Tyla, the South African singer and songwriter, could have been making her bid for a role in the “Dune” franchise when she arrived at the Met Gala on Monday night in a snug Balmain gown that made her appear coated in sand.
The dress was so constraining that two attendants in tuxedos had to carry the singer to the top of the Met steps. “That’s the only way I’m getting up these stairs,” she told an Access Hollywood reporter.
The tawny, strapless dress — made of three colors of sand — had a structured bodice that spread across her chest like a shoreline. A soft divot hinted at the whereabouts of her bellybutton. More sand slipped through the hourglass that she carried as a handbag.
Tyla, who broke out in the United States last year with the song “Water,” was attending her first Met Gala. She told reporters on the red carpet that the look was inspired by the sands of time.
She was not the only guest to turn to a chronology-related look based on the gala’s “Garden of Time” dress code: Sabrina Harrison wore a gold gown by Chrishabana, according to her Instagram, that appeared to be dripping with contorted gold clocks.
Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain, told Vogue that he created the gown in part because he was intrigued by sand’s transience. “The idea of sculpting a garment from something as ephemeral as sand ignited my imagination,” he said. “And I could not be happier with the end result.”
“The idea was crazy,” Tyla, 22, added. “And I loved it.”
