Met Announces 2026 Gala Theme: Costume Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that the theme for its 2026 Met Gala will be "Costume Art," highlighting the integral role of the dressed body in five millennia of visual art history. The event, fashion's premier gathering, is scheduled for May 4, 2026, at the museum in New York City, drawing celebrities, designers, and industry leaders to celebrate the intersection of clothing and artistic expression.

Curator Andrew Bolton, who oversees the Costume Institute, described the accompanying exhibition as a pivotal step in repositioning fashion within the museum's framework. "It's a huge moment for the Costume Institute," Bolton told Vogue. "It will be transformative for our department, but I also think it's going to be transformative to fashion more generally, the fact that an art museum like The Met is actually giving a central location to fashion." The exhibition, titled "Costume Art," will run from May 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and inaugurate the nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries adjacent to the museum's Great Hall. This new space will house the institute's collection and feature nearly 200 historical and contemporary garments paired with paintings,...