Before The Met Gala 2026, Here Is Everything You Need To Know
Fashion is Art, Beyoncé is back and the steps of the Met are about to deliver the most anticipated red carpet of the year
It is almost time. The Met Gala 2026 takes place on May 4 and everything about this year suggests it is going to be one for the history books. A theme with real depth, a co-chair list that has the internet already talking and a dress code that hands every single guest the widest creative brief the Met has ever offered. If you have not been paying attention, now is the moment to start.
Fashion Is Art: What the Theme Actually Means
The exhibition is called “Costume Art” and the dress code is “Fashion is Art“. The idea at the heart of it is simple but genuinely radical. Fashion deserves the same artistic recognition as painting or sculpture, and the dressed body has always been central to how we understand art across history. Guests are invited to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and to celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history. It is perhaps the most broad dress code the Met has offered in recent years and the most demanding at the same time.
What to Expect on the Night
A dress code this open tends to separate those who play it safe from those who strictly commit to the brief. Expect sculptural couture, silhouettes drawn from classical art and paintings, and looks that feel as considered as anything hanging on the museum walls inside. Several S/S26 collections have already produced pieces that feel entirely made for this moment, and the red carpet will be their perfect canvas.
As for who to watch, Beyoncé will be the look of the night, that much is certain, as she makes her return to the Met Gala for the first time in ten years. Zendaya, Doja Cat and Sabrina Carpenter all bring completely different aesthetics to the table, which means the range of interpretations on those steps will be wide and genuinely unpredictable. That is exactly how it should be.
This year’s Co-Chairs and Host Committee
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour all serve as co-chairs this year. The host committee is chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, with members including Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser and LISA. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez serve as honorary chairs and lead sponsors for the evening.