At the 2025 Met Gala, the red carpet wasn’t red at all, but midnight blue and dotted white-and-yellow blooms.

The carpet’s motif—a narcissus flower, more commonly known as a daffodil—came from artist Cy Gavin. In an interview with Vogue, Gavin says that he became fascinated with the spring perennial as it grew outside his upstate New York studio. To many, the bloom symbolizes the arrival of the new season; and since the Costume Institute fundraiser takes place on the first Monday of May, he felt a synergy existed between the two.

Then there was the flower’s scientific name, which stems from the Greek myth of Narcissus.

Gavin admits there are many interpretations of the tragedy. But he honed in on one facet—when Narcissus sees his reflection for the first time in the pool of water. “I became interested in that moment of self recognition and appreciation,” he says. Such a sentiment struck him as powerful amid this year’s exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, which examines Black dandyism and identity. “I think that it’s very easy to not see yourself clearly because of all of the kind of selves that other people tell us we are.”

“I was just kind of struck by the poignancy of that being also a sort of punishment,” he adds.

He took all of this and channeled it into a painting; “Untitled (Sky)”, where the narcissus flowers are made to resemble stars in a night sky. The painting will be projected in the Temple of Dendur during the gala. Meanwhile, set designer Derek McLane and event planner Raúl Àvila took Gavin’s motif and translated it into a sprawling carpet that covered the famous stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And although it will be removed after the Met Gala is over, its meaning lives in the thousands of photos taken by photographers as stars from Pharrell Williams to Savannah James made their way up to fashion’s biggest night.