It’s the first Monday in May, and Christian Siriano is commemorating the joyous occasion with a special project with Unisom.
Siriano, 38, and Unisom (the sleep aid medication) have joined forces to expand upon the Met Gala’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” theme with an experience in New York City that explores the connection between sleep and fashion. (The pop-up is not affiliated with the actual ball.)
Over the course of approximately four to five hours, Siriano and Unisom will unveil an experience that will see models frolicking around hot spots in the Big Apple, including Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and The Plaza Hotel, in custom creations and archival Christian Siriano pieces that embody what it means to fall asleep.
“The whole idea came about because we were looking at this motif of ‘Sleeping Beauties’ and we were like, ‘Why don’t we do something iconic and remind people that sleep is really important but in a beautiful, romantic and visceral way.’ At my office, we don’t work until 1 a.m. on projects. Rest is crucial. Burnout is real,” Siriano exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the big day.
When designing and picking out garments for the project, Siriano said he wanted to emphasize “sleepy” metallic blue tones that felt “dreamlike,” which is the designer’s interpretation of the theme.
“We made some really cool things like custom pillow hats and bags. We wanted it to feel very fantasy-like. I want it to be an interpretation of what I see [or want to see] when I go to sleep,” he explained.
As for what we’ll see during the actual ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Siriano — who teased he is “dressing people” for the annual soirée — predicts that the celebrity looks will symbolize the “submerging of something.”
“For the ‘Garden of Time’ dress code, I love this idea that a botanical [garden] or flower emerges from the darkness into the light. I think of something being revived or reawakening. It’s really cool, so that’s kind of how I designed around this year’s theme,” Siriano said.
While flowers are often associated with femininity and fairytales, Siriano told Us he’s taking a “darker” approach. “I’m going a little more serious. I’ve done flowers a lot for past Mets, so I’m going a bit more abstract this year.”
Siriano hopes that people really “bring it” on the red carpet and deliver moments that really feel groundbreaking and not cliche.
“I just hope that it’s not overly sexy. No more naked dresses. I’m always down for a little sheer, but give me sculpture also, give me fashion!”
