Tyla gets carried up the 2024 Met Gala steps in her Balmain sand dress

Making an entrance at the Met Gala isn’t always straightforward. For Tyla, a small team was required when it came to ascending The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s famous steps at her inaugural gala.

While many of the 2024 attendees interpreted ‘The Garden of Time’ dress code by wearing botanical prints, the South African singer and songwriter embraced the passage of time in a Balmain dress made of sand.

As video footage from the event shows, the one-of-a-kind gown was so fragile that Tyla had to be lifted up the stairs by two people, while others helped to carry the long cascading train.

The strapless design, by Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing, was sculpted to fit Tyla using an impressive appliqué method, according to a post on the brand’s Instagram page.

“Transforming the essence of time embodied by the simple hourglass, the Balmain Atelier devised a unique appliqué technique for the gown, which features sand and micro crystal studs pressed directly onto fabric shaped by a plaster cast of the star’s own bodice,” the post explained.

To further enhance the ephemeral theme, Tyla carried Balmain’s hourglass clutch, with grains of sand carefully placed on her shoulders and arms. Her other accessories included a gold choker necklace, statement rings and drop earrings featuring a turquoise stone.

When asked by E! News how she was planning on sitting down for dinner, Tyla was more concerned about the dress itself. “Who knows? They’ll figure it out,” she replied. “Who cares guys? I look cute.”

A video shared by Rousteing following the event showed his answer to that problem. “And what you didn’t see … inside the MET,” he said alongside the footage which showed him carefully shortening Tyla’s dress by cutting off the train. A true work of art.