Lily Collins Styles a Carolina Herrera Gown in the Met Gala's Leading Color Trend

Lily Collins wore Carolina Herrera in seasons three, four, and five of Emily in Paris. On May 11, she caught up to her character's Wes Gordon pulls in a structural gold dress at the King's Trust Celebration.

Two weeks after the L.A. local arrived in London, dressed in white jeans and Adidas sneakers, Collins joined the city's red carpet circuit with a gilded gown worthy of Emily's closet. Creative director Gordon loaned her Look 47 from the Fall 2026 fashion show: a strapless, ankle-length dress, crafted from cascading rows of rectangular and circular rhinestones. The crystals started shining atop the straight-across neckline, continued past the fitted waist, and flared ever-so-slightly beneath her knees. The puzzle-piece pattern influenced Collins's gold accessories, including her glossy peep-toe pumps and matching hoop earrings.

The 2026 award season has come and gone, but May's buzziest red carpet events are giving gold the summer spotlight once again. Four months after Pluribus star Rhea Seehorn went gold for the Golden Globes, Ciara, Tate McRae, Margot Robbie, Gracie Abrams, Hailey Bieber, and more proved metallic fashion is art at the 2026 Met Gala. Collins's Carolina Herrera crystals leaned more white gold than Bieber's Saint Laurent breastplate, Robbie's custom Chanel gown, or Ciara's gold-flaked crown, all in yellow gold.

To no surprise, many guests at last weekend's Gold Gala honored the annual soirée's "Modern Gold" dress code with intention. The Pitt's Supriya Ganesh—and Gold100 honoree—told Marie Claire her floral Naeem Khan gown felt "really whimsical and beautiful." Meanwhile, actors Liza Soberano, Poorna Jagannathan, and KPop Demon Hunters star Arden Cho sourced AAPI designers Phan Huy, Do Long, and Rahul Mishra.

For Collins, gold gowns were never a trend. Back in Sept. 2024, she made another metallic move in a ribbed Schiaparelli dress, featuring yellow-gold padlocks for shoulder straps. Hopefully her Carolina Herrera rhinestones will make the color trend a mainstay in her red carpet rotation, not just an of-the-moment, welcome surprise.