga-met-gala-balenciaga/?_r=0
 

 

Can you post this also in this thread please?

 

[Henry 2,374]

Love reading stuff like this

She looked amazing

[JazzGa 14,621]

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaas Im such a fan of Wang's designs AND personal style and I think his looks are so well-suited to Gaga, especially her new Dark Classy Queen of Everything look she has. If TFM was McQueen, BTW was Mugler, and ARTPOP was Versace, I hope her next album's fashion haus partnership is Balenciaga.

[Free Bitch 106]

Good read! Maxwell slaying his job lately!

[Rino 5,120]

I love the fact that they made a pouch for Gaga's phone 

just like the Oscars performance this year, Gaga's met Gala's debut was a result of hard work and genuine collaboration. with this approach, the Queen is truly set to slay 

[KaanBTW 5,244]

Such a good story

 

[willmcclure72 34]

Not her arriving in a bus. Queen