This Met Gala is filled with pro athletes. Dressing them is a unique challenge

When Brittney Griner became the first WNBA player to attend the Met Gala in 2023, just months after being released from a Russian prison in a high-profile prisoner swap, she looked effortlessly cool and chic in a custom-made champagne-colored Calvin Klein suit.

Behind the look was celebrity stylist Courtney Mays, who has dressed some of sports' biggest stars for more than a decade. Putting together a glamorous gala look for any celebrity is a tall task, but, when working with the unique proportions of professional athletes — Griner is 6-foot-9 — the job becomes much more complicated.

Couple that with working under the constraints put forth by Vogue editor Anna Wintour: the Met Gala chair provides a list of designers she envisions the guest in — then it’s up to the stylist to put together a look within those parameters.

"It was a learning experience for me," Mays said. "I had a voice in that world, in a way, but also when Anna says: ‘I want you to wear this,’ you kind of have to go along with it."

Mays and the team pulled Griner's look together in three weeks, flying to Phoenix once a week for "long and intense" fittings with several tailors. Then Mays tapped Los Angeles shoemaker George Esquivel, who had previously made shoes for NBA stars Kevin Love and DeAndre Jordan, to craft a custom men's size 18 pair for Griner.

Over the last few years, more and more athletes have received coveted invites to the annual fundraiser. This year, sports are at the forefront of the gala with Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton as a co-chair, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as an honorary chair and several other athletes on the host committee.

Earlier this year, the Met announced it would revive a host committee for the evening, which will