When it comes to Doja Cat, we’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Last year, she attended the Met Gala in two looks: a towel as if snatched from her hotel bathroom and a soaked, see-through t-shirt dress. Both were paired with a blonde bald cut and silver mascara tears streaming down her face. The year before, she honored Karl Lagerfeld’s Birman cat, Chaupette, with the most literal feline SFX makeup imaginable on a red carpet.
But last night, she attended her third Met, taking this year’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme back to the power-playing ‘80s. “Having a theme rooted in craftsmanship and identity through a Black lens, with credit being explicitly given, sends a powerful message,” her hairstylist Vernon Francois tells ESSENCE exclusively ahead of the Met Gala. “It affirms the undeniable role we, as Black people, have always played, and it opens the door to deeper conversations about the significance and richness of our contributions. Beauty has always been shaped—directly and indirectly—by the Black community.”
Over the past few weeks, Doja Cat has been signaling ‘80s references, from high-top Grace Jones hairdos to red nails and lipsticks, taking her beauty in between the feminine and masculine (think: Prince). “From music and fashion to political movements and cultural storytelling, our influence continues to ripple across every layer of the industry,” says Francois, styling her hair in a dual-toned afro sandwiching a brown tone between black poufs.
The afro-meets-bouffant hairdo sat nicely next to a streamlined, cone-breasted Marc Jacobs blazer. “For Doja Cat, the intention was to reimagine what it would feel like to see multiple hair patterns coexisting in one look—visually abundant and structurally commanding,” François—who also worked with Lupita Nyong’o and Natasha Lyonne for this year’s Gala.
“Doja’s look was a conceptual reimagining—layering multiple hair patterns to create a strong, sculptural form that celebrated the beauty in complexity. This wasn’t about dressing hair up—it was about building something that carried weight and whispered legacy.” Helping him bring it all to life were products from OLAPLEX such as the No.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum to prep and the No.5 Scalp Longevity Treatment. “This was vital for caring for the scalp—especially when working with natural hair patterns that need support beneath the surface,” François adds.
The makeup perfectly complemented the hair as well. “For Doja’s look, we wanted to channel the surreal elegance of a hand-drawn sketch—something both animated and architectural,” makeup artist Pat McGrath says in a press release. Carving out an eyeliner wing and pastel blue lids from Pat McGrath Labs’s Mothership XII: Petalmorphosis, the makeup was a nod to the ‘40s and ‘50s, dating back to around the very first Met Gala in 1948. Then, McGrath finished off the look with a deep cabernet red lip painted on with the Dramatique Mega Lip Pencil, juxtaposing beauty’s most iconic eras. “[It was] a true study in contrast: soft yet graphic, classic yet otherworldly.”