How each of Beyoncé's Met Gala looks came to be
Ty Hunter is the celebrity stylist behind every standout outfit Beyoncé has worn at the Met Gala over the years.
But his history with Beyoncé goes way back. Born and raised in Texas, Hunter was working at a Houston boutique in the late '90s when he met Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles.
She promised to take him to bigger, better places outside of retail, and hired Hunter to work with Destiny's Child on the "Survivor" music video in 2000.
He quickly became the group's right-hand man, and later styled the musicians as they took on solo careers.
Today, Hunter is an author, motivational influencer, and entrepreneur, but he still dedicates time to fashion.
While taking a break from styling Billy Porter for his upcoming tour, Hunter caught up with Insider and discussed each of Beyonce's Met Gala outfits from over the years. Here's how each look came to be and what he thinks of them now.
Their first Met Gala together was in 2008. According to Hunter, they didn't have much time to prepare.
"The crazy thing is — I swear to you — it was like the day before that Armani contacted us," Hunter said about their invite.
He quickly got a suit for himself, hosted a fitting for Beyoncé's pink, strapless dress, and prepared to walk the red carpet with her.
"I didn't know nothing about the Met. Then I did a little research and was like, 'Oh, this is major.' I was so excited," he said. "I was pretty much her date that night — I put on a tuxedo, I dressed her, and I held her bag."
Hunter still loves the chiffon look Beyoncé wore that year.
"It was light and airy," he said of the dress. "We were at a phase where everything was for performing: rhinestones, glittery, shiny. So to just tone it down and have simplicity that was still beautiful and elegant — I loved it. It was timeless."
They returned to the Met Gala in 2011, with Beyoncé dressed in a dramatic Emilio Pucci gown.
The black gown had a regal look, with a tulle skirt and gold trim along its high neckline and bodice. There was also a daring element thanks to its lace-lined chest cutout.
But while the outfit looked flawless, Hunter said the 2011 event was "one of the hardest nights ever" for him and Beyoncé.
"There was no rehearsal," he said. "You just show up and be beautiful."
The dress was undeniably stunning but difficult to walk in.
"It was so tight at the bottom," Hunter said of the gown. "Me and Jay had to help her up each step. So that was a night."
Even before they arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, things were so hectic that Hunter "didn't have time to get dressed."
"I had on cargo pants, a denim shirt, and leather coat," he said with a laugh.
Still, he was determined to assist his client. While he chose not to attend the actual gala, he did walk the carpet with Beyoncé.
"I was like, 'I'm going regardless,'" he said. "I'm glad I didn't think of myself but thought about the final thing, because she wasn't able to walk up the stairs."
But nothing could top the 2012 Met Gala. According to Hunter, Beyoncé didn't decide to attend until the morning of the event.
Hunter had been working with his styling partner Raquel Smith on dressing Beyoncé for a series of concerts when she decided at the last minute to attend the Met Gala.
Luckily for them, fashion designer Riccardo Tisci — who had then been working with Givenchy — was in town, and he had brought a gown originally designed for Beyoncé to wear at a different event.
"I was like, 'Meet us at the stadium. Bring a tailor and we'll see if it works. If it does, she's going. If not, she's not going,'" Hunter remembers saying.
The result was a form-fitting, mesh gown embellished with dark crystals, lace, and purple and black feathers.
Some people thought Beyoncé was naked under the sheer gown, but Hunter said that wasn't the case.
Underneath the dress was a bodysuit that Hunter and Smith carefully crafted to match Beyoncé's skin tone.
"We were dyeing it with Rit dye the day of and drying it," he said. "While she rehearsed, I would run up and put it up to her skin to see if it was matching. It was a whole process."
Riccardo Tisci played a part in Beyoncé's Met Gala fashion again in 2013 with a gold-and-black Givenchy dress.
Hunter said he still loves her 2013 look, and feels Tisci — the Italian fashion creative who revitalized Givenchy before joining Burberry — has always been "ahead of his time."
"He became like family," Hunter said of the designer. "He allowed her to take chances and risks, and go in directions she normally wouldn't go. So I love it. It was fire. It was heat."
And of course, Hunter was on hand to make sure the gown looked perfect.
"My work has to go all the way through," Hunter said. "You can't expect a woman with a train to lay it out for photos."
