Dan Levy is making his debut at the 2021 Met gala on Monday, and while the Schitt’s Creek cocreator is excited for his first Met ball, the multihyphenate is most looking forward to people watching—this time, from the event itself.
“I’m a pretty introverted person, and I tend to avoid big parties, so this is really taking a big step out of my comfort zone,” Levy told Vanity Fair. “And I just keep saying to everybody, ‘I don’t know anyone there. Am I just going to be that person in the corner that’s just watching people and not talking to anyone?’”
“But I’ve been assured by friends of mine who have gone that it is a far more kind of celebratory safe space than the intimidating world that I have been creating in my head,” he said, before adding that he recently spoke with Met gala cohost Amanda Gorman to assuage his fears.
“I chatted a little bit with Amanda about both of our nerves being new to the game…. And we kind of said that if all else fails, we’ll just hold each other and get through it together,” the D.L. Eyewear creator said with a laugh.
While Levy may be nervous, his Schitt’s Creek character, David Rose, would be beside himself if ever presented with the opportunity to attend fashion’s biggest night.
“Absolutely nobody would want a Met gala invitation more than sweet David Rose. Just desperate for it,” Levy said.
The comedian, writer, and director—who was invited to this year’s gala by Cartier—called the invite from the luxury jeweler “an honor,” and described his experience collaborating with Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson on his custom red-carpet look as an “incredibly wonderful and fulfilling adventure.”
Inspired by the Costume Institute’s “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” exhibit and the gala’s theme, Levy worked with Anderson to create a powerful ensemble that celebrates “the resilience and the love and the joy” of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I had asked Jonathan if he would be into dressing me just because…I just love his perspective on fashion and thought that he’d be a really great person to collaborate with on this,” the actor explained. “He’s so thoughtful, unexpected, and artful in his approach to what he wants to say with the clothes that he designs…. Fortunately, he said yes, and fortunately he did have some great ideas.”
As a fashion brand that has long celebrated artists, Anderson drew inspiration for Levy’s red-carpet creation from American artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz, whose work confronted the systematic oppression of gays, while shedding a harsh light on the abandonment the community experienced during the peak of the AIDS crisis.
Adapting two of Wojnarowicz’s famed works, Fuck You F--got Fucker, 1984, and Untitled (One Day This Kid…), 1990–91, for Levy’s Met gala look, the actor said he and Anderson wanted to reflect the artist’s themes of celebrating “queer love and queer visibility” while also sending a reminder that “there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”
The intricate and expressive look, which features hand embroidery and beading, ties into his relationship with Anderson and longtime love of his designs.
“The shoes that I’m wearing are sort of replica of a boot that Jonathan had made in one of his early, early JW collections way back in the 2010s. We had dinner recently, and he said to me, ‘I have known your name for such a long time because you were one of the first people to buy those boots,’” Levy recalled, explaining that when Anderson’s company was smaller, the designer knew all the names of his avid customers.
“When we were talking about putting this look together, we were discussing what to do for the footwear. And I had proposed what if we remake your boots as kind of a personal connection between the two of us. They were such good boots, and I think the younger fashion crowd needs to know just how significant he’s been for such a long time,” he continued. “So there’s kind of like a wink and a nod to a history that we have had together…. It’s amazing to have been a fan for so long and now to get to work with him in this capacity.”
While the boots are a heartwarming detail, Levy also joked that they may be his saving grace for tackling the iconic Met staircase.
“I think that my boots are substantial enough to really ground me…. If all else fails, I know that I’m in very sturdy boots that hopefully will not trip me up. Then cut to—falls down the stairs,” he said with a laugh.
Talking about working with Levy on his Met creation, Anderson told Vanity Fair: “Dan is our gay superhero. Through his comedy, he is able to knock down cultural barriers. We wanted to make something that allows him to make queer love visible and we found that through the seminal works of David Wojnarowicz.”
Levy said there was something “special” about being able to recreate Wojnarowicz’s artist themes into a work of fashion for the Met gala’s world stage.
“I think that has always kind of been what the Met has embodied—doing what you can do to send a message. It’s not just clothes, you're celebrating the impact that fashion can have and culture,” he said.
And in the spirit of Wojnarowicz’s influential AIDS activism, Loewe has donated to Visual AIDS, an organization Wojnarowicz long-supported that continues to promote AIDS awareness and education.
“Jonathan described [the look] as a superhero for the community, and when I put it on, I definitely feel that,” Levy said. “And to me, that’s an America that I want to be a part of.”
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