Anne Hathaway Was Simultaneously a Versace and Chanel Bride at the 2023 Met Gala

Celebrities, stylists, and designers definitely understood the assignment when it came to the 2023 Met Gala, honoring Karl Lagerfeld through looks inspired by his own personal style, his designs, and even his pet cat. Some pulled archival pieces, some recreated iconic moments, but it’s possible the most interesting looks came from the designers who combined house codes and posed questions like, “What if Karl had designed for Versace?” Well, newly-appointed Versace ambassador Anne Hathaway and Donatella Versace answered that question beautifully on Monday night, when they presented a dress that was equal parts Karl, Versace, and Met-worthy.

Hathaway and Donatella walked the Met steps together, and while the designer looked great in a custom pink Atelier Versace dress inspired by the Chanel spring/summer 2018 collection, she likely knew most eyes were on her date. Hathaway attended the gala in a dress that combined the best of both designers’ signatures. “It was meant to be a marriage between Versace and Chanel,” Hathaway said on the red carpet. Created in a gold-threaded white tweed, the gown hugged Hathaway’s body. Cutouts were held together by pearl and Medusa-adorned safety pins, creating an inherently Versace effect that mimicked the iconic safety pin gown popularized by Elizabeth Hurley in 1994. Camellias decorated the bust and a diamond Bulgari choker wrapped around her neck. In her hair, Hathaway’s hairstylist, Orlando Pita, placed a camellia from a ‘90s Versace show. Fingerless gloves, as well as a matching motorcycle jacket then completed the look, which according to Versace, took over 450 hours and 15 meters of fabric to make.

During a recent interview with Vogue, Donatella spoke about her late brother and his relationship to Lagerfeld. “Gianni wasn’t the kind of person with so many friends, and Karl either, you know, but the two connected,” she said. She explained that after Gianni initially told her about Lagerfeld, she asked to meet him. “One night, I went to Karl’s house with Gianni. I was mesmerized,” she recalled. Gianni, too, seemed to have an appreciation for Lagerfeld. According to fashion editor Hal Rubenstein, Gianni once told him, “There are only two designers that I admire, maybe even envy. Valentino, because he knows how to live, and Karl Lagerfeld, because, well, because he is a genius.”

Donatella also designed a dress in honor of Lagerfeld for Vogue’s May 2023 issue, which paid tribute to the designer. “When I approached the design for Karl, I thought about his opulence,” she said of that process. “I thought about that the opposites attract. I thought about his way to protect himself. So this is a tribute to Karl, and to his personality.”