Kim Kardashian’s orange breastplate creation stole the show at this year’s Met Gala – but it wouldn’t have been possible without a little help from a bodyshop in Lydd
Kim Kardashian instantly turned heads as she strutted down the red carpet at Monday night’s Met Gala in New York – wearing a metallic orange fibreglass breastplate.
And it was none other than the owner of an auto repair shop in Kent that put the final touches to the 45-year-old’s dazzling look on the night.
MPS Body & Paint in Lydd painted the breastplate for the reality star before she attended what is widely dubbed the biggest fashion night of the year.
Martyn Smith, owner of the garage, says he was approached by outfit creators Keir Malem and Patrick Whitaker, having sprayed their cars in the past.
The 55-year-old, who says the high profile job was completed in 24 hours, was told it was for a ‘famous person’ and needed completing urgently – but he didn’t know who until collection, and was sworn to the utmost secrecy.
The bodyshop was called on after its previous work on a car for Keir Malem and Patrick Whitaker, who created the outfit with pop artist Allen Jones.
“I’d repaired and painted their car for them,” Smith told the BBC, adding, “They turned up here one day, asked me if I would basically paint this.”
He said, “I had 24 hours to do it and it meant I had to drop some work to do it, but I thought what an honour and a pleasure, as well as a job, to do it.”
According to the artists, known jointly as Whitaker Malem, the breastplate was moulded from Jones’s 1969 sculpture Hatstand, the 88-year-old artist painting the attached leather skirt.
They said Kardashian, who is currently dating British Formula 1 ace F1 Lewis Hamilton, made two trips to England to have the item fitted, the whole outfit taking three weeks in total to complete.
Malem, himself from Lydd, said of the star, “She phoned us herself, we’ve only ever dealt with her and she’s very, very amenable,” he said.
The bodyshop owner admitted he had an early night, so missed the Met Gala red carpet coverage on TV – but realised it had all gone ‘everywhere’ the next morning.
“She wore it fantastically well,” he told the BBC. “I thought it looked just as good on her as it did the day I finished it, if not better.”
In a Vogue livestream, Kardashian revealed why she chose the striking look: “One of my favourite artists, Allen Jones. We took his body plates that he started making in the 60s. This is actually a mould from a model in the 60s… we all worked together.”
Unsurprisingly, it’s not the first time Kardashian has turned heads, for better or worse, at the star-studded Met Gala.
Previous show-stopping looks include the black 2021 Balenciaga number which saw her entire body covered up and her divisive 2022 choice, which saw her step out in Marilyn Monroe’s actual, iconic Jean Louis gown.
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