Prepping for the Met Gala, the most awaited annual haute couture, is beyond getting treatments that treat acne, fine lines, wrinkles and dark spots. And if you still think getting ready only involves hiring a makeup artist and a hairstylist, well, buddy, you are a decade slow. Fashion’s biggest night will kick off this evening in Manhattan and we will see a lineup of designers, artists, A-listers, and Hollywood and Bollywood elite inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrating the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition.
While this day of Oscars of fashion is the peak of jaw-dropping fashion and glam, it all starts with skin. Getting tucked or tweaked, it all comes down to owning healthy skin. It takes a lot to look flawless. Yes, even if you have a net worth in billions. You don’t get that perfection in a day; it takes months of procedures and treatments and followups because attending the Met Gala red carpet is more than just picking the perfect outfit. From lips to nails and fat to muscles, celebrities invest hours into getting in shape physically and mentally to ensure they are camera- and headline-ready.
Here is how VIPs get their skin, mind and body Met Gala-ready:
Red Carpet Skin Prep
Celebrities begin their transformation with high-tech facials, including microcurrent sessions, LED masks, and skin-tightening treatments. These customised regimes start weeks ahead and aim to firm, lift, and brighten the skin beyond what makeup alone can achieve on the Met steps.
Lasers, Mesotherapy, Microcurrents, and an IV Drip
Preparation often begins a month before with laser treatments tailored to target different skin layers. Mesotherapy infusions with exosomes, antioxidants, and growth factors are added. A microcurrent session the day before lifts facial muscles. IV drips further hydrate and energise the skin internally.
Fat Transfer
Fat transfer is a favourite for subtle body contouring. Fat is taken from one area and carefully injected into another—like the hips or face—to smooth, sculpt, and enhance natural curves without the overdone look, allowing dresses to fit like a dream.
Off-Label Meds
To stay composed on the red carpet, some stars take a low-dose beta blocker. Originally used for blood pressure, it helps reduce anxiety, facial flushing, and visible sweating, keeping them looking cool, calm, and confident under thousands of camera flashes.
Instead of committing to permanent filler, stars sometimes go for a plumping device combined with a nourishing serum. Gentle suction boosts circulation, creating a rosier tone and fuller lips. The effect is temporary but perfectly timed to last through the event.
Prescription Eye Drops
Eyes are a major focal point, so stars use prescription drops that help lift low-lying eyelids and reduce redness. Just one drop can create an instantly refreshed, wide-awake look — often giving the same effect as a subtle eye lift.
Lymphatic Drainage Treatments
After long flights and salty snacks, swelling is common. Lymphatic drainage massage helps reduce puffiness, improves circulation, and de-bloats the body. Combined with herbal aids like green tea, it ensures a sleek, smooth silhouette ahead of squeezing into a fitted gown.
Muscle-Sculpting Machines
Muscle-toning devices use electrical stimulation to contract and strengthen key muscle groups like abs, glutes, and thighs. A few sessions can enhance definition and firmness, helping stars look chiselled and confident when wearing daring silhouettes or form-fitting gowns on the stairs.
- This year’s Met Gala embraces Black dandyism, global icons, and tailored elegance.
This time, the theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” an expression of Black dandyism, and its official dress code is “Tailored for You.” It is inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. The exhibit will be curated by Miller and Andrew Bolton of the Met Costume Institute.
For the unversed, Black dandyism, as described by Miller, is “a strategy and a tool to rethink identity, to reimagine the self in a different context. To really push a boundary—especially during the time of enslavement, to push a boundary on who and what counts as human, even.”
The Met Gala 2025 will be co-chaired by A$AP Rocky, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour. (LeBron James will also serve as an honorary chair.)
Turning heads and making headlines for their Met Gala red carpet debut will be King Khan, Kiara Advani and Diljit Dosanjh with their iconic ensembles and makeup looks, ready to take the internet by storm. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be in lockstep with India’s most celebrated designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, for a collaboration that has taken the fashion aficionados and the netizens into a frenzy.
