‘Flex your creativity’: the Met Gala and Karl Lagerfeld collide

The New York fashion spectacular is paying tribute to the flamboyant genius of the catwalk

Karl Lagerfeld, fashion’s greatest showman, reinvented the catwalk as an entertainment channel. His Paris catwalks featured a supermarket selling Coco “Chanel” Pops, a replica Eiffel tower and a spaceship which blasted from the ground in a blaze of smoke.

Likewise, the annual Met Gala has transformed the fusty tradition of black-tie museum fundraising dinners to become the most spectacular night of the fashion calendar. Forget little black dresses; think Rihanna as the pope, Kim Kardashian in a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe and Katy Perry wearing a cheeseburger.