MET GALA 2024 HAIR HOW-TO : Irinel De Leon x Karlie Kloss

A vision in pink, supermodel mum Karlie Kloss made pretty much every best dress list post-this year’s Met Gala, and with good reason. Her custom Swarovski gown paid homage to various natural elements to celebrate the museum’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”, and the willowy model’s beauty look was the perfect match.
Kloss’ dress, a pink floral-embellished gown, was created by Swarovski creative director, Giovanna Engelbert, using more than 180,000 rose crystals assembled by a team of seven artisans. The gown took an incredible 225 hours to create, according to Swarovski, and was designed to look like it is transforming into the supermodel’s jewellery pieces, which are from Swarovski’s Florere and Millenia collections.
“We wanted to keep the hair a little more on the simple side because of the intricate detail in the dress,” says celebrity stylist Irinel De Leon. “The dress is embellished with Swarovski crystals throughout with flowers draping down the length of the dress; therefore we wanted the hair to feel soft, whimsical yet polished. The low chignon with wispy pieces around the face and ears, add a bit of softness to the look.”

Now for a step-by-step how to…

Prep damp hair with the Living Proof Thickening Blow-Dry Cream for added thickness with a hint of conditioning for natural, long-lasting body and fullness from mid-lengths to ends.

On the roots, prep damp hair using the Living Proof Full Volume & Root-Lifting Spray. Add a few pumps throughout the scalp for all day volume and heat protection.

Begin by sectioning the hair and blow drying using the Dyson Supersonic r™ Professional Hairdryer with the Pro Concentrator Attachment on high airflow and heat setting.

Once hair is dry, use The Hair Shop 7-piece 18” Clip In Extensions in the color #3 and #4 to clip into the hair in sections; tease small sections where the clips will be placed and spray the teased section with the Living Proof Style Lab® Flex Hairspray and attach clip-ins. I like to mix the colors since Karlie has some natural dimension in her hair.

Follow by cutting The Hair Shop extensions to the desired length using a razor or shears.

Prep the dry hair with the Living Proof Style Lab® Flex Hairspray then using the Dyson Corrale™ hair styler straightener at 410 degrees, add some minimal blowout-like bends in the hair, keeping the wrist a little bent, to add some tension and body to the hair.

Set each section into Velcro rollers to cool down.

Using the Dyson Supersonic r™ Professional Hairdryer with the diffuser attachment on high airflow and cool setting, diffuse the Velcro rollers on cool until hair has cooled down completely.

Remove rollers and spray the hair with the Living Proof Full Dry Volume & Texture Spray for a lived in and full look.

Create a middle part and rake the hair back into a low ponytail and secure with an elastic.

Follow by creating a chignon and securing with velvet French hair pins.

Finish by spraying the hair with the Living Proof Flex Hairspray to finish.