![\"Dwayne](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dwayne-johnson.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDwayne Johnson stepped onto the Met Gala red carpet for the first time on Monday evening, sporting a pleated skirt that immediately sparked debate online.<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old actor arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hand in hand with his wife, Lauren Hashian, both dressed in coordinating looks from American designer Thom Browne.<\/p>\n
Despite more than three decades in the spotlight, the star had never previously attended fashion\u2019s most prestigious annual event.<\/p>\n
His stylist said working with Mr Johnson involved \u201csubverting expectations of what a man of his build can wear\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dwayne Johnson attended his first Met Gala on Monday<\/p>\n
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When asked about his outfit, the actor said: \u201cI feel great!”<\/p>\n
Mr Johnson revealed that when Mr Browne\u2019s team first sent over sketches featuring the pleated skirt, they questioned whether he would feel comfortable wearing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, in our culture, Polynesian culture, we rock lavalavas, we rock skirts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most masculine men, not that I\u2019m one of them, but the most masculine men wear lavalavas and skirts.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dwayne](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dwayne-johnson-and-lauren-hashian.jpg\")
The actor arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hand-in-hand with his wife, Lauren Hashian<\/p>\n
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Mr Johnson, who has Samoan heritage through his mother, described the lavalava as a traditional garment worn wrapped around the body.<\/p>\n
The ensemble featured a black mohair tailcoat paired with a skirt constructed from more than 350 metres of hand-pleated silk ribbons, described as having a \u201cskeletal composition\u201d.<\/p>\n
He completed the look with a Manish Malhotra high jewellery brooch, featuring a Colombian emerald surrounded by white diamonds and set in 18-karat white gold.<\/p>\n
Mr Johnson has previously shared his views on masculinity beyond fashion.<\/p>\n
![\"Dwayne](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777973002_554_dwayne-johnson-and-lauren-hashian.jpg\")
The theme of the Met Gala 2026 was ‘Costume Art’<\/p>\n
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Speaking at CinemaCon 2026 while promoting Disney\u2019s live-action Moana, he said \u201creal masculinity\u201d involves supporting women.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll men of all ages, we should empower, support and champion all women. That\u2019s what real masculinity looks like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s gala celebrated the theme \u201cCostume Art\u201d, with Beyonc\u00e9 serving as co-chair alongside Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour.<\/p>\n
The host committee included Zoe Kravitz and Sabrina Carpenter.<\/p>\n
Viewers watching from home were quick to share their reactions online.<\/p>\n
Some praised the look, with one user writing on X: \u201cScottish men wear kilts also culturally. There\u2019s also an Irish version.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is actually true. He isn\u2019t being woke,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
A third added: \u201cThis is actually the most normal thing I\u2019ve seen out of the Met Gala so far, relatively speaking of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dwayne](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777973004_904_dwayne-johnson.jpg\")
Dwayne Johnson<\/p>\n
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However, others were more critical, with some describing the outfit as a \u201chumiliation ritual\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the men eventually do their humiliation rituals,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n
Another added: \u201cExcept you\u2019re not in Samoa, you\u2019re in America, at a formal event. Put on a suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Met Gala has also faced wider controversy, with criticism directed at organisers following the involvement of Jeff Bezos and Ms S\u00e1nchez Bezos as sponsors and honorary co-chairs.<\/p>\n
Some activists have cited Amazon\u2019s labour practices and political ties as reasons for protest, with several high-profile figures allegedly choosing not to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dwayne Johnson stepped onto the Met Gala red carpet for the first time on Monday evening, sporting a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":939013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,4781,77,12,512,16,15,978,727],"class_list":{"0":"post-939012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116521245836329732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/939013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}