Met Gala photos: Outside the Mark Hotel, the carpet before the carpet

NEW YORK (AP) — Before guests make it to the Met Gala, there are the red carpets before the carpet — otherwise known as the parade of departures from the various New York hotels that host gala guests and their teams for preparations before fashion's big night.

The Mark Hotel is perhaps the best-known pre-gala host. Located a handful of blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the hotel has its own press area and accompanying fan frenzy. Fans pack the sidewalk across the street, craning over barricades to catch a glimpse of attendees climbing into waiting sprinter vans.

Some attendees embrace the hotel exit as the debut of their looks; others choose to shield themselves from onlookers, saving their big reveal for the Met steps.

La La Anthony, a host of Vogue’s livestream, was the first to leave the Mark on Monday, wearing Alexander McQueen with petal-like red detailing in reference to the night's dress-code “The Garden of Time.”

The gala's creative advisers, director Baz Luhrmann and his designer wife, Catherine Martin, exited soon after, both in green Miu Miu.

Jaden Smith made two appearances on the Mark's carpet: When he arrived off the street at 5:36 p.m., and when he departed alongside his sister, Willow Smith, at 6:59 p.m. Both wore jackets: Jaden's by Thom Browne and Willow's by Dior Haute Couture.

After hiding her feline look under umbrellas at the Mark last year, Doja Cat played into the moment this year. The singer donned white towels as she made her way to her car — where she changed into the wet T-shirt dress she wore on the carpet. On the Met steps, she told The Associated Press that the look referenced cotton and the timeless look of a white tee.

Serena Williams and Michelle Yeoh both embraced metallics, with Williams in gold and Yeoh in softened silver.

Florals were certainly in. Colman Domingo carried a bouquet of (real) white calla lilies. Usher posed with a (fake) red rose.

This time, it was Cardi B who employed the Mark’s umbrellas. Moments after a large bag was carried out by three people (filled, apparently, with the black tulle of her sprawling skirt), she shuffled out surrounded by an umbrella-wielding entourage.

Kylie Jenner didn't use umbrellas, but left quickly, wrapped in a floor-length coat that covered her pale pink Oscar de la Renta gown.

Models Karlie Kloss, Anok Yai and Imaan Hammam made the Mark’s carpet their runway as they took turns posing in their glittering Swarovski looks. Swarovski's creative director, Giovanna Engelbert, joined them.

Janelle Monáe took time to dance in her beaded Vera Wang gown.

Model and influencer Wisdom Kaye posed in a red hat and trench coat by Robert Wun.

“Am I staring ‘camp’ right in the eye?” Kaye asked as photographers directed him on the carpet, referencing a Met Gala meme born courtesy Kloss at the Mark in 2019.