Kim Kardashian wore an incredible orange sculpted fembot creation to the Met Gala in New York on Monday.
The 45-year-old selected the look by British artist Allen Jones and Whitaker Malem and looked incredible as she posed on the steps of the MoMa.
The breastplate was actually spray painted in a Kent car bodyshop called MPS Body And Paint by owner Martyn Smith who was sworn to secrecy.
Martyn, 55, said he was approached by Malem and Whitaker to paint the orange fibreglass piece, having sprayed their cars in the past.
He told the BBC: ‘I’d repaired and painted their car for them. They turned up here one day, asked me if I would basically paint this.
Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala breastplate was made in a Kent car garage by a spray painter called Martyn who was sworn to secrecy
Kim, 45, looked incredible in the orange metallic bodysuit by British artist Allen Jones and Whitaker Malem when she arrived at the Met Gala in New York on Monday
Martyn, 55, said he was approached by Keir Malem and Patrick Whitaker to paint the orange fibreglass breastplate, having sprayed their cars in the past’
‘I had 24 hours to do it in and it meant I had to drop some work to do it, but I thought what an honour and a pleasure, as well as a job, to do it.’
He said he was ‘guessing’ who it was for, but was only told when the designers came to collect it and then ‘sworn to secrecy’.
The breastplate was moulded from Jones’s 1969 sculpture Hatstand, with the artist, 88, painting the attached leather skirt.
Leather material fell down behind her and contained hues of both tan and vibrant orange.
Kim had travelled to England twice for fittings and the whole ensemble took three weeks to complete – and she was so delighted with the outcome she phoned them personally.
Martyn said: ‘She phoned us herself, we’ve only ever dealt with her and she’s very, very amenable. She wore it fantastically well. I thought it looked just as good on her as it did the day I finished it, if not better.’
Kim’s outfit took inspiration from Jones’ poster for the 1975 French erotic film Maîtresse and was controversial in both the U.S. and U.K. upon its release.
He said: ‘I’d repaired and painted their car for them. They turned up here one day, asked me if I would basically paint this. I had 24 hours to do it in and it meant I had to drop some work to do it, but I thought what an honour and a pleasure, as well as a job, to do it.’
He said he was ‘guessing’ who it was for, but was only told when the designers came to collect it and then ‘sworn to secrecy’
The breastplate was moulded from Jones’s 1969 sculpture Hatstand, with the artist, 88, painting the attached leather skirt
Martyn said: ‘Kim phoned us herself, we’ve only ever dealt with her and she’s very, very amenable. She wore it fantastically well. I thought it looked just as good on her as it did the day I finished it, if not better’
Kim travelled to England twice for fittings and the whole ensemble took three weeks to complete
Martyn pictured with some of the bikes he typically works with in his bodyshop career
He operates from this venue in Lydd in Kent
The project received an X rating in the United States.
The premise is: ‘A common thief breaks into the home of a professional dominatrix. After he begins to help her “train” her clients, he falls in love with her,’ per IMDB.
Kardashian jumped to her Instagram stories to also share a similar poster and other artwork by Jones ahead of her Met Gala appearance.
And on her main page, she uploaded a series of photos as she modelled the outfit as well as additional sculpted pieces from Jones and Malem.
Celebrities have collaborated with the British artist in the past, such as Kate Moss who also modelled a full body, orange metallic piece called Body Armour in 2013.
The look was first created by Jones in 1978 for an unreleased movie.
During an interview with Vogue, Kardashian opened up about how her collaboration with the artist for the Met Gala came to be.
‘I have seen his work referenced so many times by people in fashion, and I’ve always been a big admirer of his work.’
The mother-of-four continued, ‘Allen Jones would be iconic: Sexy. Classic. Cool. Innovative.’
