Sergio Hudson was up until 4:00 in the morning—and this was the night before the Met Gala. The designer had been busy with fittings leading up to fashion’s biggest night; after all, Hudson dressed a staggering 18 guests for Monday evening’s gala, including Stevie Wonder, Quinta Brunson, Rachel Brosnahan, and WNBA champions the New York Liberty.
It’s not lost on Hudson what a privilege it is to be a part of the annual gala. It’s a milestone that comes after years of dedication. “It’s an honor, to be completely honest,” Hudson tells Bazaar. “I won’t act like I’m above it. It is something you dream about when you’re young, and to be able to do it and be in that room, it’s an honor. It says the hard work that you have done over your lifetime means something.”
As a Black designer whose brand is focused on tailored fashion that exudes power, confidence, and elegance, Hudson says this year’s Met exhibition theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” hits close to home. “It is one of the most fabulous things to ever be done, in my opinion,” he says. “I think it was ingenious. It made people think, it made people reach, it made people go deeper than they normally go when they think about fashion or style, or a theme for a Met Gala. I think it was so brilliant to use Monica L. Miller’s book [Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity] in that way.” But for Hudson, the journey doesn’t end on the first Monday in May. “I mean, I have a mission. I have to create this brand so the people who look like me, coming up behind me, can have something a lot like a North Star to look to. That’s the goal.”
Ahead, Sergio Hudson gives Bazaar an exclusive inside look into his Met Gala day from A to Z, from morning fittings to insider details at the Met, all the way to the after parties.
I started my day with a light breakfast. It was light because I only ate half of it. I was so tired because I was up very late the night before doing final fittings.
The team from Woodford Reserve bourbon came at 10am to set up the room. We’ve partnered together a few times now and they’re always wonderful. Press interviews started at 11am and they didn’t stop until the end of the night.
I began my rounds at about noon, and traffic was already bad. Around Met Gala time, you can count on a five minute trip taking 30 minutes.
Here I am checking in on my Jonquel Jones from the Liberty team. I started with my girl Keke to make sure she was OK, then stopped by to see the players. It was fun seeing how excited they were.
I also checked in Breanna Stewart from the New York Liberty.
And WNBA champion and New York Liberty player Sabrina Ionescu.
Next, I popped in to visit New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai.
After that, I went to see Jamie Soros who was fully dressed and looked fabulous. She was really happy with how it turned out, which made me happy.
I brought them all gifts from the black-owned fragrance brand Artem. I love their scents.
At about 3pm, I got back to my hotel to see John Imah from SpreeAI, who was attending the gala with me. I love what his tech could mean for fashion businesses. We tried to incorporate technology elements in the design, specifically the coat. I love his look so much—it really came together.
Here’s John Imah in the full look on the Met Gala carpet.
After John, I headed back to my room to get dressed. This is one of the few times you’ll see me not wearing black!
My last stop was Rachel Brosnahan. Hers was the easiest, because her room was down the hall from mine. We go way back. Working with her doesn’t feel like work—it’s more like catching up with an old friend. I also dressed her for the 2023 Met Gala, so it was a no-brainer that we would work together this year, too.
This is the first stop on her Superman press tour so I wanted to set it off with a huge bang. The purple is a nod to the character Lois Lane.
After Rachel, it was time to go. The lobby was crazy. It was not this crazy two years ago!
I saw [model] Precious Lee as soon as I stepped off the elevator. Then came the whole Prabal Gurung crew—Nicole [Scherzinger], Tessa [Thompson], Shakira. Everyone looked fab! We chatted for a few minutes, but by that point it was really time to go.
It took us an hour and a half to get to the museum from the Plaza. Traffic was absolutely insane. We got stuck in a long line, and later we found out it was because they had the whole street blocked off for the F1 car to go by. I thought it was for Kamala Harris or something at first. We tried to get out and walk, but we quickly abandoned that idea.
That’s when I saw Huma Abedin, who had had the same idea. She was wearing one of the looks from my last resort collection and looking absolutely fabulous.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up at the front. The time had come.
The first thing they did was give us stickers to put over the camera phones. I think this is new. We made it through the line pretty quickly, and then we hit the steps.
Suddenly, I heard “Is that fucking Sergio?” I turned around to find Rhianna coming towards me. She jumped in my arms and told me how proud of me she was and that she’s been following everything I’ve been doing. It was so sweet. We did “Styled to Rock” together in 2013, so she knew me before the brand really took off. She was also very pregnant. I told her she was a mama down and she said “Ain’t it tho!” How could you not love her?!
I then made my way backstage because I had to get Stevie Wonder ready for his performance. I didn’t eat because I was in the back with him. I don’t even know what they served. I told the girl next to me to save my plate, but when I came back it was gone.
I don’t know if it was the energy in the room, but Stevie Wonder and Usher performed their asses off. Everybody was feeling it! Usher sang like three songs and Stevie sang like seven.
Before he went on, he leaned over and whispered to me “I feel like singing tonight.”
I love Vera Wang! When Usher and Stevie performed she was getting down. That’s my new best friend.
I met Nicki Minaj tonight. She was nice. Eva Chen, VP of fashion at Instagram/Meta, introduced us because she was there with them. They always have a good table. This year they had Nicki, Kim [Kardashian], Shaboozy, Taraji [P. Henson] and more over there.
Here’s Eva Chen.
I talked to Miley and reminisced about “Styled to Rock”—I met her there, too. She was a guest judge and we had to do a challenge for her. She told me, “Sergio, I still have that skirt.”
People in the room got a little emotional about [editor, writer, and famous dandy] André Leon Talley. He was clearly missed.
Later while, I was waiting for the sprinter, I saw [costume designer] Ruth Carter and we chatted a bit. It’s surreal every time I talk to her because she is an icon to me. I still reference the work she did on What’s Love Got to Do with It. Her work is always good.
After getting back to the room and catching my breath, I called Keke so we could plan out the rest of the night.
Our first stop was Savanah James’s party at the Crane Club. Savannah is my girl so of course I had to go. The party was a vibe and it was great seeing her.
After that, we stopped by A$AP Rocky’s party. It was very smoky in there so we didn’t stay long.
Next, we headed over to the Boom Boom Room. It’s funny because the last time I was there it was also with Keke, two years ago.
People were coming up to me and telling me they love what I’m doing, which is always nice to hear.
I finally headed to bed around 3:30am. I was tired—and I had work the next day.
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