The breathing lessons and secrets of the corset that cinched Kim into a 19inch human hourglass at the Met Gala

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute Benefit – also known as the Met Ball – is billed as the best-dressed night of the year, a $75,000 (£60,000) per ticket extravaganza that sees the great, the good and the gorgeous come together to outdo each other on the red carpet.

The only priority is to grab attention. And if there's one person who has mastered the art of that, it's Kim Kardashian.

When she appeared on the red carpet on Monday evening in a metallic silver Maison Margiela gown designed by John Galliano, with a bobbled grey shrug thrown over her shoulders, the internet swiftly opined that granny wanted her cardi back.

Kim Kardashian shocked onlookers in her tiny corset dress from Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

The mother of four, once famous for her curvaceous figure, displayed an impossibly slim waist

'It's the wildest night of my life in a garden and I just ran out and grabbed my boyfriend's sweater and threw it on… my hair's all messed up,' is how Kim somewhat bizarrely explained her interpretation of host Dame Anna Wintour's dress code: 'The Garden Of Time.'

Far more jarring than the cardigan, however, was Kim's impossibly tiny waist. Cinched to such narrow proportions, she brought new meaning to the term 'speaking breathlessly'. Not even weight-loss jab Ozempic could compete with the waist-thinning capabilities of her corseted gown.

Based on an archive design from Galliano's 1997 'Mata Hari' couture collection for Christian Dior (the house Galliano helmed between 1996 and 2011), the gown was constructed with a new 'filigrading' technique, connecting silver-plated lace with chain links and embellishing it with crystals. The gown took more than 1,000 hours to make.

The corseted gown, which took more than a thousand hours to make, was constructed using a process known as 'filigrading', using silver-plated lace connected with chain links and embellished with crystals

Kim Kardashian wore another corseted dress, by Thierry Mugler, at 2019's Met Gala

While the 1997 original was designed to look like an elegant version of a suit of armour, and appeared on the catwalk in a shorter style without a corset, this presumably didn't provide enough of a 'wow' moment for Kim. By adding a wasp waist of such exceedingly small proportions – experts say around 19 inches – she ensured every eye was on her, even as she delivered a low blow to the body-positive movement.

Whether it matters that many reactions were negative – one Instagram user asked 'Where did you put all your internal organs?' – is a moot point for Kim, a woman who has form when it comes to suffering for her art.

At 2022's Met Gala, she received criticism for embarking on a strict weight-loss programme in order to fit into a dress originally worn by Marilyn Monroe. At 2019's Met Gala, she wore a corset under her Thierry Mugler gown, later revealing she had taken a course of 'corset breathing lessons' from one of the most famous corsetiers in the world, Mark Erskine-Pullin, better known as 'Mr Pearl'.

Anya Taylor-Joy sparked similar controversy earlier this year with this post of her tiny-waisted figure on Instagram

Kim's sister Kylie Jenner looked elegant in a cream-colored Oscar de la Renta gown with a strapless, bullet bra-inspired bodice and fluffy train

While fashion houses don't release the names of every team member involved in creating a look, as a frequent collaborator with Galliano, it's almost certain Mr Pearl created the silver corset worn under Kardashian's Margiela gown.

Its handspan waist recalls a corset worn by Anya Taylor-Joy in February, when the 28-year-old actress sparked controversy by posting a picture of herself on Instagram with a similarly tiny torso. It, too, was credited to Maison Margiela, worn as an undergarment to which Taylor-Joy added a black and gold Margiela gown.

Kim was by no means the only one, however, who went for a hyper-feminine silhouette. Everywhere you looked at this year's Met Gala there were boned corsets and hourglass figures, almost cartoonish in their oomphed-up curves.

So why this emphasis on an ultra-feminine shape? Theories abound. Some say it's the malign influence of AI, with its ability to replace models and actresses with hyper-realistic images of women who have exactly these sorts of ultra-curvaceous, unattainable bodies. No waist is too small on an AI model.

Others speculate that, in a gender-fluid world, fashion is pushing women to the very end of the spectrum, distilling femininity by reducing it to stereotypical Jessica Rabbit-style curves. Another theory is that it's simply a reaction to the surfeit of androgyny that has dominated fashion in recent times.

Whatever the motivation, the waist was everywhere at the Met Gala, even if other guests did not take the look to such extremes. Lily James chose a pink satin gown by Erdem. Zendaya looked flawless in a strapless Maison Margiela fishtail gown, and walked the red carpet a second time in vintage black Givenchy couture from 1996 – the year she was born. This was also designed by John Galliano during his short tenure at Givenchy.

But it was Kim's narrow waist that was the night's ultimate talking point – one that will also, no doubt, drive sales of Skims, her range of shapewear. As a role model, she may be highly contentious. But as a business model, she's winning the game.