If you’ve ever wondered what a half-billion dollars in earned media value looks like, check your Instagram feed from the first Monday in May. With $31 million raised from $75,000 individual tickets and $350,000+ tables, the 2025 Met Gala had its most lucrative night yet in the event’s 77-year history, transforming Anna Wintour’s exclusive soirée into the fashion industry’s marketing equivalent of the Super Bowl. While the night generated an estimated $552 million in earned media value and an engagement rate of 8.5% on Instagram alone, brands throwing their couture into the ring made out like bandits.

Unsurprisingly, Louis Vuitton emerged as the undisputed champion, generating $154.1 million in EMV as the official sponsor. But PR teams for Marc Jacobs ($94.7 million, boosted by Rihanna’s viral pregnancy reveal), Valentino ($67.2 million, thanks to making co-chair Colman Domingo the most superfine of the dandies), and Thom Browne ($56.3 million by dressing over 10 VIP guests) were also popping Moët & Chandon. Even beauty and accessories brands cashed in, with Kylie Cosmetics generating $16.5 million EMV and Cartier claiming $8.8 million.

This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” focused on Black dandyism, or the fashion presentation of Black men, from the 18th century to present day, providing rich storytelling opportunities for brands bold enough to take advantage. Over 260 attendees created content directly from the Gala, with 1,200+ media accounts amplifying the evening. Every stiletto and platform heel climbing those hallowed stairs became cold, hard marketing currency.

The question, though, isn’t who wore it best, but who worked smartest. Independent stylist Carlos Alonso Parada built his business fortunes literally on the back of the socialite he hand-delivered to the “Best Dressed List.” Global beauty brand Olaplex snuck in as entourage to elite celebrity stylist ambassadors. And Lexus simply did what the luxury carmaker does best, discreetly joining conversations with tastemakers to prove true luxury speaks softly.

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For independent stylists, the Met Gala is a game of high risk and even higher reward. One perfectly executed moment can transform your entire business model. Carlos Alonso Parada understood this in 2024 when he took on the challenge of styling Sabrina Harrison, a philanthropist with great taste but no red carpet recognition. Parada’s choice of a surrealist Dalí-inspired look from designer Chris Habana, featuring melting clocks and a chrome handbag with a working video screen, landed Harrison on every best-dressed list and Parada into fashion’s inner circle.

“We went in knowing she wasn’t a celebrity, and she probably wasn’t going to get any attention,” Parada recalled. “Any attention was going to be cool, but we were embraced and loved by New York City.” The reward was international press recognition, industry credibility, and the kind of word-of-mouth buzz money can’t buy.

Parada’s success shows how the Met Gala can restructure an entire career trajectory. By navigating everything from design collaboration to Anna Wintour’s last-minute approval process, he exhibited a talent agility that separates weekend warriors from industry professionals. What began as a one-off styling opportunity evolved into year-round demand, while his vintage fashion rental business became a required resource for stylists seeking rare pieces (like the 1995 Thierry Mugler corset leather jacket he found at an Ohio estate sale.)

The longer-term payoffs have proven even more valuable. Parada now has major design houses competing for his attention, shipping custom pieces in anticipation of his next cultural moment. He’s also become extremely selective of who he dresses.

“My policy is, I work with you on everything or not at all,” he explained. “I don’t work with anyone who just wants me to dress them for one night because I want to know your closet inside and out.”

This nonnegotiable policy of total wardrobe immersion makes perfect sense to those who witnessed his talent on fashion’s biggest stage. After all, his Met Gala success shows what miracles can happen when clients trust his vision completely.

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While independent stylists like Parada leverage the Met Gala’s flashbulb visibility to build personal brands, some companies prefer to become part of a trusted entourage. Olaplex has built its entire marketing strategy around supporting stylists who celebrities trust for their most luminous looks. The company hosts intimate global events for their ambassador stylists, nurturing relationships based on mutual respect and professional alignment. Thus, when ambassador Vernon François styles the hair of Doja Cat, Natasha Lyonne and Lupita Nyong’o for the Met Gala using Olaplex products (specifically credited in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar coverage), it’s because he believes in them.

