After a socially distanced MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) last year, it’s safe to say that everyone was expecting the drama to return with a vengeance on the red carpet, at the annual awards show held earlier this morning (Singapore time) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
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After all, the VMAs have a reputation for its over-the-top fashion moments, campy on-stage antics and jaw-dropping (cue Britney’s I’m A Slave 4 U and Madonna’s Like A Virgin performances for proof).
And boy, did the stars not disappoint – especially when it came to the male attendees who eschewed gender norms with their sartorial choices.

Machine Gun Kelly accepted the Best Alternative award for My Ex’s Best Friend in sequinned look from the Valentino Haute Couture Fall/Winter collection.
There was Filipino YouTube star and influencer Bretman Rock who wore the exact Roberto Cavalli dress that Aaliyah donned when she snagged her Moon Man in 2000 for Best Female Video for her hit song Try Again.
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Singer Troye Sivan had on Fendi’s cropped shorts suit from the Spring/Summer 2022 menswear collection, while the rapper Saint Jhn rocked a salmon tweed pantsuit from Chanel from the 2020 Metiers d’Art collection, complete with matching double-C sneakers.
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Other celebrities who made an entrance with gender-bending looks were rapper Lil Nas X who turned up in an off-shoulder tuxedo-slash-gown hybrid by Atelier Versace. Machine Gun Kelly was also in couture – dressed in a fiery sequinned number from the recent Venice Alta Satoria 2021 show.
Ahead, we count the many ways the boys stole the show.