The Biggest Beauty Trend on the Met Gala Red Carpet This Year? Hair Structures

Celebrities finally made their return to the Met Gala on Sept. 13 after a short hiatus, and considering all of the show-stopping beauty looks that took over the red carpet upon their arrivals, we'd say that the year-long wait was well worth it. The official theme, "In America," was essentially a celebration of some of the biggest fashion and beauty trends America has seen to date. While many stars used this as an opportunity to wear throwback hairstyles like the flipped bob, pinup bangs, and disco hair to pay homage to specific decades, there was a surprising trend popping up all over the red carpet that left us absolutely mesmerized: hair sculptures.

On Monday night, we saw celebrities like Naomi Osaka, Gabrielle Union, and Lupita Nyong'o go extremely big (literally) with stunning architectural hairstyles that made us gasp out the second we saw them — but there are plenty more where these three came from. From Osaka's braided updo to Nyong'o's gravity-defying Afro, read ahead to check out some of our favorite structured hairstyles from the 2021 Met Gala.