He also likes to walk red carpets with his clients in case there are any mishaps or requests.
"I would take a brush and a little lip gloss or whatever, just to help everybody out," he said. "The final product is the photos, and they last forever. So it's important to ride your job all the way through."
Hunter said photos can't do the look Beyoncé wore in 2014 justice.
Her black Givenchy dress was semi-sheer and beaded from top to bottom, with a V-shaped neckline and split skirt. The overall look was inspired by Diana Ross.
"It was simple but elegant," Hunter said. "In person, it was so beautiful. A lot of times, the pictures don't really give justice to the garment. It was delicate and just really, really strong. I love that look."
Tisci had a couple ideas for the Givenchy dress Beyoncé would wear in 2015. But after looking through sketches, she knew exactly which one she wanted.
Beyoncé and Hunter were both drawn to a form-fitting, see-through dress decorated with pastel-colored crystals — though the singer wasn't able to try it on.
Beyoncé was so busy with other work at the time, Hunter said, that he and Smith had a model stand in for her at fittings.
Luckily, everything came together on the day of the Met Gala, and the dress fit Beyoncé perfectly.
But if you think Hunter's work was done, you're mistaken. According to the stylist, he "did not leave her side" throughout the night because the dress was so heavy.
"As light as it looked — she looks like she's butt naked, but she's not — it was the heaviest dress," he said. "Normally, I get her to the front, she goes off, and then I'll sit down somewhere. But this night, I never really left."
"It was such a beautiful dress and so iconic," he continued, adding that her updo hairstyle gave the look even more flair. "The ponytail was doing its own thing. It was the dress and the ponytail's night."
Beyoncé last attended the Met Gala in 2016, and her fashion was as show-stopping as ever.
She wore a baby-pink, Givenchy gown crafted from latex, with hand-painted flowers, pearl embellishments, and puffy sleeves.
But it was working with Beyoncé in 2016 — not the dress — that really sticks out to Hunter.
"I had retired and wasn't working with Beyoncé for over three months, but she asked me if I would come and do this," he said. "A lot of people thought I had gotten fired. People were acting funny. Designers were acting funny."
"So the blessing was learning who was really there for me," he continued. "It was beautiful."
But his history with Beyoncé goes way back. Born and raised in Texas, Hunter was working at a Houston boutique in the late '90s when he met Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles.
She promised to take him to bigger, better places outside of retail, and hired Hunter to work with Destiny's Child on the "Survivor" music video in 2000.
He quickly became the group's right-hand man, and later styled the musicians as they took on solo careers.
Today, Hunter is an author, motivational influencer, and entrepreneur, but he still dedicates time to fashion.
While taking a break from styling Billy Porter for his upcoming tour, Hunter caught up with Insider and discussed each of Beyonce's Met Gala outfits from over the years. Here's how each look came to be and what he thinks of them now.
Their first Met Gala together was in 2008. According to Hunter, they didn't have much time to prepare.
"The crazy thing is — I swear to you — it was like the day before that Armani contacted us," Hunter said about their invite.
He quickly got a suit for himself, hosted a fitting for Beyoncé's pink, strapless dress, and prepared to walk the red carpet with her.
"I didn't know nothing about the Met. Then I did a little research and was like, 'Oh, this is major.' I was so excited," he said. "I was pretty much her date that night — I put on a tuxedo, I dressed her, and I held her bag."
Hunter still loves the chiffon look Beyoncé wore that year.
"It was light and airy," he said of the dress. "We were at a phase where everything was for performing: rhinestones, glittery, shiny. So to just tone it down and have simplicity that was still beautiful and elegant — I loved it. It was timeless."
They returned to the Met Gala in 2011, with Beyoncé dressed in a dramatic Emilio Pucci gown.
The black gown had a regal look, with a tulle skirt and gold trim along its high neckline and bodice. There was also a daring element thanks to its lace-lined chest cutout.
But while the outfit looked flawless, Hunter said the 2011 event was "one of the hardest nights ever" for him and Beyoncé.
"There was no rehearsal," he said. "You just show up and be beautiful."
The dress was undeniably stunning but difficult to walk in.
"It was so tight at the bottom," Hunter said of the gown. "Me and Jay had to help her up each step. So that was a night."
