Queen Latifah and her longtime partner, choreographer and dancer Eboni Nichols, aren’t new to the red carpet—they were seen holding hands at the Cannes Film Festival’s AmFAR Gala in 2023—but at the 2024 Met Gala, they took their night-out glam to a whole new level.
Queen Latifah’s showstopping look, from Thom Browne, included a black peau de soie gathered coat with raffia and bugle-bead fray tipping, layered over a black sequined square-shoulder dress embroidered with bird-of-paradise made from bullion, frayed raffia, and satin-stitch chiffon. “The delicacy of each individual piece coming together through buttons, clasps, hand-sewn details, and intricate embellishments plays to the idea of fragility that you’ll see in Monday’s exhibition,” a spokesperson for Thom Browne told Vogue. See Browne’s original sketch for Latifah’s look, below:
Latifah choosing Thom Browne for such a legendary event makes perfect sense, given that the actor and rapper has history with the brand; she attended the designer’s fall 2023 and 2024 shows in New York City and selected a very memorable yellow ruffled Thom Browne look for her appearance at the 2023 Grio Awards.
Latifah and Nichols are known for their exceptional privacy as a couple, making this night particularly special. “I will probably be six months pregnant before anyone knows about it, and I won’t talk about the baby until after it’s born,” Latifah told SF Gate of her future parenting plans in 2008, and true to her word, she and Nichols mostly endeavor to keep their 3-year-old son, Rebel, out of the spotlight. For years, Latifah sidestepped all questions about her romantic life, telling The New York Times in 2008, “You don’t get that part of me. Sorry. We’re not discussing it…Nobody gets that. I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life.” Still, Latifah thanked Rebel and Nichols during her acceptance speech for the BET Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, sweetly wishing them both a “happy Pride.”
