Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala outfit painted at car repair shop

By Isobel Williams

The outfit worn by Kim Kardashian at this year's Met Gala was painted by a car repair garage in Kent.

MPS Body & Paint were asked to paint an orange fiberglass breastplate for the 45-year-old to wear at the New York event — considered the biggest night in fashion.

Martyn Smith, owner of the garage in Lydd, says he was approached by outfit creators Keir Malem and Patrick Whitaker having sprayed their cars in the past.

The 55-year-old says that he was told it was for a famous person and needed completing urgently — but he didn’t know who until collection and was sworn to secrecy.

After finding out that it was for Kim, Smith says they still were never told where she would be wearing it — if at all — until he saw the photos from Monday's, May 4, event.

He said: “I repaired a car for a couple of guys once with no idea who they were and a few years later they needed something paint sprayed so they thought of me.

“I didn’t stay up to watch the Met Gala because I had no idea that she would even be wearing it. When I saw that she did it was an amazing thing.

“People have started calling me a celebrity. They have been taking the mickey and asking for my autograph. I never thought any of this would happen.”

Smith says he was approached about the piece two-and-a-half weeks ago, and only had a day to turn it around, completing some filler and prep work before painting it.

The shop staff had been speculating on who they thought it was for, but based on the style they had guessed it was for Madonna.

Smith, who started his shop 16 years ago, says he didn’t really know who Kim Kardashian was, and that he charged the designers the same he would any customer.

He added: “I don’t follow any of this type of thing so I had no idea.

“It was fairly straightforward to do. I just made it perfect, and it came out so well. It looked stunning when it was finished and it still does now.

“When I first posted I think a lot of people didn’t believe me, they thought I was pranking them.

“I will welcome anything else like that in the future. If there were more that would be great but I don’t know many people who have got a breastplate really.”

His sister Nicki Hill, 50, who works in the office, says that she had stayed up late with her daughter to watch the Met Gala with no idea that their piece would be featured.

She said: “My daughter stayed up to watch the Met Gala so we watched it together. She knew we had done a breastplate but she didn’t know who it was for and she is quite a fan.

“She started jumping up and down and squealing. That was how we realized it was used.

“We were really over the moon that she went for the orange breastplate. She looked stunning, absolutely amazing. The color was spot on, it was just so her.

“We figured it would just be used in a discreet ball or something not a glamorous event like the Met Gala. We were really taken back by it.”

The outfit, created with pop artist Allen Jones, was molded from Jones's 1969 sculpture Hatstand to fit the theme Costume Art.

Hill says that they had originally asked for the piece to be a hot metallic pink, but that they later shifted to orange.

The company has been asked to spray-paint airplanes, boats, and furniture previously but never any clothing, especially not on this scale.

She said: “This doesn’t happen every day. It just shows how a little small-time business can be a part of something massive along the line and not really know how sensational it is.”