MONDAY was the Met Gala, a.k.a. fashion’s biggest night, when superstars from across the celebrity stratosphere thronged to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to fete fashion – and each other.

This year’s glitzy gala hosts were Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth, alongside Vogue’s Anna Wintour; the price of a single ticket to the evening was a reported (and eye-watering) US$75,000. The guest list was always kept secret — and there’s a no-phones policy once guests step inside the Met’s doors.

The gala raises funds for the Met Museum’s Costume Institute. Unlike the rest of the Met’s curatorial areas, the fashion department must pay for itself — and last year, the gala raised some US$22 million.

Each year’s soiree heralds the opening of a new exhibition at the Costume Institute; this year’s display is called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” It examines how technology can breathe new life into garments that are too old and fragile to be worn again. The exhibition features about 250 pieces from the Met’s permanent collection, including garments by Givenchy, Dior and Schiaparelli.

Guests ascended the museum’s famed steps wearing outfits that gave a nod to the event’s “The Garden of Time” dress code. The night’s sartorial theme gets its name from J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story about a count who — to stave off an angry mob nearing his castle — cuts a rose from his garden to slow down time until there are no flowers remaining. With the story’s dystopian undertones in tandem with the exhibit’s emphasis on old and new, we saw a red carpet filled with A-listers dressed in plenty of floral and botanical motifs, as well as creative takes on decay and ruin — and even a Sleeping Beauty reference or two.

Designer Harris Reed walked with Demi Moore on the carpet, revealing that her gown took 11,000 hours of silk embroidery and was made with vintage wallpaper. “This Victorian idea of basically her blooming on the carpet and covered in these thorns ... this gorgeous flower in the perfect moment of bloom.”

Lana Del Rey’s custom Alexander McQueen dress meanwhile evoked a garden’s overgrowth, hand-embroidered with thorny bronze-colored branches — inspired by artist Alberto Giacometti’s sculptures — creeping their way up to form a tulle headpiece draped like cobwebs.

The sleeves of Elle Fanning’s sheer Balmain gown, appeared to be drawn up by birds, made of resin for a glass-like effect. Janelle Monae’s shell-sequined dress and Greta Lee’s transparent lace gown also nodded to the delicate nature of the flowers in the story.

Men favoring bolder takes for the night included model Wisdom Kaye, whose head-to-toe red floral ensemble looked burned along the edges and Bad Bunny in a custom Maison Margiela outfit and dramatic hat. Jeff Goldblum meanwhile looked the part of the count from the story, adding a touch of Oz (he’ll star in “Wicked” later this year), by accessorizing with dark green-tinted sunglasses.(SD-Agencies)