Even before they arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, things were so hectic that Hunter "didn't have time to get dressed."
"I had on cargo pants, a denim shirt, and leather coat," he said with a laugh.
Still, he was determined to assist his client. While he chose not to attend the actual gala, he did walk the carpet with Beyoncé.
"I was like, 'I'm going regardless,'" he said. "I'm glad I didn't think of myself but thought about the final thing, because she wasn't able to walk up the stairs."
But nothing could top the 2012 Met Gala. According to Hunter, Beyoncé didn't decide to attend until the morning of the event.
Hunter had been working with his styling partner Raquel Smith on dressing Beyoncé for a series of concerts when she decided at the last minute to attend the Met Gala.
Luckily for them, fashion designer Riccardo Tisci — who had then been working with Givenchy — was in town, and he had brought a gown originally designed for Beyoncé to wear at a different event.
"I was like, 'Meet us at the stadium. Bring a tailor and we'll see if it works. If it does, she's going. If not, she's not going,'" Hunter remembers saying.
The result was a form-fitting, mesh gown embellished with dark crystals, lace, and purple and black feathers.
Some people thought Beyoncé was naked under the sheer gown, but Hunter said that wasn't the case.
Underneath the dress was a bodysuit that Hunter and Smith carefully crafted to match Beyoncé's skin tone.
"We were dyeing it with Rit dye the day of and drying it," he said. "While she rehearsed, I would run up and put it up to her skin to see if it was matching. It was a whole process."
Riccardo Tisci played a part in Beyoncé's Met Gala fashion again in 2013 with a gold-and-black Givenchy dress.
Hunter said he still loves her 2013 look, and feels Tisci — the Italian fashion creative who revitalized Givenchy before joining Burberry — has always been "ahead of his time."
"He became like family," Hunter said of the designer. "He allowed her to take chances and risks, and go in directions she normally wouldn't go. So I love it. It was fire. It was heat."
And of course, Hunter was on hand to make sure the gown looked perfect.
"My work has to go all the way through," Hunter said. "You can't expect a woman with a train to lay it out for photos."
He also likes to walk red carpets with his clients in case there are any mishaps or requests.
"I would take a brush and a little lip gloss or whatever, just to help everybody out," he said. "The final product is the photos, and they last forever. So it's important to ride your job all the way through."
Hunter said photos can't do the look Beyoncé wore in 2014 justice.
Her black Givenchy dress was semi-sheer and beaded from top to bottom, with a V-shaped neckline and split skirt. The overall look was inspired by Diana Ross.
"It was simple but elegant," Hunter said. "In person, it was so beautiful. A lot of times, the pictures don't really give justice to the garment. It was delicate and just really, really strong. I love that look."
Tisci had a couple ideas for the Givenchy dress Beyoncé would wear in 2015. But after looking through sketches, she knew exactly which one she wanted.
Beyoncé and Hunter were both drawn to a form-fitting, see-through dress decorated with pastel-colored crystals — though the singer wasn't able to try it on.
Beyoncé was so busy with other work at the time, Hunter said, that he and Smith had a model stand in for her at fittings.
Luckily, everything came together on the day of the Met Gala, and the dress fit Beyoncé perfectly.
But if you think Hunter's work was done, you're mistaken. According to the stylist, he "did not leave her side" throughout the night because the dress was so heavy.
"As light as it looked — she looks like she's butt naked, but she's not — it was the heaviest dress," he said. "Normally, I get her to the front, she goes off, and then I'll sit down somewhere. But this night, I never really left."
"It was such a beautiful dress and so iconic," he continued, adding that her updo hairstyle gave the look even more flair. "The ponytail was doing its own thing. It was the dress and the ponytail's night."
Beyoncé last attended the Met Gala in 2016, and her fashion was as show-stopping as ever.
She wore a baby-pink, Givenchy gown crafted from latex, with hand-painted flowers, pearl embellishments, and puffy sleeves.
But it was working with Beyoncé in 2016 — not the dress — that really sticks out to Hunter.
"I had retired and wasn't working with Beyoncé for over three months, but she asked me if I would come and do this," he said. "A lot of people thought I had gotten fired. People were acting funny. Designers were acting funny."
"So the blessing was learning who was really there for me," he continued. "It was beautiful."
