2026 Met Gala Embraces Fashion Is Art Theme

Celebrities descended on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 4 for the 2026 Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Costume Institute highlighting its new exhibition on Costume Art. Guests adhered to the dress code of "Fashion Is Art," delivering interpretations that blended sculpture, painting, and performance.

Madonna led the procession in a custom black Saint Laurent gown by Anthony Vaccarello, inspired by Leonora Carrington's surrealist painting "The Temptation of St. Anthony Fragment II." The funeral-like ensemble featured a sheer violet cape held aloft by seven attendants in pastel lingerie-style dresses and translucent blindfolds, forming a star-shaped tableau around her. A ship-shaped headpiece with mast and sails peeked from beneath the cape, complemented by a golden horn, platform boots, bleached brows, and a long, textured black wig crafted by Merria Dearman in collaboration with hairstylist Eugene Souleiman. The wigmaker described the directive as needing to be "long, dark, and thick with texture," capturing a "surreal, feminist" essence.

Rihanna arrived late with A$AP Rocky, wearing a custom Maison Margiela Couture gown by Glenn...