Tyla Shimmers in a Gold-Dusted Gown at the 2024 Met Gala

Clutching a sand-filled hourglass in one hand like the Goddess of Time herself, “Water” singer (and ELLE Women in Music honoree) Tyla ascended the Met Gala carpet steps this without touching the ground. As Variety captured on video, several men helped lift the pop star from step to step as she progressed through the main entrance, pausing at intervals to pose for the cameras. Her look deserved the extra TLC: Tyla wore a textured beige-gold strapless Balmain gown accessorized with the aforementioned hourglass, her shoulder drenched in a spray of glittering dust.

During an interview with Vogue’s red carpet correspondent, La La Anthony, Tyla revealed that her dress was inspired by “the sands of time,” and that she and her design team “really wanted something out of the box this year.” Tonight marks her debut at the Met Gala, and as she told Anthony, laughing, “It feels amazing. I’m so excited to go inside and see all the pictures when I go home.”

In her Women in Music interview with ELLE, Tyla also shared that “it’s a flex right now to be a woman in [the music industry] because we are killing it everywhere. We really are taking up space.” She continued, “My parents always told me that I hated losing. Whenever I wanted something, I found a way to get it. I feel like it’s in me, but also I’ve just always wanted to see an African pop star. What the heck? I want to see an African on the biggest stages. I want to see them winning awards next to the A-listers.”