Met Ball 2011

 Left to right : Daphne Guiness, Karen Elson, Gisele Bundchen, Sarah Jessica Parker and Crystal Renn, all wearing Alexander Mc Queen.

 Left to right: Madonna, Haileee Steinfeld, Stella Mc Cartney, Iman and Gywenth Paltrow all wearing Stella Mc Cartney.

 Left to right: Karl Lagerfeld and Blake Lively in Chanel Couture, Christina Ricci in Zac Posen, Alexa Chung in Christopher Kane, Shalom Harlow in Marchesa, Kristen Stewart in Proenza Schouler, Diane Kruger in Jason Wu, Liv Tyler in Givenchy and Leighton Meester in Louis Vuitton.

Once a year the fashionable and the brave come together at the fashion extravaganza of the year. The Costume Institute Gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is the Fashion Oscars if you will.

2011’s event chose to celebrate the work of designer of the moment Alexander Mc Queen. Mc Queen, who died tragically last year, is now under the creative direction of Sarah Burton. Burton is the name on everyone’s lips after Kate Middleton, new Duchess of Cambridge, wore one of her creations for her royal nuptials last Friday.

Not the time for a bad hair day or a wardrobe mal-function, celebrities and models showed up looking their best. Some chose to wear Mc Queen while Stella Mc Cartney was a popular choice for others.

Favourites include Gisele Bundchen in a show stopping scarlet number from Mc Queen’s Autumn 2005 collection, Christina Ricci in a Zac Posen number and Shalom Harlow in Marchesa.