Rihanna and A$AP Rocky arrived late to the Met Gala 2021 on Monday evening, but they made up for it with their eye-catching ensembles.

Rihanna returned to defend her title as Met Gala Queen, and this time she asked A$AP Rocky to accompany her as her leading man. RiRi was immaculately dressed for the night’s American Fashion theme. Rihanna donned a stunning Balenciaga black ruffle dress with a hat and Bulgari diamonds (over 267 carats!). Rocky, on the other hand, wore a patchwork, blanket-like outfit that was more colorful.

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Before officially being a relationship, the two were seen posing on the red carpet together, most notably at the 2019 Fashion Awards in London. However, this is their first public appearance after confirming their relationship in November 2020, over a year after Rihanna’s three-year romance with Hassan Jameel ended in January 2020.

The power couple were allegedly the last celebs to arrive on the red carpet at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned event.

From her papal moment at the 2018 Met Gala to her renowned, enormous Guo Pei yellow gown with its big train at the 2015 Met Gala, Rihanna has been the best dressed at the Met Gala for years.

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According to a source who spoke to PEOPLE in August, the couple’s relationship “evolved” from friendship to “solid romance.”

“This romance evolved since they were friends first. They already knew and respected each other and it has just grown from there,” the music source explained, adding that their early friendship helped them “build a great foundation.”

“They loved to laugh and have a blast together before they even dated,” the source added. “All of that makes for a solid romance now.”

Rihanna arrives at the 2015 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala benefit in honor of the museums latest exhibit China: Through the Looking Glass May 4, 2015 in New York. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

This year’s theme was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” which looked at how American fashion has changed in recent years and how politics and social justice have affected it.

Rihanna confessed to Access magazine in July 2020 that she was self-conscious about her iconic yellow ensemble that year.

That fashion moment was the result of a lot of thought: She said, “That night, the choreography of getting in the car and getting out, like we had to choreograph it,” she started. “Who sits at the door? Where does the coat go? Where do I sit?”

She went on to say that seeing what everyone else was wearing made her incredibly anxious about stepping out on the red carpet. She stated, “I remember being so scared to get out of that car because I felt like, ‘I’m doing too much.” “I was driving past the red carpet, and I was just seeing like gowns, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, like, I’m a clown. People are going to laugh at me. This is like, too much.’ I thought that. I circled like, three times, I’m not even joking, and finally, I was like, ‘Whatever, let’s go. Let’s just go. Let’s just go.’ I know. I don’t regret it,” she said, looking back on her decision.

The megastar embodied the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” theme in a custom ornate papal mitre (a ceremonial head-dress worn by bishops) worn with an opulently bejeweled, strapless mini dress and matching collared robe by Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano as an event co-chair in 2018.

Last year’s event was canceled because to the pandemic, therefore the 2021 soiree would be the first since 2019. Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, curated the show.

Tonight’s outfit adds to her illustrious fashion history.

Rihanna commanded attention on the historic Met stairs in 2017 wearing a straight-off-the-runway dress by Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo, which she paired with lace-up red shoes she reportedly remarked took “an hour to get into.”

All attendees to the Met Gala must be vaccinated and wear a mask, according to the event organizers.

“Currently, all attendees at The Met Gala on Sept. 13 must provide proof of full vaccination and will also be expected to wear masks indoors except when eating or drinking,” a spokesperson for The Met confirmed to PEOPLE. “We will update these guidelines as needed.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Kate Hudson, Timothée Chalamet, and Emma Raducanu were among the guests, but Lady Gaga, Blake Lively, Zendaya, Billy Porter, and Harry Styles were noticeably absent.