All eyes were on the Met Gala red carpet on Monday night, where celebrities like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Hailey Bieber delivered interpretations of this year’s theme: “Fashion Is Art.” But one of the most striking fashion statements of the night happened about 20 blocks away, where model Racquel Chevremont used the event’s buzz to turn a sidewalk into a stage and a gown into a message about gun reform.
Emerging from the Pierre hotel — where gala attendees frequently get ready before making their way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art — Chevremont appeared every bit the attendee. The former Real Housewives of New York cast member and avid art curator and collector wore an eye-catching red gown with sculptural details and a peekaboo corset. The top of the dress resembled a bulletproof vest, and as Chevremont made her way in front of cameras and ogling fans, it became very clear why. When she pulled away a piece of fabric, it revealed this message: “Gun violence is killing our kids.”
The gown wasn’t designed for the Met carpet at all. It was created — in collaboration with the youth-led gun control advocacy group March For Our Lives — to disrupt it.
Chevremont’s poised posing, along with final adjustments to the dress by designer Clarence Ruth of Cotte D’Armes, were captured by the press and paparazzi gathered out front, as was the powerful reveal. People immediately went on social media to post about it — which was entirely the point.
“We wanted to make sure what we were trying to get across was clear by just looking at what Racquel was wearing,” Jaclyn Corin, executive director of March For Our Lives, tells Yahoo. “Instead of trying to overexplain it in a caption, we really wanted the photo” — and the words emblazoned across Chevremont’s chest — “to do the talking.”
Chevremont makes a statement on the streets of New York City.
(March For Our Lives)
In Chevremont’s view, it didn’t matter that she wasn’t actually headed to the Met.
“We did not attend the actual Gala. No golden ticket, no seat at a $350,000 table,” Chevremont tells Yahoo, making clear that stepping onto the carpet wasn’t necessary to make a splash. “I read that the Met Gala generates four-and-a-half times more social mentions than the Super Bowl and has a higher media impact value than the Oscars. … We used the moment of the Met Gala, not the event itself.”
The cultural relevance of the annual event made it the perfect backdrop to get people to pay attention. But the 2026 dress code also felt aligned with the messaging, according to Corin. “The theme this year was just so perfect because it invites people to think about fashion, not just as an aesthetic, but as expression and interpretation and as something that really reflects the world we’re living in. That’s why we decided to lean in,” she says.
Designer Clarence Ruth preps the dress.
(March For Our Lives)
Chevremont, who is deeply ingrained in New York’s art community, saw the same potential. “With this year’s theme, ‘Fashion Is Art,’ staging a Guerrilla Girls-inspired disruptive art moment felt obvious. It was a way to meet the culture where it is — on red carpets, in memes and in viral moments,” she says.
She shares March For Our Lives’ view on stricter gun control. “As a mother of two teenagers, my kids have never known a world without active shooter drills. Every year of their lives has included practicing what to do if someone shows up at school with a gun,” says Chevremont. “That should never be considered normal.”
She and her collaborators consider the stunt a success. “We’re so glad to see that it’s traveled far beyond that into fashion audiences and cultural commentators and people who may not typically engage with gun violence as a public and political issue, but who were compelled to pause and respond to this,” says Corin. “We didn’t know with certainty how everything would play out. And I think that was sort of the beauty of it. It really ended up working out in our favor.”