We Speak Fashion

Beyoncé Returns to the Met Gala After a Decade — in a Diamond Skeleton Gown

Published

6 months ago

May 5, 2026

A decade after her last appearance, Beyoncé returned to the Met Gala — and closed the carpet. The 2026 Costume Institute Benefit took place Monday, May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where Beyoncé served as a co-chair alongside Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as honorary chairs. Having last attended in 2016, she was among the last to arrive on the steps, and her entrance, in a gown designed by Olivier Rousteing, immediately became the night’s defining image.

The look answered the evening’s dress code — “Fashion Is Art,” tied to the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “Costume Art” — with total literalism. Rousteing designed a sheer gown covered in diamonds outlining a skeleton: USA Today described a shimmery silver dress with a crystallized, sculpted silhouette creating a skeletal overlay, finished with a spiked headpiece and a massive feathery train, while Rolling Stone noted the feathered coat with a long train worn over the gown. The body was the canvas, and the diamonds drew its structure.

The arrival doubled as a family moment: Beyoncé walked the steps with her husband Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy. The framing mattered because the exhibition itself — which opened May 10 — pairs garments with artworks to explore the relationship between clothing and the body. No look at the gala engaged that premise more directly than a gown that turned the dressed body into the artwork on display.

Both Rolling Stone and USA Today singled the look out as the definitive one of the night — the most literal and most photographed reading of the theme. The evening’s other headline interpretation, Sabrina Carpenter’s Dior dress made from actual film strips of the 1954 film Sabrina, worked by reference; Beyoncé’s worked by anatomy. Ten years away from fashion’s biggest night, she returned as its co-chair and its closing argument.

We Speak Fashion

L’Oréal Powers Past the Beauty Market: €35.33 Billion in Nine Months as Salon and Derm Brands Lead

Published

4 days ago

October 22, 2026

We Speak Media

The world’s largest beauty company is growing faster than the market it leads. L’Oréal reported sales of €35.33 billion for the first nine months of 2026, up 6.9% like-for-like and 7.7% as reported, in a statement released on October 22. Third-quarter sales reached €11.56 billion, up 7.2% like-for-like.

CEO Nicolas Hieronimus called it “an exceptional third quarter,” saying the global beauty market “once again proved its resilience” and that L’Oréal “continued to significantly outpace it” — company commentary put the wider market’s growth at roughly 5% for the quarter.

The quarter’s heavy lifting came from the group’s two professional-facing divisions. Professional Products — home to Kérastase, Redken and L’Oréal Professionnel — sold €1,469.1 million in Q3, up 12.1% like-for-like, while Dermatological Beauty (La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals) sold €1,871.6 million, up 12.2%. L’Oréal Luxe added €4,176.6 million (+6.4%) and Consumer Products €4,044.3 million (+4.3%), as fragrances and haircare drove growth, skincare continued to accelerate, and e-commerce sales grew around 17% — well ahead of the online beauty market.

The brand highlights told the same story. Kérastase grew double-digit, powered by Gloss Absolu, Genesis and Chronologiste; La Roche-Posay launched Mela B3 Double-Dose and Anthelios UV Air; Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre and MYSLF fragrances grew double-digit; and the newly acquired fragrance house Creed performed strongly.

Regionally, SAPMENA-SSA was the standout at +19.2% like-for-like, followed by Europe at +9.9% and North Asia at +7.8%; North America grew 2.2% (5.6% adjusted), and Latin America was the only region to decline, down 1.0%. During the period L’Oréal also closed its acquisition of a majority stake in Innovist, a digital-first Indian personal care house of brands — a results statement that underlines a simple point: at €35 billion in nine months, L’Oréal is not just leading the beauty business, it is widening the gap.