MET GALA 2024: 9 OUTSTANDING CELEBRITY HAIR LOOKS
All eyes were on New York last night for the 2024 Met Gala, the biggest night in the annual fashion calendar.
A-listers flocked to the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's latest exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, posing on the red carpet in spectacular outfits intended to fit the show's dress code: The Garden of Time.
Many attendees chose floral ensembles or petal-covered gowns with huge trains to walk the famous museum steps.
"The thing about the Met Gala is it's not like a normal red carpet," says Paul Edmonds.
"Red carpets are normally about glamour whereas the Met is very in-your-face and high fashion with more editorial-style looks."
While most of us can only dream of donning a couture creation at the fashion event of the year, there's plenty of beauty inspiration to be found thanks to the gorgeous hairstyles on display, many of which tap into key spring/summer cut and colour trends.
"At this year's Met the hair was either sleek, tight and very glossy or it was loose and very long," Paul says.
"There were also a few celebrities that had wavy hair, but not a beachy wave, much looser than that."
Here, Paul talks us through his stand-out Met Gala hair moments and explains how to get the look, either at home or with the help of a hairdresser…
1. SJP's tumbling waves
Sarah Jessica Parker teamed her Richard Quinn dress with a dramatic headpiece by iconic milliner Philip Treacy.
"This is what I call 'Guinevere' hair," says Paul, referencing the long-haired beauty from Arthurian legend. "It looked great with the dress and the hat."
He recommends adding extensions and a generous helping of mousse if you want to create SJP's voluminous look: "The hair has been tonged then combed out to give it that slightly dishevelled look."
2. JLo's undo up-do
Queen of glamour Jennifer Lopez wore a Schiaparelli couture dress and opted for a softer hair look than usual.
"Instead of being completely smooth the hair was mussed up and then put up, so it looked very goddess-like, especially with the dress, which apparently was based on butterfly wings," Paul says.
This type of intentionally undone look can be deceptively difficult to achieve: "It's a bun but they've roughed the hair up and then sprayed it with hairspray, but not to calm it down - you spray it with hairspray to keep it looking slightly fluffy."
3. Sydney Sweeney's choppy bob
Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney swapped her usual blonde locks for a statement bob to complement her ice blue and black floral Miu Miu gown.
"I really love this look," Paul says. "It was brilliant with the gloves and the black stalks on the flowers."
It looks as though this is a wig, but the cut fits with the bob trend which is massive at the moment: "There are a few different bob options, either straight or shaggy. This has got a full, rounded fringe, it's a very 'catwalk' look."
4. Kendall Jenner's half-up hair
Model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner wore her brunette locks pulled back from her face with symmetrical braids reflecting the strong shoulders of her gown.
"This is a version of the half-up, half-down look," Paul says. "This is another look that feels almost medieval, but it's got a softness to it, which makes it look very feminine as well."
To give your hair glossiness and a tousled finish he suggests using a combination of moisturising serum and texture spray to finish the look.
5. Gigi Hadid's glam bob
After becoming the latest celeb to jump on the bob bandwagon, Gigi Hadid had her golden blonde locks teased into an Old Hollywood-inspired look for the Met Gala, worn with a rose-embellished Thom Browne gown.
"I liked it, and I thought the dress was amazing," Paul said of the model's jaw-length curls.
Whether you're using heated rollers or a curling wand, finishing the look with stronghold hair spray is a must.
6. Kaia Gerber's big blowout
Cindy Crawford's daughter Kaia Gerber harked back to the 90s supermodels with her Met Gala hair.
"She looks so much like her mum," Paul says. "It's incredible."
It's best to enlist the help of a hair stylist if you want to tap into the bouncy blowout trend, Paul says: "It takes masses of mousse, then the blow-dry is done with rollers and brushed out to give you that full look."
7. Tyla's tousled bob
Another celeb opting for a statement bob was South African pop star Tyla, who was dressed in a figure-hugging sand-inspired gown by Balmain.
"It's a textured bob which is heavy through the front and worn pushed back the one side," Paul says. "It's very tousled and sexy."
The edgy bob combines volume at the roots and separation at the ends: "She's got volume from mousse, it's been waved with tongs and then oil put through the lengths to break it up."
8. Iris Law's wet-look crop
Model Iris Law - daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost - had her trademark blonde pixie cut dyed brown and gelled into a cool wet-look style.
"I think it's really lovely - for short hair it still looks sexy," Paul says.
He recommends a pair of products to drench the hair: "I'd use a combination of gel and oil, something like the Davines OI Oil."
9. Chloe Sevigny's sleek braids
American actor Chloe Sevigny often dons conceptual outfits for the Met Gala and this year her hair had an interesting backstory as well.
"It was based on Victorian mourning hair," Paul explains. "When someone was mourning they used to make it very flat and straight and then do these braids and put jewelry in the hair."
While Sevigny's sleek look is quite severe, Paul suggests you could create a more relaxed version of Victorian braids: "This is very controlled, as it was in that period, but you could kind of mess it up and make it look softer and a bit sexier."
Get the Met Gala look
Sometimes, the Met Gala brings us a variety of avant-garde gowns with unusual hair to match, but this year we were treated to a host of beautiful and wearable hair looks.
From elegant up-dos and sassy bobs to flowing waves and curls, why not try a Met Gala-inspired hairstyle next time you want to get glammed up?
Got a wedding or glitzy party coming up? Book a celeb-worthy blow-dry with one of the team at Paul Edmonds London.