Met Gala 2023: Stars gather for event celebrating Karl Lagerfeld

The fashion world has gathered in New York City for the annual Met Gala once again - this year themed on the late fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld.

The event, known for its star-studded guest list and extravagant outfits, included pearls, starched collars, and black and white to honour the designer.

The invitation-only fundraiser for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted about 400 guests.

Lagerfeld's cat was also honoured. At least two celebs dressed as Choupette.

For this year's theme - "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" - attendees were asked to wear clothes "in honour of Karl".

For decades, Lagerfeld was at the helm of some of the biggest-name fashion houses in the world, including Chanel and Fendi.

The designer, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, most often wore dark sunglasses with his white hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was often pictured alongside Choupette, his famously pampered pet.

Retired tennis star Roger Federer, Grammy-winning songstress Dua Lipa, actress Penélope Cruz and writer, actor and producer Michaela Coel were invited to be this year's co-chairs, alongside Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Brittney Griner, the WNBA basketball star who was jailed in Russia, attended on Monday night alongside her wife.

Two stars - Karlie Kloss and Serena Williams - used the night as an opportunity to announce their pregnancies.

Last year, the Metropolitan Museum's Great Hall was festooned with 275,000 pink roses. But the decorations are nothing compared to the outfits that celebrities flaunt on their way into the event.

Much of the public's gaze is on the red carpet and the lavish outfits of those in attendance - which last year included Kim Kardashian wearing a $4.8m (£3.84m) rhinestone-studded dress once worn by Marilyn Monroe.

This year, Kardashian wore a Schiaparelli design dripping in pearls, which was designed after a visit last week to the Karl Lagerfeld office in Paris, where she said she was getting "a little inspiration for the Met".

"I just wanted to feel glamorous," she told Vogue on the red carpet. "I wanted pearls - what is more Karl".

Her sisters Kylie and Kendall were also in attendance.

Individual tickets for the event this year are priced at $50,000, with tables beginning at $300,000.

Actresses Priyanka Chopra and Elle Fanning, Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz-Beckham and singer Rita Ora and her husband Taika Waititi also attended.

Rapper Lil Nas X arrived looking like some sort of mythical creature, clad in pearls and painted silver.

Embattled actor Jonathan Majors had been slated to attend as a guest of Valentino, but "mutually agreed" with the fashion house not to attend on the heels of assault charges stemming from a March incident.

Choupette was another notable invitee who was not in attendance this year - although pop star Doja Cat and actor Jared Leto both dressed like the feline.

"Many people invited me to walk the red carpet of the Met Gala 2023 in tribute to Daddy, but we preferred to stay cosy and at home," said a post on the cat's official Instagram page. "We pay tribute to my Daddy every day since his parting and we are very moved to see one more day dedicated to him."

But not everyone was happy with the Karl Lagerfeld theme - when it was announced months ago, several figures in the fashion industry highlighted controversial comments he has made in the past, particularly about women's bodies.

When the BBC's Nada Tawfik, reporting from the red carpet, asked Wintour about his past remarks, the Vogue boss said it was a night to celebrate Lagerfeld's body of work, not the man.