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It’s been a big week for Charli XCX. The pop star has taken over New York City with four sold-out shows at the Barclays Center, marking the conclusion of her US arena tour—and, very possibly, the end of everything Brat. But tonight, she stepped out on the red carpet of the 2025 Met Gala channeling a spirit of theatrical Gothic glamour in Ann Demeulemeester designed by Stefano Gallici, with jewelry by Bucherer. (If anyone could rally for a red carpet event after four nights of performing, it would be the O.G. 365 party girl.)
“I have always been a huge fan of Ann Demeulemeester—the house has always spoken to me and felt intrinsically related to my personal style,” Charli tells Vogue. The Belgian brand, known for its moody, androgynous aesthetic, does feel perfectly in tune with the grungy Brat-coded fashion the pop star has developed with her stylist, Chris Horan. “With tailoring being such a key element of this year’s theme and a core part of dandyism itself, I felt like they would be prepared to make something tailored to me but also something that referenced elements of dandyism,” Charli adds. “I’ve always been drawn to how they’ve subverted elements of classic tailoring and how they’ve played with androgyny to create something fearless and unique.”
For Gallici’s part, having the opportunity to dress one of the night’s most-watched guests—and to mark his Met Gala red carpet debut—meant he knew he had to get the look exactly right. “Chris and Charli were clear from the beginning: no traditional tailoring, no clichés,” says Gallici, noting that the conversation began after Charli wore a custom Ann Demuelemeester look to take home three awards at the Grammys earlier this year. Adds Horan, “Over the past year we’ve gotten a chance to work with the Ann team closely on multiple looks, and it’s made us realize how natural of a fit it is to Charli. Without a ton of briefing, Stefano came up with a sketch that we loved immediately.”
Gallici was also interested in making sure the look felt unexpected. “The idea was to subvert the expected—to respond to this year’s ‘tailoring’ theme not with obedience, but with instinct,” he says. “We spoke about distortion, asymmetry, and the witch-like textures that Charli often returns to—elements that also live deep in the DNA of Ann Demeulemeester. This was about constructing something radical that still felt deeply personal to her.”
The end result is a fitted blazer, an artfully tailored open-back micro waistcoat and shorts, a sheer silk chiffon train tipped with feathers, thigh-high stretch leather cuissardes, and feathered ear cuffs to heighten the drama—all in Charli’s (and Ann Demuelemeester’s) favored shade of jet black. “At our first fitting, we wanted to make sure all of the lines were cut super-sharp,” says Charli, noting that she wanted the jacket to feel extreme and defined so that the train, with all its movement and ruffles, felt like a “beautiful, almost liquid contrast.”
For Horan, it was an opportunity to take Charli’s well-defined Brat sartorial aesthetic and elevate it. “We wanted to strike the balance between something that feels inherently Charli when you first see it and showcases her in an element of tailoring, something she doesn’t do very often,” says Horan. “I think it’s a good mix of honoring the theme and staying true to herself.”
“It’s feminine, but it’s also gothic,” adds Charli. “Sort of [Edgar Allan] Poe in a way, sumptuous and kind of rockstar…which is me, I guess.” And while the Brat era may be coming to a close (or is it?), the spirit of the album lives on. “I think a big part of Brat is just being yourself—no matter what others say or think, it’s just about leaning into you,” Charli adds. ‘And I feel like that’s what we did with this look.”
For Gallici, the look felt like a moment to celebrate Charli’s creativity while also folding in the world he’s created at Ann Demeulemeester. “Charli is a shapeshifter, but always authentic,” he says. “She plays with identity, image, and sound in a way that feels urgent and emotional, never calculated. There’s always something beautifully raw beneath the polish—a refusal to conform, even when she’s engaging with pop in its most maximalist form. This resonates deeply with the world of Ann Demeulemeester, where the exploration of identity is a fundamental part of my work. At Ann, identity isn’t fixed—it’s layered, nuanced, and constantly evolving, much like Charli’s own artistic journey.”
Indeed, it feels hard to imagine that, at last year’s Met Gala, Charli was on the cusp of launching headfirst into the biggest year of her career—back then, she’d only just dropped the “Von Dutch” video as a taste of what was to come, and the phrase Brat summer had yet to becoined. “It feels like a full-circle moment,” says Horan. “Last Met, she was about to drop ‘360’—it’s crazy to see how much she has achieved since then. If anything, I just want it to be a celebration of how talented she is.”
There’s one final question to ask: As pop music’s preeminent party girl, how is Charli planning to power through tonight’s Met after her string of sold-out shows? “Well, it’s definitely been a lot, but it’s been so fun,” Charli says. “Different friends coming to each night, different guests, different people doing the ‘Apple’ dance, different energies within the crowds, different clothes…it all feels like one big surge of adrenaline. And I think the Met Gala at the end of it all is sort of just the cherry on top of the cake—the biggest adrenaline surge of all!”
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.
