Tyla Met Gala Dress Meaning: Why She Wore A Sand Dress

Tyla's dress to the 2024 Met Gala was made for her, literally. Her Balmain gown was made of sand, and sculpted to fit her body.

The dress was meant to evoke passing time, made more obvious by her hourglass handbag.

The South African singer explained told Vogue how her dress is in line the with the evening's "Garden of Time" dress code.

“I’m wearing sand, basically, the sands of time. We really wanted something out of the box for this year," she told La La Anthony on Vogue's live stream. “It feels amazing, I’m so excited to go inside and see all the pictures when I go home ... I just love the outfit and how everything turned out.”

When asked by E! News if she could sit, the 22-year-old responded with the only appropriate answer: "Who cares guys? I'm cute!"

As for whether she could walk? She definitely required some assistance. Tyla needed to be carried up different sections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's steps, with person man lifting her, and three others carrying the dress.

Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing told The Hollywood Reporter how the dress was put together.

“We molded (Tyla's) body a couple months ago. The idea was she could dress once in the dress and it would be part of the museum.”

He told Vogue more about the inspiration, and how it was meant to turn a garment of impermanence into something permanent.

"The inspiration behind this creation stemmed from a desire to redefine boundaries and transform a transient material into an everlasting masterpiece,” he told Vogue. “The idea of sculpting a garment from something as ephemeral as sand ignited my imagination and I could not be happier with the end result.”

The dress was lauded online, with fans calling the concept genius.