I. First Steps onto the Metropolitan Steps
May 4, 2026, Upper East Side, New York. When Jisoo Kim first stepped onto the Met Gala red carpet, she wore a gown reminiscent of Monet’s garden—not a replica hanging on a museum wall, but a real garden, swaying in the wind, filtered through the sunlight, and carrying the scent of dew.
The pink gown, custom-made for her by Dior’s artistic director Jonathan Anderson, was a strapless, backless straight-cut dress draped in ultra-fine silk gazar. The dress was covered in hand-embroidered floral scenes, ranging from pale pink to pearl gray, like an Impressionist painting disassembled and reassembled. Three-dimensional bouquets adorned the edges, and a headdress similarly covered in fabric floral embroidery completed the look, making her appear like a flower fairy stepping out of a painting.
Smiling on the red carpet, she told hosts Ashley Graham and Cara Delevingne, “This is my first Met Gala. I’m excited, and a little nervous.” She then added, “We’re experimenting with flowers. It’s so exciting.”
II. Dior’s Impressionist DNA
Jisoo’s gown didn’t appear out of thin air.
Dior’s connection to Impressionism can be traced back to the brand’s inception. Christian Dior’s own fascination with flowers and nature practically defined the brand’s visual DNA. Jonathan Anderson’s previous season’s designs were directly inspired by Monet, bringing a water lily pond to the runway. This gown, custom-made for Jisoo, can be seen as a continuation of that lineage—except this time, the canvas is a person’s body.
“Fashion Is Art”—this year’s dressing theme—is almost literally embodied in Jisoo. She doesn’t just wear art; she herself is a moving work of art.
III. A Necklace, the Weight of 120 Years
What truly elevates this look to a historical level is the necklace around her neck.
The Cartier Collection’s “Grain de Café” necklace, from 1905. That year, Einstein was still working at the patent office, the Titanic was still seven years away from launching, and this necklace had already been set with diamonds and platinum by an unknown craftsman.
It was paired with a pair of Cartier Collection Foliate clip-on earrings from 1948. The two pieces of jewelry combined are over 120 years old, nearly a century older than Jisoo herself. This choice itself is like a declaration: fashion is not about the opposition between new and old, but about how time resonates across different dimensions.
IV. The Politics of Pink in Makeup
Jisoo’s makeup is like a subtle response to the dress.
The eye makeup uses iridescent pink and white pearlescent eyeshadow, paired with delicate winged eyeliner. Both her blush and lipstick were light pink shades, specifically Dior’s Rouge Dior Blush 475 Rose Caprice and Dior Addict Glass Lipstick 405 Rosy Dior.
This “all-pink” strategy is uncommon on the red carpet—most people opt for red lips or smoky eyes to create contrast. But Jisoo’s choice perfectly demonstrates her confidence: when the gown is already complex enough, the best role for makeup is to complement it, not steal the show.
Her hairstyle was a low bun with a few wisps of hair framing her face, and the floral headpiece seemed to grow naturally from the bun. The entire look conveyed a message: elegance doesn’t have to be overdone; it can be soft, breathable, and with a touch of girlish charm.
V. The Four-Hour vs. Forty-Five-Minute Time Difference
Jisoo revealed that the entire look took four to five hours to complete.
This figure isn’t exaggerated in the context of the Met Gala—some looks take eight hours or even longer. But it reveals an often overlooked fact: those few minutes on the red carpet are backed by countless hours of fittings, adjustments, makeup, and hairstyling. That seemingly effortless beauty is never effortless.
VI. Another Face After the Party
On the red carpet, Jisoo is a flower fairy, an impressionist princess. But at the Met Gala after-party, she showed a completely different side.
She changed into a Dior strapless empire-waist gown, layers of semi-transparent white fabric, the skirt featuring the currently trendy Y2K bubble skirt silhouette. She carried a small green handbag, injecting an unexpected touch of color into the all-white look.
This switch from “artwork” to “party girl” is almost a traditional ritual at the Met Gala. But it also demonstrates Jisoo’s maturity as a fashion player: she knows when to be an exhibit in a museum and when to be the star of the dance floor.
VII. The Final Piece of the Puzzle for the Four Girls
The 2026 Met Gala is a milestone for BLACKPINK.
Lisa, as a member of the organizing committee, wore a white gown with 3D-printed arms by Robert Wun; Jennie wore a Chanel gown with 15,000 blue sequins, like a mermaid just emerging from the water; Rosé chose a black high-slit Saint Laurent gown, adorned with a giant bird brooch.
Jisoo’s appearance meant the group had finally completed its “all-Met Gala” puzzle. From Rosé’s debut in 2021, to Jennie’s first appearance in 2023, to Lisa’s addition in 2025, and finally Jisoo’s red carpet appearance in 2026—this process took five years.
Five years is almost an era in the scale of pop culture. But BLACKPINK used these five years to prove one thing: they are not just a K-pop group; they are four independent fashion individuals, each possessing the ability to engage with top fashion houses.
VIII. Why Dior?
Jisoo’s relationship with Dior is not something that developed overnight.
As Dior’s global brand ambassador, she is already one of the brand’s most important faces in the Asian market. But more importantly, there is a natural harmony between Dior’s aesthetic language and Jisoo’s own temperament. Dior’s elegance is tinged with sweetness, the classic romance of the “New Look” with its fitted waist and flowing skirt, rather than Saint Laurent’s cold sharpness or Chanel’s clean and neutral style.
The gown designed by Jonathan Anderson for Jisoo is the ultimate expression of this harmony: impressionistic colors, garden imagery, intricate hand embroidery, and an ambiguous quality that lies between girlhood and womanhood. It’s not a dress that needs to be “controlled,” but a second skin tailor-made for Jisoo.
IX. When the Flower Fairy Learns to Walk
Before the red carpet broadcast began, Jisoo sat in her room at The Mark Hotel, like anyone attending the Met Gala for the first time, both excited and nervous.
Then she walked up the steps, through the jungle of flashing lights, smiled as she answered the host’s questions, and turned to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The floral-embroidered gown swayed gently behind her, like a garden stirred by the wind.
In a sense, Jisoo’s Met Gala debut was also BLACKPINK’s coming-of-age ceremony as a group. They were no longer just “that very popular K-pop girl group”; they were four women capable of independently holding their own in the highest echelons of fashion. And Jisoo, with her pink impressionistic garden gown, added the softest yet most resolute touch to this coming-of-age ceremony.
