EXCLUSIVE: Pyer Moss Gives Us the Inside Look at Its Met Gala Creations for Colin Kaepernick and Lena Waithe “Black Drag Queens InventeNd Camp”

Arriving at last night’s Met Gala red carpet meant competing with a four-in-one outfit extravaganza, a 3D-replica of Jared Leto’s head, a surrealist winking-eye gown, a walking chandelier and even a “drippin’ wet” Mugler bodycon dress. But somewhere along the iconic staircase, a quieter entrance was able to make just as grand a statement to honor this year’s exhibition, “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” Enter the Pyer Moss posse — consisting of the brand’s creative director Kerby Jean-Raymond, Colin Kaepernick, Nessa Diab, Lena Waithe and La La Anthony, to be exact — who each brought their own take on camp.

As described in the exhibit’s leading poem by Susan Sontag, “Notes on ‘Camp,’” the term can be described, among other things, as “the spirit of extravagance.” Doubling up in pinstripe looks with exaggerated shoulders may not seem like the most obvious interpretation of the word, but as with any Jean-Raymond creation, there was more than meets the eye to his and Waithe’s matching zoot suits. The garments alone reflect individuality and rebellion; they make reference to the infamous Zoot Suit Riots of the 1940s, and as Andrew Bolton, head curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, told Vogue, “camp has always been a political aesthetic.” In true Pyer Moss form, however, a more brazen point needed to be made; embroidered proudly across the back of Waithe’s pale blue blazer was the phrase: “Black Drag Queens InventeNd [sic] Camp.”

We may be seeing Waithe walking down the red carpet in 2019, but the sheer idea of a black (and openly gay) person dressing to-the-nines in a tailored suit during that era is an act of extravagance and political-fashion commentary on its own.

Which ties into the understated grandeur of Kaepernick’s and Diab’s designs, with him decked out in a silky black suit and her draped in a gold gown. As a figure that some in America may deem “controversial,” Kaepernick’s presence makes a pointed symbol of regality in the face of adversity. And at its core, opting for subtle sartorialism among the showy costumes seems quite “campy” in itself.

Besides, if a more literal approach is what the fans were after, Anthony fit the bill. Last but not least, the actress strode in wearing a head-toe-toe hundred-dollar bill dress and matching boots, literally looking like a “bag of money.”