Shock and awe! Florence Pugh unveiled a major hair transformation at the 2023 Met Gala.
The 27-year-old actress graced the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 1, with a shaved head. Her surprising buzzcut was colored jet black and was topped off with a feathered headdress. Of the chop, Pugh told reporters, “Unbelievable. I’m shooting a movie called We Live in Time, and it was required for the job that I happily wanted to do … and I thought what is a better way to release it to the world than the Met Gala.”
Pugh teamed the hair makeover with a plunging white gown from Valentino. The look fit the “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” theme as it featured a dark bow at the center, a nod to the late designer’s love of the accessory. The Don’t Worry Darling star completed the ensemble with stacks of diamond bracelets, pearl-drop earrings and almond-shaped nails.
For glam, the U.K. native opted for heavy eye makeup, bronze cheeks and a soft pink lip.
Pugh teased her Met Gala look on Wednesday, April 26, after being announced as the newest Valentino ambassador. “It’s big, but we like big, don’t we?” she said of her outfit in an interview with The New York Times.
Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli appeared alongside Pugh in the Times interview and opened up about why the fashion house felt the Hawkeye actress should serve as the face. Piccioli explained that he “wanted to talk” to Pugh after she experienced backlash for attending the luxury label’s Haute Couture fashion show in July 2022, wearing a dress that exposed her nipples.
“The statement was the perfect one to embody the idea I was talking about months ago, about not having canons of beauty — but being unique and different and diverse, showing yourself in a fierce way,” Piccioli told the newspaper. “Florence was just asking for respect about a choice, which is exactly what I’m saying when I do my collection.”
The Lady Macbeth star echoed similar sentiments, telling the outlet, “So, we had this FaceTime, and at the end, we both said it feels like we’ve been mates for decades. Now, we send each other pictures of each other on Instagram a lot. He’s become best friends with my dad. We’re completely in each other’s lives.”
Pugh also gushed about her new gig via Instagram last week, sharing images of herself posing with the brand’s Rockstud handbag in a new campaign. “As you can see … I’m pretty ecstatic to announce that my @MaisonValentino campaign is here,” Pugh wrote alongside the snap.
