Billie Eilish, Zendaya, Kylie Jenner and More Stars' First Met Gala Appearances Are a Blast From the Past

See pics of celebrities making their Met Gala debuts over the years ahead of the 2024 ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 6.

By Corinne Heller May 06, 2024 4:00 AM
| Updated Apr 19, 2024 11:32 PM
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Watch: Met Gala 2024: Zendaya Reveals Why She’s Returning After Skipping the Last 5 Years! (Exclusive)

You never forget your first time...at the Met Gala.

Just ask Billie Eilish, who made her debut at the annual star-studded fashion event at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2021.

"It's nuts," the singer, who turned heads at the event with a Marilyn Monroe-like blonde hairstyle and strapless peach Oscar de la Renta gown, said on the Howard Stern Show that December. "It's famous people famous people-ing."

When you get so many celebs together showcasing extraordinary fashion styles, it's not easy to stand out. "Everybody's just embarrassed and insecure about what they're doing and saying," Billie said. "It was amazing though. It just was beautiful in there."

But her favorite part is the lack of fangirling. "What's nice about other people that are in the same kind of world that you're in," she explained, "is they're not getting their phone out and shoving it in your face because they don't want that themselves and that is really relieving."

Billie did go on to attend the two subsequent Met Galas and even snuck in an epic bathroom selfie with fellow celebs at the 2023 event.

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Met Gala 2023: Red Carpet Fashion

The Grammy winner was not the first celeb to break a longstanding no-selfie rule. At the event in 2017, a year after making her Met Gala debut in a sparkling Balmain gown, Kylie Jenner snapped her own group bathroom pics at the bash, featuring stars such as first-time-attendee Paris Jackson, then 19, wore a black Calvin Klein dress.

Zendaya, one of the upcoming 2024 Met Gala co-chairs, was also a teenager when she made her Met Gala debut. At 18, the Euphoria star walked the red carpet at the 2015 event in a custom black and red Fausto Puglisi dress with a short, flared skirt, complete with a long train and sun design embellishments. She went on to attend four more Met Galas before taking a break for half a decade. Now, she is euphoric about her return to the charity ball on May 6 celebrating the museum's "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibit.

"It felt like the right time," Zendaya told E! News' Will Marfuggi at the Challengers premiere in Los Angeles April 16, "to try to go back to the Met."

Look back at more stars' Met Gala debuts.

Naomi Campbell in 1990

In Versace

Sarah Jessica Parker in 1995

"My guess is that this was a dress from the thirft store which then I had tailored," the actress told Vogue in 2022, "and clearly did my own hair and makeup.

Gwyneth Paltrow in 1995

In Calvin Klein

Kate Moss, Calvin Klein & Christy Turlington in 1995

In Calvin Klein (Kate)

Salma Hayek in 1997

In Versace

Gisele Bundchen in 1999

In Versace

Victoria Beckham in 2003

In Dolce & Gabbana

Nicole Kidman in 2003

In Gucci by Tom Ford

Kate Hudson in 2003

In Stella McCartney

Eva Mendes in 2004

In Zac Posen

Jimmy Fallon in 2004

Diane Kruger in 2004

In Balenciaga

Naomi Watts in 2004

In Marc Jacobs

Serena Williams in 2004

Emmy Rossum in 2005

In Ralph Lauren

Ashley Olsen & Mary-Kate Olsen in 2005

In Oscar de la Renta (Ashley) and a vintage dress from What Comes Around Goes Around (Mary-Kate)

Sienna Miller in 2006

In Burberry Prorsum

Jessica Alba in 2006

In Calvin Klein

Rihanna in 2007

In Georges Chakra

Kerry Washington in 2007

Cameron Diaz in 2007

In Dior

Beyoncé in 2008

In Armani Privé

Blake Lively in 2008

In Ralph Lauren

Taylor Swift in 2008

In Badgley Mischka

Amber Rose & Kanye West in 2009

In Carolina Herrera (Amber) 

Jessica Biel & Justin Timberlake in 2009

In Versace (Jessica) 

Anne Hathaway in 2009

In Marc Jacobs

Leighton Meester in 2009

In Louis Vuitton

Katy Perry in 2009

In Tommy Hilfiger

Emma Stone in 2009

In Matthew Williamson

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