Stylist: Katie Qian
Outfit: Manish Arora
Makeup Artist: Nathaniel Dezan
Hairstylist: Nathaniel Dezan
Through this website I have the chance to enhance my desire to know more and more about people who are unconventional and interesting and one of those people is actor and musician Keiynan Lonsdale.
I was immediately struck by the beauty of his dress for the 2019’s MET Gala and I decided to lose myself into the details of such an incredible work of art that rarely graces the red carpet.
For the Gala, Lonsdale wore a Manish Arora butterfly dress handcrafted with more than 1500 butterflies and a custom-made neon yellow bodysuit underneath. According to the designer himself, the dress was the result of two months of intense craftsmanship, a combination of traditional embroidery techniques and modern materials and the butterflies actually glow in the UV light.
Keiynan‘s stylist Katie Qian explained to Paper Magazine why they chose this specific dress from Manish Arora‘s archives: “The process for preparing Keiynan for the Met Gala was unconventional because he was invited less than a week from the event, giving us barely any time to ship in outfits and explore our options for a typical fitting. Keiynan and I fell absolutely in love with the concept of this butterfly dress by the amazing Manish Arora. It reflected his personal growth and magnificent final form, unabashed, in rainbow colors, and perfectly campy.”
A newfound confidence that has been transpiring through his red carpet looks in the last years as Qian revealed herself: “I’ve seen him become so much more comfortable in his skin and unafraid to wear what he truly loves to the most publicized events in the world. I’ve gotten to know more about his intense journey and transformation as a member of the LGBTQ+ community under the public eye. We’ve managed to translate his spiritual transformation and newfound confidence into his looks.”
“[We] definitely wanted to make a splash. The theme was so perfect for [Keiynan], so he definitely wanted to be very true to the theme and not shy away from going big and extravagant. [He] wanted to feel like the look was authentic to himself and feel a personal connection with it.”
His hairstylist and makeup artist Nathaniel Dezan mentioned using Fenty Beauty and Chanel Beauty for Keiynan‘s makeup, Oribe, Olaplex and R+Co for his hair and oVertone for his pink pastel color.
Here below you can see Keiynan‘s preparation process and a close up of his dress.
What can we say more? The look was perfectly on theme and even though Lonsdale is an artist on the rise, credit should be given where credit is due.
