With just days until the 2025 Met Gala, the guest list and seating arrangements are already set. We mere mortals won't know exactly who's attending until they walk up the steps on May 5—but Hailey Bieber cleverly used a vintage Gucci dress to potentially wink at her RSVP.
The Rhode founder touched down in New York City on April 30. She'd barely made it out of the JFK Airport baggage claim before heading out to Manhattan's Cafe Zaffri for a late-night bite. Stylist Dani Michelle pulled an icy blue vintage Gucci dress, circa the Spring 1998 collection designed by Tom Ford, for the pointed sidewalk strut. At a first glance, it's simply a mid-length sheath with the expert, subtly sexy tailoring Ford brought to Gucci. But Michelle and Bieber logged on Instagram to shed some light on the look's backstory.
After posting a photo of Bieber in her Gucci mini, her bronde hair in a fresh middle-parted blowout and sunglasses perched on her nose, Dani Michelle then shared an archival photo of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wearing the exact same dress. "Icons only," Michelle captioned the snap—which Bieber then re-shared on her Stories.
Wintour debuted the Gucci by Tom Ford dress in 1998, for a US Embassy cocktail party in Paris. She was photographed alongside the legendary late editor André Leon Talley, who also dressed in the same fabled collection.
Bieber and Michelle sourced the decades-old dress from The RealList, a vintage boutique that has also supplied Olivia Rodrigo and Kylie Jenner with their archival red carpet grails. The timing for an Anna Wintour reference couldn't be more pointed: Wintour, after all, is famously a co-chair of the Met Gala each year. Hailey Bieber sampling her '90s wardrobe suggests a connection—and perhaps a "Yes" to attending this year's event.
andré leon talley and anna wintour both wearing gucci by tom ford s/s 1998 (with wintour in a blue variant of the runway look) at the U.S. embassy cocktail party in paris, photographed by angelica blechschmidt (1998) pic.twitter.com/OphMpbMXa5December 14, 2021
Hailey Bieber's 2025 Met Gala plans won't be confirmed until she arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of course. Still, she's overdue for an appearance. The model and beauty mogul last attended in 2022, for the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" edition with a "Gilded Glamour" dress code. Bieber wore a custom ivory Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello gown with a halter neckline and hip-high slit, paired to semi-sheer black tights and a flowing cape. She intended to pay homage to 1970s model Jerry Hall.
Bieber's 2025 Met Gala warm up trended in a more modern direction, despite the '90s origins of her icy blue mini. She clutched a soft leather bag by The Row in one hand, and a coordinating Rhode phone case set with a matching Peptide Lip Tint in the other (of course). See-through Gianvito Rossi heels nodded to present-day street style, where the naked shoe trend is celebrities' favorite way to be transparent.
On Monday, celebrities will arrive at the 2025 Met Gala honoring the theme "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" in variations on the "Tailored for You" dress code. Hailey Bieber could either return to her Saint Laurent suiting roots or go for another vintage pull with ties to the event's founder—it's her red carpet to win either way.
