Attention all brides and fans of minimalistic nail designs: Laufey's Met Gala manicure will serve as your new inspiration.

      We turn to Icelandic artist Laufey for various reasons: her fresh jazz-influenced pop tracks, her laid-back yet feminine fashion sense, and her understated beauty looks. Fortunately, she showcased the latter at the 2026 Met Gala, where she elegantly made her way onto the mossy carpet before New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art dressed in a custom Tory Burch gown, complemented by a delicate pouch purse and a wedding-inspired manicure.

      This was not the first collaboration between Laufey and celebrity nail artist Yoko Sakakura. They recently joined forces for Laufey's much-discussed Madwoman music video, which featured a star-studded ensemble including Hudson Williams from Heated Rivalry, Lola Tung, Olympian Alysa Liu, and Megan Skiendiel from Katseye. Sakakura shared exclusively with Who What Wear that they always deliberate over nail designs ahead of time instead of making spontaneous decisions on the day. “She enjoys discussing nail concepts with her sister, Junia [Lin],” Sakakura revealed to WWW. For the Met, this resulted in a team effort.

      Their discussions revolved around Laufey's dress, which was an ivory column gown adorned with small, flower-shaped sequins punctuated with tiny pearls in the center. An article in Allure noted that the gown's silhouette draws inspiration from her childhood instrument, the cello, reflecting its curvature and form. The cello is said to resemble the female voice in sound as well as the female physique, perfectly aligning with Laufey's personal connection to the Costume Art theme.

      The evening's most striking beauty looks subtly referenced the fashion choices of each attendee, and Sakakura’s work was no different. She began with a pearly white gel polish (Aprés’ Astral Gel Couleur in Balance) to complement the dress's swan-colored hue. Following that, she added trendy accents. “For this particular look, I crafted small flowers to echo the details of her gown,” the nail artist explained. The request was for these 3D decals—a style seen on celebrities like Margot Robbie and Kylie Jenner—to be made of sequins to align with the embellishments on the Tory Burch gown.

      Sakakura meticulously arranged clusters of five to six holographic white sequins, each with a small pearl center. She reassured that achieving this look at home is quite feasible with some patience. “This look is very easy to recreate,” the nail artist stated. “Just add five circular sequins, arrange them like flower petals, place a tiny pearl in the center, and let it dry (if using polish) or cure [if using gel] to secure the design.”

      Sakakura noted that this design is more editorial thanks to the 3D flowers, although she finds the use of small sequins, particularly holographic ones, very fashionable for nail art in 2026. The arrangement feels deliberate, with some nails remaining simple to highlight the shimmering white polish, while one or two accent fingers feature the lovely blooms. Though this design would be beautiful on long nails during wedding season, we particularly appreciate how each flower accentuates Laufey's short nails. “Laufey prefers her nails natural and short because she plays instruments,” Sakakura explained.

      Below, find every product used, along with a selection of similar polishes, decals, and press-ons to help you recreate Laufey's stunning Met Gala manicure at home.