The secrets behind Lady Gaga’s raw meat dress: what happened to it and the star who kept the bag

It was September 2010 and the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) was about to welcome some of the biggest stars in the industry, when Lady Gaga appeared before the cameras of the world with a controversial outfit that would be marked in the history of fashion. It was a stunning dress. raw red meat and a matching bag that, after a decade, continues to be talked about.

And it is that, although over the years the interpreter of hits like Bad Romance, Telephone, Just Dance either rain on me It has been characterized for being, in addition to being a singer and actress, an icon in fashion, it was on that occasion when the famous American completely stole the attention of the public and generated a debate that continues to this day.

It should be noted that this was not the first time that Gaga appeared with an outfit made up of that style, since a few days before the famous one appeared at the 2010 VMAs, some photographs taken by Terry Richardson began to circulate worldwide. They were the images that made up the cover of Vogue Men Japanwhere The singer posed with a “meat” bikini.

But the moment that blew up the audience happened from the red carpet of the already renowned award ceremony, where Lady Gaga stole all eyes with the outfit designed by Franc Fernández. From that moment the positions were divided and both associations in favor of animals, as netizens and artists began to ask for explanations about the decision to create a dress like that.

“Lady Gaga’s job is to do quirky things and this certainly qualifies as such, as meat is something you’d want to avoid putting on or in your body… No matter how gorgeous the image is, the meat of a tortured animal is the meat of a tortured animal…”, said at the time Ingrid Newkirk, president of the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to New YorkDaily News.

Also, in 2019 billie eilish and his older brother Finneas O’Cornell reacted during an interview with Variety on the meat dress. This, because the singer of Bad Guy He confessed that when he was younger he only liked to see the awards for the outfits of the famous, before this, his brother asked him about the controversial look of Lady Gaga in 2010, to which the young vegetarian simply said: “yikes (How horrible/Oh my god)”.

On the other hand, someone who was delighted with the dress from the beginning was Cherwho did not hesitate during the award ceremony to hold the bag of meat and who later took advantage of his social networks to flatter Lady Gaga’s scandalous look.

“The way it was cut and how it fit her body was AMAZING! The meat bag was great! As a piece of art it was amazing! No moral judgement!”, the singer sentenced at that time.

There have been many statements that Lady Gaga has given over the years regarding the unforgettable look she used during the 2010 VMAs. Even one of her first positions emerged shortly after the harsh criticism issued by the PETA association and there , the famous clarified that her decision to use that look It was a political position.

“If we don’t fight for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights, we will soon have few like the flesh on our bones.”Lady Gaga said during a chat with Ellen DeGeneres in 2010 and added: “I am not a piece of meat”.

It was in a recent interview with Vogue, where the protagonist of House of Gucci finally revealed how the idea for the look originated.

“The meat dress was the idea of ​​Val Garland, the makeup artist. We had worked together for a while and she told me something that happened to her. She went to a party dressed in sausages and I thought it was quite funny, I told her: ‘So that nobody approaches you at a party’. I talked to my designer friends about whether we wanted to make a statement at the MTV Video Music Awards themselves. and we did because at that time they wanted to revoke the policy of the Don’t ask, don’t tell (Do not ask, do not tell, the idea that prevailed in the United States armed forces for which the homosexuality of its members was not talked about) “, Gaga recalled.

Likewise, the artist pointed out that it was a collaborative work, since her work team also agreed with the idea and helped her to make the outfits.

“We decided to go with the meat dress because I thought that if you are willing to die for your country, what does it matter what you identify with? The final design is by Franc Fernández, but it was Haus of Gaga’s idea. We were backstage with Brandon Maxwell who was one of my stylists at the time, he was vegan and still helped sew all those pieces of meat to the dress, to the hat and the bag, which by the way, Cher kept”, he pointed out and added:

It smelled of meat, wearing it was very exciting, under it I had a corset that was sewn to the garment, so this was a garment, they didn’t just throw the meat on me and crossed their fingers that it would fit.

One year after the VMAs 2010, it was announced that the dress would be part of the exhibition women who rock in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located in Cleveland, United States. Given this news, doubts on the part of the public increased, since it was not understood how the meat could be preserved or if Lady Gaga had donated her outfit.

It was not until 2015 that Jun Francisco, director of collections of the museum in question, talked with mtv about it and revealed how they managed to preserve the dress.

“Just after the VMAs, the museum contacted Lady Gaga about the meat dress and the plan for the future. They agreed to send it to us, but at the time it was still raw meat. So we had to figure it out, we were going back and forth with ideas, and what we decided to do was keep it as a beef jerky. So it’s desiccated,” he commented.

In this sense, Jun confessed that the meat dress was transported in an air-conditioned truck and took great care to ensure that the humidity and temperature of the look was in optimal condition. However, Francisco pointed out that the look that was exposed was not the only one in existence, because he said that there was one before, but that one did not transcend.

“There was another meat dress in the past, but they actually left it to rot. It was not preserved at all. But this one is different, as it is now beef jerky. We’re guessing the shelf life of this dress is the shelf life of beef jerky! We’re looking forward to seeing what that’s like,” she said back then.

Regarding who was the owner of the dress, the director of collections of the museum assured that Lady Gaga was the owner and only lent them for the aforementioned exhibition.

Currently it is not known with certainty who owns the meat dress, however, in 2020 the famous reappeared on social networks using the controversial look to give a strong message regarding the presidential elections that took place in the country and from which Joe Biden was elected.

“When they announce who has won it will be very clear what this country has become. What you choose to do will affect you. And the fact is, the most critical vote right now is the one this country may never get to see: yours,” Lady Gaga said back then, as she donned some of her most famous outfits.

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