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Lily Gladstone Wears Custom Gabriela Hearst to the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lily Gladstone wears a custom black silk wool cady bustier dress, black silk organza cape and a black silk satin Soft Demi clutch with hand-embroidered stars hand-crafted from recycled silver and glass beads by Ataumbi Metals, fine jewelry label by Indigenous jeweler and metalsmith artist Keri Ataumbi, with Edwina pumps in black silk satin and rose gold heel detail.

Each individual star is hand-crafted from recycled silver and glass beads and has been hand-embroidered in place to appear as they would be seen in the night sky of the Great Plains on the summer solstice, including the Orion and the Pleiades constellations. The Pleiades, specially requested by Lily Gladstone, is embroidered at the neckline of the cape as a custom closure. A total of 493 stars and glass beads were hand-crafted and hand-embroidered, taking over 120 hours to complete.

Gabriela Hearst, from her ongoing study of goddesses and warrior women, had a vivid vision of a corset dress with a long cape embroidered with constellations. This vision evolved into a collaboration with jewelry artist Keri Ataumbi about the significance of stars in the narratives of our genesis and the memories from our ancestors through a conversation about Kiowa constellations. People often think of constellations by their western identities, but the constellations and their significance have always been part of how Indigenous people relate within the world.

Kiowas believe that upon death they go back into the stars, and by looking at the Milky Way they are looking upon their ancestors. For Keri Ataumbi, co-creating a cape and dress covered in stars embodies the idea that Lily is supported and embraced by her ancestors. Blackfeet also share this worldview of the Milky Way, calling it the Wolf Trail, so Keri’s vision immediately had an inherent and profound resonance with Lily.

During the initial design conversation, Gabriela showed Keri a picture of a warrior woman who was carrying a sword. The discussion turned to the Orion constellation which is known in the western world as a warrior with a belt and sword. For Kiowas, it is the hand of Saynday, the being who brought the Kiowa people from the underworld into this world. He is a trickster and shapeshifter, and Kiowa stories recall him getting into all sorts of trouble, while also recognized for being able to put the sun into the sky. He would often shift into someone or something that was not his original form, much like an actor plays a different character than themself.

The hairpiece, a special request of Lily’s, is a nod to the moon. It features a large round iridescent shell center with four crescent moons and four groups of three brilliant cut diamonds in the cardinal directions around the shell. The hairpiece is made of sterling silver, white 18 karat gold, black lip mussel shell, with brilliant-cut diamonds (3.6ct). The large post earrings made to resemble shooting stars are 18 karat palladium platinum and 124 brilliant cut diamonds totaling 1.1ct. The rings are a series of 18k white gold with rose-cut diamonds and brilliant-cut diamonds (6.3ct).

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