On September 12, 2010, American singer Lady Gaga wore a dress to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards made entirely out of raw beef. Designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, the dress was condemned by animal rights groups, while named by Time as the top fashion statement of 2010. The press speculated on the originality of the idea, with comparisons made to similar images found in art and popular culture. As with her other dresses, it was archived but went on display in 2011 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after being preserved by taxidermists as a type of jerky. Following this, the dress was then transferred to the Newseum in Washington, D.C.. As of 2019, the dress is displayed in Las Vegas at the Haus of Gaga museum inside the Park MGM casino. Gaga explained following the awards ceremony that the dress was a statement about one's need to fight for what one believes in and highlighted her opposition to the United States Armed Forces' "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Background Gaga was the most nominated artist at 2010's Video Music Awards with a record thirteen nominations, including two nods for Video of the Year (the first female artist to achieve this feat). She arrived in an Alexander McQueen dress and armadillo shoes and changed into a Giorgio Armani number before donning her third and final outfit of the evening: a dress, hat, boots, and purse made of raw meat. Gaga wore the meat dress to accept her Video of the Year trophy for "Bad Romance"; as she accepted the award from presenter Cher, she joked, "I never thought I'd be asking Cher to hold my meat purse." Gaga continued to wear the dress after the awards show for press photos and an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Gaga explained her interpretation of the dress to DeGeneres, stating, "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights[,] pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones." DeGeneres, who was vegan at the time, later wrote, "Now, I love Lady Gaga, but as someone who also loves animals it was really difficult for me to sit next to Lady Gaga while she was wearing that outfit, but it did make me ask myself, 'What's the difference between her outfit and an outfit made of leather?'"
Design
Fernandez was approached by fellow designer and stylist Formichetti to produce the dress, with it planned out over the course of a week, Formichetti having styled the look. The dress was asymmetrical, with a cowled neck. Fernandez specifically chose cuts to ensure that the dress kept well. Flank steak was chosen as the material to use, with the meat coming from his family butcher. The dress required Gaga to be stitched into the outfit backstage. Fernandez said of his design, "I knew the dress would be one of other amazing pieces Gaga wore that night. It's very well made and looked great on her, on and off camera. We didn't get a chance to have a fitting. The only time she had it on was for the VMAs. Only when I saw it in the monitor did I know it would be big." Fernandez reporting Gaga's opinion in an interview said that Gaga herself said it smelled good, because it smelled like meat. The designer talked of what was to happen to the dress after the awards show, "The dress will be put in an archive with all of her dresses. The Gaga Archives, I suppose. It won't last, that's the beauty of it. When it is brought out again, hopefully it will be in a retrospective, and it will be a different dress, which is the best thing. I like the idea of it changing and evolving into something else". He later explained that the dress would be preserved and made into a type of jerky before being archived. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid $6,000 to taxidermist Sergio Vigilato to preserve the dress. It had been frozen following the two television appearances, although Vigilato discovered signs of decomposition on the dress which had occurred prior to its being frozen, and noted it was emitting an odor once it was defrosted. It was treated with bleach, formaldehyde and detergent to kill any bacteria, and was reconditioned by being dyed dark red once it was preserved so to give it the same appearance as when first worn. However, after the preservation there were several pieces of beef left over and not included in the reworked dress. Preceding Fernandez's creation, Gaga had worn a bikini made of meat on the front cover of the Japanese edition of Vogue. She later wore a faux-meat dress while performing the songs "Americano" and "Poker Face" during her Born This Way Ball concert tour (2012–2013).
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