Penelope Cruz looked gorgeous as she arrived for the 2023 Met Gala on Monday, May 1. Serving as a co-chair alongside popstar Dua Lipa, tennis icon Roger Federer, screenwriter Michaela Coel, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the actress, 48, was fabulous as she attended the event, which was also a tribute to the late German designer Karl Lagerfeld, who inspired the theme of this year’s Met Gala “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty.” Penelope dazzled in a white Chanel dress from 1988 as she walked the red carpet for the event.
The actress’s look was incredibly elegant, as she donned the flowing white gown. The dress was covered in beautiful diamonds on the sleeves and torso, creating an intricate design, including some leaves. The dress even came with a sheer hood, with even more diamonds around Penelope’s face. She completed the look with a nod to the late Chanel designer, with a belt with the company’s logo on it. She explained that the dress was from one of Chanel’s 80s collections in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “Chanel couture, spring-summer from 1988,” she said, when asked what she was wearing.
Penelope is fitting as one of the co-chairs for the event honoring Karl Lagerfeld, as she was a close friend of the former Chanel creative director, who died in 2019.She opened up about how special it was to take part in the tribute to him, while speaking to ET. “We were very lucky to be able to spend time with Karl, and I love him and miss him so much, and to be here celebrating him is really special and emotional.”
She wore a dress designed by him to the 2019 Met Gala. She also walked in the final Chanel fashion show that Karl worked on after his passing. “I did that when Karl left us and that was really special,” she told People in a 2021 interview.
Following his death, the Oscar winner revealed the final time she saw him was at the Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit in New York. “We were walking in Central Park at 12 at night and it was really magical,” she told People. Since Karl’s passing, Penelope has continued to be involved with Chanel, posing for photos with the iconic fashion brand, including a recent campaign for Chanel Watches, alongside Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star Margot Robbie.
When Penelope was announced as one of the co-chairs, she shared a video announcing herself and the others, and she was clearly excited to honor the late designer, as she simply captioned the Instagram post “Karl” with a heart emoji.
Besides co-chairing the Met Gala, Penelope will also star in the upcoming biopic Ferrari about the famed automobile manufacturer Enzo Ferrari. The actress will star as his wife Laura, and the film is reportedly in post-production, according to IMDb. Besides the biopic, she’s also been rumored to be involved in the upcoming rom-com Paris Paramount.
While a release date for Ferrari has not been set just yet, the movie comes after her critically-acclaimed role in 2021’s Parallel Mothers with her frequent collaborator Pedro Almodovar. Penelope opened up about how even though she’s close with him, he still gets her nervous whenever they start a new project in a February 2022 interview with Vogue. “What’s funny is that, even though he’s one of my best friends, during the first few days of shooting, I’m so scared of him,” she joked. “I have imposter syndrome. Why do I still feel this way? It’s respect. So, I don’t want to feel different.”