Adut Akech Has Been Counting Down the Days to Wear Her Spectacular Monochrome Met Gala Gown

“There’s truly nothing like the feeling of your first Met Gala,” says Adut Akech, who made her debut at the event in 2018, wearing a dramatic Valentino gown in dusky pink. Five years on, the South Sudanese-Australian model is a firm fixture at the Met, and she floated onto the carpet in Manhattan tonight wearing a spectacular tiered Carolina Herrera gown that honored a man who transformed her career: Karl Lagerfeld.

In 2018, Akech became only the second Black model in history cast as the bride in a Chanel Haute Couture show (she was preceded by Alek Wek in spring 2004). Adut recalls meeting the artistic director for the first time in Milan while shooting her first Fendi campaign with Karl. “There was a moment where he pulled me aside and asked me to be his Chanel couture bride and, to be honest, I didn’t really think that much of it at the time as I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not,” she says. “[But] not long after that I went for my fitting for my Chanel couture bride outfit. I only got to experience Karl and working with him for a short period of time, but I had some of my proudest career moments with him and I miss him very dearly. He will always hold a very dear place in my heart.”