Johnson is a longtime friend of Burch’s; he and his wife, artist Sheree Hovsepian, have attended the Met Gala as the designer’s guests in the past, yet this marks their first official collaboration. Burch says it was a no-brainer once the theme of this year’s Met Gala was announced. (“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the new exhibition at the Costume Institute, examines the nuanced history of dandyism in the context of Black sartorial history.)

The dress code for the gala, Tailored for You, encouraged attendees to play with tailoring and menswear by imbuing their own style idiosyncrasies. And while Johnson may insist on his role as witness, it’s his work that buoys the look: Burch and her team have reconceived some of his paintings—edited to a selection of three with Bravo’s input—as couture-grade fabrics.

The shrunken cotton jacket Bravo arrived in at The Met carries the faces Johnson originally illustrated with black soap in Untitled, Anxious Audience (2019)—rendered now in micro sequins and caviar beading. Underneath is a double skirt with the lively brush strokes of Johnson’s Body and Soul (2021), interpreted as jagged embroideries, flocked velvet, overlapping sequins, and painted foil. Yet Bravo was particularly drawn to Heartbreaker (2022) from Johnson’s Seascape series, with the artist’s singular, highly tactile technique here translated onto fabric with silicone embossing over transparent paillettes. In addition, Bravo wore a collar in hand-cut organza with a silk charmeuse ascot and a mini tote embellished with the same motif as her jacket.

Tory Burch’s sketch of Bravo’s look.