Billie Eilish paired high fashion with animal rights activism at this year’s Met Gala.
The 19-year-old Billie Eilish appeared at the 2021 Met Gala in New York City, ascending the museum’s lavish staircase in a nude tulle dress from American fashion house, Oscar de la Renta.
According to reporting from the New York Times, Eilish’s look was a nod to classic Hollywood stars Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe. But that wasn’t all that had informed Eilish’s decision to wear Oscar de la Renta.
Eilish – who also became the youngest ever Met Gala co-chair – agreed to wear Oscar de la Renta on the condition the brand would stop selling fur. Eilish adheres to a vegan lifestyle and is an animal rights activist.
Oscar de la Renta’s creative directors, Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, had already stopped using fur in their designs, but Alex Bolen, the brand’s chief executive, remained a fan. Bolen had declined petitions to stop using fur for years. However, when Eilish’s team told Oscar de la Renta she doesn’t work with brands in the fur business, Bolen reconsidered.
“I have to surround myself with people with different points of view,” Bolen told the Times.
