The car garage that became an unusual fashion house... for Kim Kardashian

How garage helped Kim Kardashian dazzle at Met Gala3 days agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleCraig BuchanSouth EastReutersA bodyshop in Kent sprayed the fibreglass breastplate worn by Kim KardashianThe 2026 Met Gala saw the debut of an unusual new fashion house - an auto repair garage in Kent.MPS Body & Paint painted an orange fibreglass breastplate that Kim Kardashian wore to the New York event, considered the biggest night in fashion.The bodyshop, in Lydd, was called on after its previous work on a car for Keir Malem and Patrick Whitaker, who created the outfit with pop artist Allen Jones."I'd repaired and painted their car for them," said MPS owner Martyn Smith. "They turned up here one day, asked me if I would basically paint this."He told the BBC he was "guessing" who it was for, but was only told when the designers came to collect it and then "sworn to secrecy".Smith said: "I had 24 hours to do it in and it meant I had to drop some work to do it, but I thought what an honour and a pleasure, as well as a job, to do it."MPS Body & PaintMartyn Smith said the job was completed within 24 hoursAccording to the artists, known together as Whitaker Malem, the breastplate was moulded from Jones's 1969 sculpture Hatstand, with the 88-year-old artist painting the attached leather skirt.They said Kardashian travelled to England twice to develop the item and have it fitted, with it taking three weeks to complete.Malem, himself originally from Lydd, said the celebrity had been "cock-a-hoop" with the outcome."She phoned us herself, we've only ever dealt with her and she's very, very amenable," he said.His partner Whitaker said the paint, picked at a shop in Ashford, was "just so important" to the outfit, which responded to the event's theme of Fashion is Art.Whitaker MalemKeir Malem (pictured) and Patrick Whitaker made the breastplate from a mould of Jones'...