In the lobby, a cacophony of assistants, stylists, hotel employees, hotel security guards, and personal bodyguards filled the space between celebrities running out of two elevators and the screaming crowd waiting to greet them. Emma Stone stood waiting in a sleek white Louis Vuitton smock, chatting with an assistant about when the car would come. Next to her was Gemma Chan, also negotiating such matters with a confidante, also in a Vuitton ensemble.
They had left on the early side to get to another party. Around half an hour passed in near-silence before elevators started opening: the publicist, assistant, bodyguard, and then, Sebastian Stan. The actor exited in all fuschia Valentino, fresh off his dinner the night before with the fashion house’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccoli, and the 19-year-old pop star Olivia Rodrigo. Stan took it all in from the side of the lobby as he gulped from what looked like an aperol spritz. He knows his way around reboots and quick sequels, as a Marvel actor and a minor player in the original Gossip Girl series—he played Carter Baizen, the bad boy with a gambling debt—and here he was getting ready for another refreshed cultural tentpole. Blake Lively would still be hosting.
In a bathroom, photographer Ellen von Unwerth was shooting Nicola Peltz Beckham as she posed in her own hot pink look before meeting up with her husband Brooklyn Beckham—two kids living the quiet, newlywed life. Notably, Atlanta rapper Gunna arrived out of an elevator only to re-enter the elevator, go back upstairs, and then come back downstairs, this time with one of the Thom Browne accessories recently featured at the designer’s runway show on Friday: a handbag shaped like a dachshund.
“It’s our first Met,” Gunna said, referring to himself and the bag whom he immediately said is named Pablo. He went on to explain that Pablo also has an Instagram presence, under the handle “Pushin’ Pablo.”
Coming down around the same time was a different rapper, Jack Harlow, who looked slightly flustered by the chaos until someone put a camera near him. He grabbed it and pulled it closer to himself as he snapped his face into game mode. “I’m ‘bout to walk out this door!” he said to no one in particular.
Traditionally speaking, the first stop on the Met afterparties itinerary has been at the Boom Boom Room. Around 12:30 A.M., the scene at the Top of the Standard was a little muted, albeit in a Playboy-themed way. Guests could read a Billy Joel interview from a 1982 issue of the magazine sitting on the tables, or watch women dance on large bronze cubes in corsets and bunny ears. Eventually, Cardi B arrived to host, bringing her energy and the first wave of post-gala celebrities.