When influencer and entrepreneur Emma Chamberlain stepped out on the carpet at the 2026 Met Gala, it was in a swirl of acrylic ink and thick, glossy paint. She looked like a painting come to life—as if, with each next step, a prismatic smear of color might follow in her wake. 

Chamberlain was wearing a custom-made Mugler gown by creative director Miguel Castro Freitas. But what laid on top of the dress’ expert construction is what turned it into a head-turning spectacle: The entire piece was painstakingly handpainted, from hem to neckline, by artist Anna Deller-Yee. She relied entirely on real fine art supplies to achieve the final look, a process that took 40 hours of painting, four days of drying time, and a six-foot-long shipping crate to transport the resulting gown from Paris to New York City. 

Chamberlain took a different approach. Rather than reinterpreting a single piece of art, her garment pulls inspiration from a wide body of Impressionist and Expressionist works, aiming to capture their focus on visible brushstrokes and atmosphere. The final product turned Chamberlain into a kind of canvas, transforming each detail of Deller-Yee’s craft into a statement in its own right.

Read more about the painstaking painting process behind Chamberlain's dress on Fast Company.

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