The actress also jazzed up her suit jacket with a sheer cape
- Lupita Nyong’o hit the 2025 Met Gala in a monochromatic power suit
- Her eyebrows even got dressed for the night — they were bedazzled with black rhinestones
- Nyong’o’s last appearance at the Met Gala was in 2021, where she wore a bodycon denim floor-length dress by Atelier Versace
Lupita Nyong’o has returned to the Met Gala!
Nyong’o, 42, wowed photographers on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5 when she ascended the steps while wearing a head-to-toe suit in a monochromatic, pastel green shade.
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever actress attended the event in a shimmering, two-piece ensemble consisting of a double-breasted suit jacket with a floor-grazing cape and matching pants.
Underneath the jacket, Nyong’o kept the continuity with a button down shirt in the same pastel green, and added a matching bow tie in the shade with a shimmering crystal brooch at its center. The actress further accessorized with a floral pin on the lapel of her jacket, a small top hat and several diamond pieces for her jewelry.
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The color of Nyong’o’s suit is reminiscent of her pale blue gown that she wore while accepting her Oscar for for her performance in 12 Years a Slave at the 2012 Academy Awards.
Nyong’o complemented her Met Gala look with unique glam. She opted for a deep blush and a subtle lip color, but added intrigue with smoky black eyeshadow and eyebrows bedazzled with black rhinestones.
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Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour are co-chairs for the event. The gala, which is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on the first Monday in May, is a fundraiser for the Costume Institute and spotlights the museum’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the theme for the gala.
Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton said that the exhibit, which is inspired by guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, explores “the Black dandy as both a concept and an identity signifier.”
The exhibit “presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to the present through an exploration of the concept of dandyism,” according to a post on the museum’s Instagram. The dress code for this year is “Tailored for You,” a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and suiting.
The gala also has a star-studded host committee that includes Simone Biles and her husband, Jonathan Owens, Doechii, Regina King, Spike Lee, Usher and Angel Reese.
Nyong’o’s appearance marks the end of a four-year Met Gala hiatus for her. She last attended the event in 2021 — when the theme was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” meant to embody independence — in a long denim dress by Atelier Versace. The form-fitting gown consisted of jean panels stitched together, some of which came to a flair by her hip while the rest cascaded down into a short bustle.
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Nyong’o wore bright diamond necklaces, bracelets and rings from De Beers. She opted for a shimmery blue eye look, a neutral lip and silver chrome nails.
The actress’ 2019 Met Gala look was one of her most bold and colorful to date, again by Atelier Versace. Nyong’o fully leaned into the theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” with rainbow wing-like attachments made from neon tulle that extended from the dress’s bodice. The length of the dress was a geometric pattern of pink stars, and the skirt itself fell just past her toes.
Nyong’o accessorized with a fan that perfectly matched the dress’ rainbow shoulders, as well as jewels of every color in her rings and bracelets. By makeup artist Nick Barose, her glam — an extravagant glittery eye look with graphic eyeliner and coral hues — came together with a sparkly black lip.
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Lupita Nyong’o at the 2019 Met Gala.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Her hairstylist, Vernon Francois, was inspired by Lauren Kelley’s 2017 self-portrait “Pickin’” and created Nyong’o’s tall, sculpted Afro to “demonstrate the power, malleability, and luxuriousness of natural hair texture,” he told Vogue. Nyong’o wore an array of bright gold hair combs — each displaying a fist, a symbol of protest, to mirror Nyong’o’s activist work in Hollywood, the outlet reported.
In 2017, Nyong’o sported a peach-orange off-the-shoulder Prada gown. The A-line gown featured a feathered panel across the actress’ chest and arms, of the same bright hue. Yet, Allure argued at the time, the real highlight of her look was her makeup — a technicolor eye shadow creation, again by Barose.
“Lupita is fun to work with and open to ideas, so it makes me try even harder to do something different,” Barose told the outlet. “I love the idea of bold colors and spaces in spontaneous strokes to create the kind of impressionistic flowers on the eyes. I recalled those iconic images of Twiggy with flowers painted on her eyes, but I wanted to keep it more abstract.”
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Lupita Nyong’o at the 2016 Met Gala.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
The year prior, Nyong’o attended the event in a sequined sea-green dress. Sporting a long, sheer train, the dress featured a deep-V neckline and thin straps. Nyong’o piled her hair high in an extremely tall updo, which Vogue called “the most talked-about hair of the night” at the time.
Catch all the minute-by-minute fashion updates from the 2025 Met Gala red carpet right here!
