The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards aired on Aug. 28, and while I didn’t watch them live, I enthusiastically perused the red carpet photos the next morning.
This awards show is always the event where artists tend to take a fun, even wacky approach to fashion (remember Lady Gaga’s meat dress? Bananas). So it wasn’t any surprise to see a number of extravagantly out-there styles. But weirdly, many looks did seem to share a common theme—gothic chic.
While color splashed here and there, some of the evening’s most memorable looks were darkly dramatic, many attendees opting for all-black ensembles. There was Lizzo, in a voluminous Jean Paul Gaultier by Glenn Martens creation, rocking blue lips and ears full of jewelry by Jennifer Fisher. Sofia Carson looked the part of divinely dark bride in a black Carolina Herrera dress and head covering and David Yurman earrings. Lil Nas X was showstopping in a towering headpiece and feathered and black sequined pant-cage (for lack of better term, though I think it suits) by the statement-making Harris Reed. Musician Nessa was vampiric in a mini corset dress by Dreaming Eli bestowed with a pearl belt dangling crucifixes by Tiger Potion. See also: Avril Lavigne, Lili Reinhart, Dixie D’Amelio, Blackbear, Dove Cameron, and the entire Måneskin crew, and you’ll likely agree that goth was in for one of the music industry’s big nights.
The VMAs red carpet isn’t real life, but that doesn’t mean some of its elements aren’t adaptable to every day. And, in fact, gothic chic has been trending in 2022—Pinterest’s top wedding trends for the year pointed to vampire weddings and gothic decor—so this reinforces a deeper dive into the trend.
I plan to cover this further in the future and predict plenty of blackened metals, rubies, and black diamonds and onyx—probably spikes and crosses too. But in light of Sunday’s looks, this necklace by Beirut-based jewelry brand Yessayan strikes the balance between rock and roll and luxury, as at home on the red carpet as it would be in the office.
A geometric combination of rose gold and white gold pyramids runs together on this two-tone beauty, set with just under five and a half carats of diamonds. The pyramid motif is popular in both goth and rock-influenced styles, often studding denim and black leather, and the Okre, as it has been named, wears it beautifully.
For those wanting to embrace the spirit of the trend, Yessayan has cross necklaces, too, in the same two-tone look that really seems to hit the spot right now.
Top: Okre pyramid necklace in 18k white and rose gold with 5.45 cts. t.w. diamonds, $13,750; Yessayan
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