The stakes at the 2026 Met Gala felt particularly high for Adwoa Aboah. After all, much has changed in the life of the model, activist, actor, and entrepreneur since her last appearance at the event in 2024. She’s a mother now (she even publicly revealed her baby bump on the red carpet) and a proud businesswoman, launching her instantly viral luxury bag brand, The Veil, late last year.

Communicating this new stage in her life to the world and having complete agency while doing so was, understandably, front of mind. For Aboah and stylist Malina Joseph Gilchrist, there was only ever one name in mind to help her accomplish that: Simone Rocha. Adwoa has a long-standing relationship with the London-based Irish designer, first walking her shows over a decade ago.

“It’s been such a special honor to work with Simone on this year’s Met look,” says Aboah. “She’s supported me from the beginning of my career and I’ve been a long-time admirer and avid shopper of her brand—she’s a true visionary, and also a dear friend, which makes getting to wear one of her incredible designs to the Met feel that much more personal.”

That sentiment was immediately echoed by Rocha. “It was kind of a no-brainer,” says the designer. “She’s such a fabulous girl—she’s walked a few of my shows, and there’s such an authenticity to the way that she feels, thinks, reads, and brings people together. That’s what she’s done through her work with Gurls Talk, and now she’s also got a fantastic acting career, but every step she takes feels so authentic. As soon as she asked, I said that I’d love to do it.”

Given Rocha’s intrinsic link to the art world—through the inspiration she draws from Pina Bausch and Louise Bourgeois, and past collaborations with Genieve Figgis and Faye Wei Wei—you might have expected the pair to develop a conceptual approach to the “Fashion is Art” dress code. Yet the opposite was the case: “I really felt that I didn’t want to dress her up as an untouchable thing, like an artwork,” says Rocha. “I wanted it to feel like something she would wear, but that had the unique feel of a one-off dress.”

Comprising a structured corset in lace-appliquéd canvas embroidered with delicate Florentine silver and enameled poppies and fastened over a gossamer tulle underdress, the strapless column gown struck the perfect balance between statuesque glamour and an almost dainty fragility. Down the flank, metal piercings bind lace panels, a development of a technique that debuted in Rocha’s fall 2026 show. “Adwoa loved the idea of fragility and hardness together,” she explains. “We wanted to have this real sense of material juxtaposition–strength and shine with more humble, fragile materials, like lace and tulle.”

Musing on the look’s confident sheerness, Rocha notes that “it was really about this idea of embracing the intimacy of the body—like a second skin. When we were talking about that, Adwoa was thinking about herself.” The sequin and pearl surface embellishments on the silk tulle underdress took Aboah’s own tattoos as their reference point. “I’ve trusted both Simone and Malina to push things further, and to interpret the ‘Fashion is Art’ theme in a way that felt individual, instinctive and exciting for both of us,” says Adwoa, adding, “Simone is unstoppable; there is nothing she can’t do. I feel like myself in this dress, and I have her to thank for that.”

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