Despite rumours about her attendance, Kim Kardashian arrived at the 2025 Met Gala wearing a mock-croc skirt and corset with a twisted necklace and a statement train. As has become her signature, Kim's waist was duly cinched in by the leather bustier, so much so that she had to stand up in her ride to the event.
Hers is a look that immediately got people talking, which makes sense given that the Met Gala is the place to see or be seen. Since its inception, on the first Monday in May, the iconic staircase up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York reads as a who's who in the worlds of fashion and entertainment - world's best ever red carpet. Believe it or not, for a long time that did not include reality TV royalty otherwise known as the Kardashians and the Jenners.
In fact, Kim first got the call up in 2013 because Kanye West, her partner at the time, was performing. Sadly, her debut didn't go exactly to plan. Kim was seven months pregnant with their first child, North, and wore a floral Givenchy floral dress with matching gloves that regrettably drew comparisons with 'your nan's sofa' and turned her into a viral meme – and her sister Kourtney's 2023 Halloween costume.
'I wasn’t actually invited – I was just Kanye’s plus-one and that was OK with me, because I never really dreamed that I would be at the Met ball,' she once said. 'I know no one really probably wanted me there at the time… I was so insecure and I could never really speak up at that point because I was just so shy and wanted to make everyone really happy.'
How times have changed. Not only Kim, but her whole family, are now Met Gala mainstays and for better or worse their looks are usually some of the most talked about of the night. The family have gone from being 'blacklisted' by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to being some of the event's most esteemed guests.
By 2014, Kim was invited herself, not just as a +1, the same year she featured on the cover of Vogue for the first time. Her sister Kendall Jenner, herself a supermodel, also made the cut. By 2015, Kris Jenner was on the red carpet with them, shortly followed by Kylie Jenner a year later. It might have taken until 2022 for Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian to get the call up (and all the Kardashians except Khloe were in attendance for the Met Gala 2024but now that we're in 2025, fans are eagerly anticipating the entire clan to be in attendance.
Did the Kardashian/Jenners go to the 2025 Met Gala?
Despite rumours that Kim, Kendall and Kylie might skip the Met this year for various reasons, they all pulled through in the end. Kim might be in the midst of an ongoing robbery trial in Paris, after a group of pensioners nicknamed the 'grandpa robbers' by French media have been charged with stealing jewellery worth millions of euros from her when she attended Paris fashion week in 2016, but she made it down the blue carpet - and in style. Kim is expected to give evidence on 13 May, and the trial runs until 23 May, so she won't be in New York for long.
Fitting to the theme, Kim wore a black leather corset top, skirt with a silver chain and matching witch hunter hat. She got ready and left her hotel with her trusty style guru and eldest daughter, North West, who is seven years too young to attend the event, but seems primed for a future invitation.
Then there were rumours that Kylie, who has not missed a gala since 2016, was 'left off the guest list' this year by Met Gala power couple Rihanna and co-chair A$AP Rocky, but thankfully the reports were false. Kylie attended this year's Met in a sheer black bodice.
Kendall didn't miss the fashion Oscars either. She arrived in a tailored grey blazer and skirt with a diamond necklace. No doubt she took pains to avoid co-chair A$AP Rocky given their romantic history... but it's nothing these stars aren't used to.
This year's Met Gala theme is 'Tailored for You,' in connection with the Costume's Institute's landmark new exhibition, 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.' There may have been whispers of a 'Kardashian-Jenner-free' night on the red carpet, but given their penchant for adding rib-crushing corsets and unexpected accessories to their looks (see: baseball cap, grey cardigans, Versace feather bowers), it wouldn't be a Met Gala without them.