EXCLUSIVE: Stella McCartney and Vrai Team on Sustainable Fine Jewelry Collection for the Met Gala
Stella McCartney made a statement on the Met Gala red carpet.
The fashion designer hit the steps at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Monday night for the annual Met Gala with her guests Cara Delevingne, Ed Sheeran and his wife Cherry Seaborn, who all sported fine jewelry from McCartney’s new collaboration with lab-grown jeweler Vrai. The celebrities are sporting both one-of-a-kind pieces and other fine jewelry styles that will be available for purchase.
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“The Met Gala’s theme especially this year, ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,’ can be interpreted in different ways with different designers,” said Vrai president Mona Akhavi. “For us, that interpretation was there needs to be an awakening in the fashion and luxury industries to do things in a better way. We have pioneered that especially in the diamond industry. We’ve been very vocal about the harmful impacts of mining and taking inspiration from that, the core value was what drove this. It just made sense with this exhibition theme this year — it couldn’t have been a more perfect harmony.”
McCartney echoed this sentiment, stating: “We’re both passionate about advocating for sustainability and creating more transparency in the fashion industry. It was a long time coming, and this was the perfect year to team up for Met Gala.”
Delevingne’s Met Gala red carpet look is perhaps the most striking of McCartney’s collaboration with Vrai. The model walked the carpet wearing a hooded, backless bodice designed with over 500 lab-grown Vrai diamonds. According to Akhavi, the jewelry piece has the emissions equivalency of recycling 11.3 tons of waste.
While the headpiece is a one-of-a-kind creation, Delevingne’s Vrai arm cuff, which is created with 129 carats of lab-grown diamonds, will be available for sale through the collaboration.
“Cara’s look is the first time we’re doing a piece of high jewelry where the diamonds are going to be worn on the body,” Akhavi said. “That positions us in a place where we can be seen as a high jewelry luxury brand — like some of the other heritage houses that are pushing that boundary of what jewelry means and what diamonds mean when it comes to creativity and design. It is truly expressing that person’s individualistic style and self-expression.”
Sheeran also sported a one-of-a-kind creation for the 2024 Met Gala. The Grammy-winning musician walked the red carpet wearing a Vrai lab-grown diamond-encrusted bowtie, as well as bezel cut diamond cufflinks and a bezel cut lapel pin. Seaborn also wore several necklaces, earrings and bracelets from the collaboration.
“We’re very much inspired by taking a stand for Mother Earth and really wanting to showcase handcrafted, one-of-a-kind looks from 100 percent sustainable materials,” Akhavi said of the collaboration. “Of course, Stella uses innovative textiles that are cruelty-free and ethical, so it made sense to combine that with our Vrai grown diamonds.”
McCartney herself is also sporting an array of styles from the Vrai x Stella McCartney collaboration.
McCartney’s collaboration with Vrai is ongoing. After debuting their Met Gala collaboration, the fashion designer and fine jeweler will release another sustainable jewelry collection during McCartney’s spring 2025 runway show this fall.
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