A few months ago, in conversation with the punk performance artist Christeene in this very magazine, Gwendoline Christie explained how fashion has provided her with safe haven. “I believe it’s about offering up something else, an alternative to what a more limited human experience might be,” said the towering and eternally stylish Game of Thrones star. “I felt celebrated just for being a freak.” Last night, Christie got the chance to let her freak flag fly at her very first Met Gala, which she attended with longtime friend and Fendi artistic director Kim Jones, who she first met when the designer was a student at St. Martins. Before making her way to the lofty steps of the Costume Institute, Christie took five with Interview to talk about Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy, her ongoing relationship with Fendi, and her favorite looks from Mer Galas past.
JAKE NEVINS: Hey there, how are you?
GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE: Hello! I’m very well. How are you?
NEVINS: I’m doing well. Happy Met Gala day!
CHRISTIE: Thank you very much. You know this is my first.
NEVINS: How does that feel?
CHRISTIE: It’s exciting but nerve-wracking. I am very excited. The main reason is that I’m going with Fendi and Kim Jones, and Kim and I have known each other since I was 19 years old. He was at St. Martins and he was on the MA design, and I was assisting a student there. I actually was his fitting model once. And we’ve known one another over the years and I’ve seen him go on this extraordinary and very well-deserved trajectory where he is now. And obviously, I’ve been reading about the Met Gala in magazines since I was young, it seemed like this sort of distant, extraordinary way-off world that was sort of intoxicating. So after all those years of peering in from the outside and admiring this extraordinary event, it means a lot to me to be going, but also to be going to celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, who was one of the greatest designers that we’ve ever had. He was a true renaissance man, an intellectual who was fascinated by art, culture, street cultures, underground subcultures, literature, music. He had such a wide spectrum of taste, but was also such a master craftsman. So I’m thrilled to be going and celebrating that.
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