Did menswear win the 2024 Met Gala?

At the Met Gala on Monday night, in and amongst the flower-covered gowns (Gigi Hadid, Jordan Roth), naked dresses (Emily Ratajkowski, JLo) and wet T-shirts (Doja Cat), a quiet champion was rising up through the ranks. The humble suit — often underestimated and overlooked — was this year reimagined ad infinitum.

Nods to the event’s dress code, JG Ballard’s 1962 short story “The Garden of Time,” came in all forms.

For Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and actor Nicholas Galitzine, who wore Burberry and Fendi respectively, embroidered flowers crept up jacket corners, discreetly sewn in matching thread. There were blooms-turned-bowties, as was the case with actors Jeremy Strong and Jonathan Bailey. Strong’s custom, all-white Loro Piana suit featured a subtle, white flower underpinning his high-collar; while Bailey’s hand-painted purple, white and gold peony (made from metal, “for someone who has extreme hay fever” he told Vogue) was courtesy of Loewe.