Usually one arrives to the Met Gala, that annual explosion of fashion and celebrity at Metropolitan Museum of Art, in an S.U.V. or town car—an UberBLACK at the least. On Monday night, Claire Danes took the bus. But with good reason. The actress made a show-stopping entrance in a whimsical sky-blue ball gown created by her longtime friend Zac Posen. The one-of-a-kind, hand-sewn creation was crafted from organza and fiber optics, which allowed the dress to light up in the dark. The high-tech garment featured a voluminous skirt, and due to the sheer size of the dress, Danes and Posen made alternate travel arrangements.

“Zac literally had a bus for me to get here, so I stood,” Danes told Vanity Fair as she escalated up the red carpet in her high-tech garment, with husband Hugh Dancy on one arm and Posen on the other arm for support. “I’m moving carefully. . . cautiously. I’m going to throw the after-party under my dress! It’s very spacious.”

Danes, along with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Amy Schumer, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Katie Holmes were just some of the 600 high-profile figures to step out at the 2016 Met Gala to celebrate this year’s Costume Institute exhibition, “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” co-chaired by Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive, and Anna Wintour. Befitting the theme, metallic, backless gowns, sequined embroidery, sheer fabrics, and, as was the case with Danes, enough L.E.D. work to warrant another Tron reboot dominated the red-carpet fashion.

Model Karolína Kurková showed up in a frock covered with flashing L.E.D. lights by Marchesa designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig. The pair collaborated with IBM’s Watson to create a “compassionate dress” that analyzed tweets and the emotions of fans interacting on social media. Each L.E.D. light embedded in Kurková’s dress would light up in different colors depending on each fan’s mood. “It’s probably one of the most creative projects we’ve done to date,” said Chapman.

Others went a more analog route. Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing was a major contributor to the metallic looks that served the evening’s theme well. Not only did he dress Cindy Crawford— who made her return to the event after a seven year absence—with shiny materials, he also designed metallic-inspired clothes for Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and the latter’s boyfriend, rapper Tyga, Kris Jenner, and Kanye West, who completed the look with a pair of silver contact lenses. When a red carpet correspondent asked about his ocular accessorizing for the night, all West offered in response was “vibes.”

The only question is: With so many Kardashians, Jenners, and their beaus wearing clothes from the same designer house, how are the clothes divvied up among the reality stars?

“It’s a dance,” matriarch Kris Jenner said of Rousteing’s regular outfitting of her extended clan. “He starts putting together some fabulous looks for each of us. Everything he does is perfect. Olivier made my dress for me. He said, ‘This will look great,’ and I’m so excited to be wearing it. It’s so comfortable. I feel lucky that the dress fits.”

Kendall Jenner rebelled in Versace for her third gala outing: “It’s all just personal preference,” she said. “Whatever we liked and felt more ourselves is what we decided to wear.”

Madonna got cheeky when she hit the red carpet in a sheer, black lace Givenchy number with the brand’s creative director, Riccardo Tisci by her side. She proudly showed off her derrière and her breasts, but placed black tape over her nipples and fingers. “I just got off tour and I was wearing Kinesiology Tape on my ankles and at one point on my knee so I decided to turn it into a costume,” the singer said. “I love that it’s light and super comfortable. It’s stretchy and easy.”

Beyoncé shut it down in a peach-colored, latex dress, also by Givenchy, happily posing for pictures, Jay Z nowhere in sight. When one reporter yelled out, “How long it took to get ready?” She replied, “It was actually a lot easier than last year.” (In 2015, Beyoncé arrived about an hour late in a floral and jeweled Givenchy gown.)

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly made her Met Gala debut in a backless, black Badgley Mischka dress adorned with gold stones and jewels. “I feel very saucy,” Kelly told V.F. about the frock she picked out three days prior. “I wanted to wear something awesome to the Met Ball, but I still have to be able to anchor the news about Syria. So this is much as I am capable of.”

To match her gold accessories, she sported glitter in the sides of her slicked back hair.

“My hairstylist has been waiting for two years to bust this out,” she said proudly. “It’s like being a kid where you get to dress up and go over-the-top. . . Let’s just say if I wore my hair and makeup like this on the air on Fox News, it would be an immediate phone call from the second floor management team.”