Met Gala Triumph for Richard Quinn
20-05-2025
2018 is certainly shaping up as an epic year for London based fashion designer Richard Quinn. Not only did the Queen sit FROW at his AW18/19 catwalk show and present Quinn with the ‘Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design,’ it was a Quinn design that gained the most column inches at this year’s style fest: AKA the Met Gala.
The Met Gala is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York. It marks the grand opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit and attracts very high profile guests, often linked to fashion, music and film, that dress according to the theme of the oncoming exhibition and, of course, to make a red carpet statement.
Over the years fashion powerhouses such as Versace, Chanel, Saint Laurent and Valentino have all graced the red carpet so when Richard Quinn, who up until the Queen’s award in February was relatively new to the LFW circuit, got a request to send some ideas to Amal Clooney, it was a chance for both designer and wearer to make a stand.
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 07: Actor George Clooney and Amal Clooney attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for New York Magazine)
The theme of this year’s gala was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. Clooney was one of the few women at the celebrity-packed event to wear trousers and to pay homage to the theme subtly letting the print and silhouette carry the drama.
As a human-rights barrister and prominent activist for gender equality her decision of what to wear to such a public event needed careful consideration. Clooney and Quinn discussed ideas over the phone before she visited the Peckham studio to try on and finalise the design. The end result was a fitted bustier that flared out at the waist into a dramatic floor sweeping train, open at the front Clooney combined the design with cigarette pants. The overall effect was made all the more stunning by the all-over floral print; roses and lilies were selected because of their religious associations. Quinn’s team used heavy brush marks to mimic the look of a stained-glass window, which was applied to the reflective foil using an Epson digital printer. The effect was show-stopping and unexpected, bravo Quinn and Clooney.
Image courtesy of Epson PR/Getty
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