Soft armour and pert nipples: the logistics behind Kim Kardashian's Met Gala breastplate
The garment, inspired by Allen Jones's 1969 Hatstand sculpture, required a dedicated courier to transport it from the UK to New York in an overhead locker due to airline restrictions.
At this year's Met Gala, Kim Kardashian delivered the evening's most significant statement by forgoing a traditional fashion house collaboration in favour of a custom orange fibreglass breastplate. The piece was the result of a direct commission from the celebrity to the London design practice Whitaker Malem, who worked in collaboration with pop artist Allen Jones and a car bodyshop in Kent to realise the concept.
The design was explicitly inspired by Jones's 1969 Hatstand sculpture, a work that has historically ignited feminist outrage yet continues to permeate the fashion industry. Whitaker Malem, who describe themselves as pop artisans rather than traditional designers, cast the breastplate from a mould derived directly from Jones's original artwork, adding a hand-painted leather skirt to complete the ensemble.
The creation process began in early April when the design team received a call from Kardashian. Following a video call where the celebrity discussed the fit, she flew to the United Kingdom and drove to Jones's home in Oxfordshire with a body dummy to ensure the garment would accommodate her physique. The designers noted that while the piece fitted Kardashian perfectly, Jones's original sculptures were never intended to be worn by humans.
Once the form was established, the garment was transported to MPS Body and Paint in Lydd, Kent, where it was sprayed orange using multiple layers of primer, stopper, solvent-based paint, and gloss lacquer. The finished breastplate weighed approximately as much as a bag of flour and was worn without undergarments, a detail that underscores the physical reality of the art piece.
Kardashian was aware that the breastplate was part of a larger trend, having learned from Anna Wintour that five other attendees, including her half-sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner, were also wearing similar garments. Despite the high-profile nature of the event, the logistics of moving the unlabelled item to New York proved complex, as airline restrictions prevented it from being checked as standard luggage.
A specific individual flew first class from Los Angeles to collect the piece and returned to Heathrow for a 7pm flight to New York to transport it. Unable to book a seat for the outfit itself because it did not have a name, the breastplate was placed in an overhead locker, arriving in the US just in time for the gala.