2026 Met Gala Features Costume Art Theme

New York celebrities and designers converged on the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2026, for the annual Met Gala, a fundraising event for the Costume Institute that drew widespread attention for its theme "Costume Art" and dress code "Fashion is Art."

The gala, held on the first Monday in May, showcased interpretations of fashion as an embodied art form, with attendees drawing from art history, archival pieces, and custom designs. The Costume Institute's spring exhibition examines the centrality of the dressed body, highlighting collaborations like Elsa Schiaparelli's 1937 lobster dress with Salvador Dalí and Yves Saint Laurent's 1965 Mondrian-inspired shifts. Organizers, including Vogue editor Anna Wintour and curator Andrew Bolton, encouraged expressions of the human form as canvas and sculpture.

Standout arrivals included Rihanna in a gold-embellished Maison Margiela gown evoking Botticelli's Birth of Venus, with metallic accents on her fingers, hair, lips, and ears. Emma Chamberlain wore a custom Mugler piece inspired by Impressionists like Monet and Edvard Munch, featuring fringed hands. Gracie Abrams appeared in a gold Chanel gown referencing Gustav Klimt, while...