Kim Kardashian Opens Up About Why Kanye West Stayed Home and Skipped the Met Gala

Kim Kardashian West walked the red carpet solo at the 2017 Met Gala - but after being half of the event's undisputed power couple every year since 2013, everyone was asking, "Where's Kanye West?"

"He's at home," the reality star told Vogue's André Leon Talley. "He's been taking some time off and really loving that."

Kardashian West, 36, stepped out in a white off-the-shoulder Vivienne Westwood Couture slip dress featuring a corseted waist. But after dazzling on the red carpet, she was ready to meet up with her sisters also in attendance, Kylie and Kendall Jenner.

"Have you seen my sisters? That's the question - are they inside?" she asked. "We're all solo, so we were texting on the way here."

A source previously told PEOPLE that West, 39, would not be attending this year's Met Gala because he's not ready to return to the red carpet following his late 2016 breakdown and hospitalization.

"He's not going because he's not ready to start attending big events," said the source. "He's doing great but wants to keep his stress levels low and just wants to take more time off. Kim and Kanye are in a great place."

Still, the insider said, "Kanye has been doing okay. He's made a lot of good progress and is in a much better place."

Another source also told PEOPLE that West, 39, wouldn't be walking up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's famed stairs on Monday, explaining, "He's still very much enjoying his time off from public events."

The source added, "He'll be staying back in L.A. with their kids [North and Saint]. Everything is great with him and Kim and he's supportive of her going solo."

In March, another insider told PEOPLE the couple is enjoying their reduced time in the spotlight after stepping back following the rapper's hospitalization and Kardashian West's Paris robbery.

"[They're] much more low-key and not in the spotlight like before," the source said. "They both feel like they are better people and that it has changed their family for the better. They don't have any desire to go back to how things were."