Kim Kardashian's Met Gala Looks Through the Years

Givenchy, Lanvin, Roberto Cavalli and Balmain have dressed the E! reality star since 2013

By Zach Johnson Apr 28, 2017 11:00 AMTags

Kim Kardashian always turns it out for the Met Gala.

The E! reality star scored her first invite to fashion's biggest night in 2013, when she was pregnant with daughter North West. Her custom Givenchy gown—designed by friend Riccardo Tisci—remains her most divisive look of all time, inspiring countless memes. "I had these gloves and this whole floral print and I loved it," Kim told Channel 9 the following year. "I thought it was so cool. It got a lot of criticism and I didn't care because I really loved it." As for Tisci, who designed her bridal gown, Kim said, "He is a great designer and he gives me amazing style tips."

Kim did a 180 in 2014 when she embraced the new theme: "Charles James: Beyond Fashion." Lanvin's Alber Elbaz created a custom look for the Vogue cover girl. "My dress was originally made of this amazing leather with metallic detailing, but we decided at the last minute to redo it in blue satin," she said on her website, adding that working with Elbaz was "SUCH a pleasure."

For her third appearance in 2015, Kim wanted more drama—and that's exactly what she got. Calling her custom Roberto Cavalli gown "one of my fave dresses ever," Kim said, "It was the first dress creative director Peter Dundas designed for Cavalli. The beading is just SO beautiful."

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Kim Kardashian's Met Gala Looks Through the Years
E! Illustration

But it was her Balmain look in 2016 that really stood out. Walking up the steps with Kanye West, Kim said her friend Olivier Rousteing pulled out all the stops to help them honor the night's theme, "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology." As she told E! News' Zuri Hall, "I wanted a silver theme. I felt like everyone was going to go with that, but I still really wanted to do it. I thought Balmain was the perfect choice for me and Kanye, especially. I think Kanye's look is a little bit more downplayed with the denim mixed with all the Balmain bling."

Kim added, "I just wanted to really go for it and be a bling-y, sexy robot!"

Kanye was particularly proud of his wife's red carpet evolution at the Met Gala.

"She broke boundaries with fashion, where designers weren't trying to make clothes with women with shape, and now they're all about embracing and empowering women," he told Steve Harvey one day later. "[She's] empowering women in a matriarch society where women can make money. Like when she said, 'OK, my husband might have invested everything he had into fashion, everything he had into creativity for breaking boundaries, but I put the money in the account.' All of those statements means that can't nobody ever disrespect my wife, period."

Kim is confirmed to attend the Met Gala in New York City May 1. While fans don't know which designer she will be wearing, one thing is certain: Everyone in fashion will have an opinion on it.