It’s too early to tell if Blake Lively will be returning to those famed steps for this year’s Karl Lagerfeld-tribute Met Gala, but Lively is one of the few people alive who can say they once attended the Gala as Lagerfeld’s date. She walked the carpet hand-in-gloved-hand with Lagerfeld back in 2011 for the Alexander McQueen edition in Chanel couture. In fact, for a few years there Lively was hardly ever seen on a red carpet in anything but Chanel.
Upon first entering the scene in the mid-aughts thanks to her roles in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl, Blake Lively was immediately embraced by the public. It was decided that she was a true California girl, down to earth, most comfortable in jeans in a tee. And while all of that might have been true, there was an inner fashion fiend bubbling up within Lively, possibly influenced by the stylish Upper East Sider she portrayed on television every week. It was her role as Serena van der Woodsen that got Lively an invite into the world of fashion, as Michael Kors, who was a fan of the show, asked the actress to join him for a benefit dinner and dressed her for the occasion. Of course, the embrace of Kors led other designers to follow, and soon, Anna Wintour was knocking on Lively’s door. Suddenly, shet was attending the Met in Versace, sitting front row at fashion shows, and covering major magazines. The fashion world had officially embraced her and by 2008 she was a regular in the circuit. That’s when she met Lagerfeld, through Wintour.
Lively began to attend Chanel shows and events and wear the house’s designs on red carpets with increasing frequency. It quickly became clear that there was a connection between the starlet and Lagerfeld that went beyond business. Then, in 2011, Lively was announced the face of the brand’s campaign for their Mademoiselle bag, modeling in photos shot by Lagerfeld himself. “I had other opportunities and I would say, ‘Thank you so much, but I am holding…
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