“Our pros, the stylists, and the colorists, they’re the biggest advocates because they’re the ones that actually use the product in their service, in their craft,” Katherine Gohman, Olaplex’s chief marketing officer, told me. “They think of themselves as craftsmen, as artists. Colorists are painters, and stylists are sculptors.”

François’s work was widely covered in the press, with Olaplex explicitly named as central to the styling process. This coverage, along with added publicity from Nikki Nelms using Olaplex to style Janelle Monáe’s hair, likely generated $5-15 million in earned media value, consistent with typical returns seen across high-profile beauty moments involving major influencers and editorial coverage.

“I personally think the ROI is so high on this,” Gohman said. Specialty retail sales, driven by consumer-facing channels like Sephora, jumped 12% in Q1 2025. While the Gala happened after Q1, pre-Gala activations likely helped drive that momentum.

“With the Met Gala, the entire event is about the fashion, and it goes beyond fashion into the entire look,” Gohman continued. “The entire package is about storytelling, which is why I think you get even higher ROI from it.”

Olaplex didn’t sponsor the Met Gala, but made itself essential to key components of the Gala storytelling. Behind-the-scenes content with Olaplex products front and center carried the weight of professional endorsement, expressing authenticity to beauty-obsessed consumers who no longer trust sponsored content.

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When GQ offered Lexus the exclusive automotive sponsorship for its first-ever Met Gala After Party, the luxury automaker saw an answer to its generational blind spot. While the company was experiencing record-breaking sales with GX and TX models attracting 70% new-to-brand buyers, “passionate visionaries”—those 28- to 45-year-old affluent millennials and Gen Z consumers who represent the future of luxury automotive sales—weren’t paying attention.

“We’re fifth in consideration behind some of the other luxury autos for the younger generation,” Lindsay Smelser, general manager of Lexus marketing, admitted. “Our research has shown we have slipped a little bit in terms of brand sentiment and luxury consideration.”

And then GQ drove up, just as Lexus was launching Blair Underwood as their new spokesperson. The GQ Met Gala After Party marked Underwood’s debut as the Lexus embodiment of refined masculinity and cultural sophistication.

“We jumped at the opportunity because we just felt like that was such a perfect intersection of fashion and luxury,” Smelser said. “We’re trying to be very culturally relevant in the young affluent space and finding areas where they show up.”

Instead of logo-heavy activations, the campaign involved what Smelser calls “symbiotic organic relationships.” Underwood appeared in GQ’s “get ready with me” content, arriving at the party in the Lexus LX 700h Ultra Luxury while being styled by Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald, the Los Angeles-based duo who also work with Met Gala co-chair Colman Domingo.

At the After Party, hosted by André 3000 and attended by Domingo, Lewis Hamilton and Zendaya, guests received boutonnieres inspired by Monica Miller’s book on Black dandyism, with understated Lexus branding quietly integrated throughout the affair. The party generated substantial social media buzz, with Lexus vehicles featured prominently in social media content from attendees and the press.

“We really want it to be subtle,” Smelser noted. “When you’re at these places, you don’t want it to come across as too corporate.”

Lexus’s approach meets the passionate pursuit of luxury through restraint rather than ostentation, whispering its excellence into the subconscious, where decisions are often made before the conscious mind can engage. It’s an approach drawn directly from two foundational Japanese principles at the core of the brand’s identity: Omotennashi, a hospitality so thoughtful it anticipates needs before they’re known, creating seemingly effortless experiences through invisible labor; and Takumi, the master craftsman’s relentless pursuit of perfection to engineer something so flawlessly functional, it ages gracefully.

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The Met Gala is a little bit celebrity pageantry, and a lot of savvy marketing built on smart, long-game cultural fluency. Here are five takeaways for CMOs who want to capture the benefits without ever stepping on the red carpet:

If you want to see how modern brands win hearts, headlines, and hashtags, look at the Met Gala. With $552 million in earned media value generated in a single night, the Gala is marketing’s most valuable proof of concept. You don’t need Anna Wintour’s contact information to make the Met Gala work for your brand, however. You only need timing, taste, and a seat in the cultural conversation. Tomorrow’s luxury consumers won’t choose brands based on product specifications alone. They’ll select partners who respect their cultural identity.