Tonight is not about being quiet with fashion. It's really about being loud.
Each spring, the Metropolitan Museum of Art draws the world's most visible figures not merely to be seen, but to participate in a ritual where clothing becomes argument — a statement about the body, identity, and the line between adornment and art. The 2026 gala, themed 'Costume Art,' asked its four hundred guests to interpret how garments speak to flesh and form, producing an evening of skeleton silhouettes, jewelry-as-fabric, and film stock stitched into dresses. Co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams, the night served both as the Costume Institute's premier fundraiser and as a preview of an exhibition opening to the public on May 10 — a reminder that fashion's grandest spectacle is ultimately in service of scholarship.
- The theme demanded more than elegance — it demanded a thesis, and the red carpet became a gallery of competing interpretations of how clothing inhabits and transforms the human body.
- Rihanna's late arrival in Maison Margiela, Madonna's pirate-ship hat and brass trumpet, and Irina Shayk's outfit constructed entirely of jewelry compressed the boundary between costume and concept.
- First-time attendees — from rising actors to Olympic athletes — signaled a broadening of the gala's cultural footprint, while notable absences like Zendaya left a conspicuous gap in the expected iconography.
- Bad Bunny's decades-aging prosthetics in Zara and Sabrina Carpenter's film-stock dress pushed the evening toward provocation, testing how far the theme could stretch before fashion became performance art.
- The evening lands as both celebration and preview — the exhibition opens May 10, shifting the conversation from who wore what to what the garments, placed alongside the Met's broader collection, are actually saying.
On a Monday evening in May, the Metropolitan Museum of Art gathered roughly four hundred of the world's most photographed people around a single question: what happens when clothing meets the body as art meets form? The 'Costume Art' theme, tied to an exhibition opening to the public on May 10, asked attendees to interpret the relationship between garments and flesh — and the red carpet answered with skeleton silhouettes, bubble dresses, metallic bodysuits, and at least one outfit made entirely of jewelry.
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams co-chaired alongside Anna Wintour, with Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos serving as honorary chairs. Creative direction fell to Anthony Vaccarello of Yves Saint Laurent and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz. The gala remains the Costume Institute's premier fundraiser, and this year's curatorial vision placed historic garments in dialogue with artworks across the museum's wider collection.
Rihanna closed the red carpet in Maison Margiela, arriving — as she reliably does — near the end of the evening, nine minutes past the official cutoff. Madonna arrived flanked by women in sheer blindfolds, accessorized with a pirate-ship hat and a brass trumpet. Sabrina Carpenter wore a dress constructed from film stock; Irina Shayk's Alexander Wang look replaced fabric entirely with watches, rings, and necklaces. Bad Bunny appeared in Zara beneath prosthetics that aged him by decades. Eileen Gu described her Iris van Herpen bubble dress as 'art in motion' — surrealism at the intersection of sports, fashion, and whimsy.
The evening also marked debuts: actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, singer Tate McRae, and actress Sarah Pidgeon — who rose to prominence playing Carolyn Bessette Kennedy — all walked the carpet for the first time. Olympic athletes Naomi Osaka, Alysa Liu, and Lindsey Vonn brought competitive credentials to the occasion. Zendaya, a fixture known for her precisely on-theme looks, was notably absent; her stylist, Law Roach, attended without her. Inside, guests dined at the Temple of Dendur before the exhibition opened its doors to the broader public five days later.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual spring gala unfolded on a Monday evening in May, drawing roughly four hundred of the world's most photographed people to celebrate a theme centered on the relationship between clothing and the body. The "Costume Art" exhibition, which opens to the public on May 10, prompted attendees to interpret how garments interact with flesh and form—a directive that produced everything from skeleton-inspired silhouettes to bubble dresses and metallic bodysuits.
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams served as co-chairs alongside Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and the person who ultimately decides who walks the red carpet. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos held honorary chair positions. The evening's creative direction fell to Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz, who co-chaired the host committee. The gala functions as the premier fundraiser for the Costume Institute, and this year's curatorial vision aimed to elevate what Max Hollein, the Met's CEO, described as "universal and timeless themes" by placing garments in conversation with artworks across the museum's broader collection.
Rihanna arrived near the end of the evening, as she has done in years past, wearing Maison Margiela alongside her partner A$AP Rocky in a pink Chanel robe. She remains the most anticipated arrival each year, a fixture whose outfit choices dominate the conversation long after the red carpet closes. Other major arrivals included Madonna in a Saint Laurent design accessorized with a pirate-ship hat and a brass trumpet, flanked by women wearing sheer blindfolds; Beyoncé in a skeleton-inspired look with a feather train; and Blake Lively in Versace, continuing her reputation as a Met Gala icon. Sabrina Carpenter wore a dress constructed from film stock, literally merging the two art forms the theme demanded. Bad Bunny appeared in Zara with dramatic prosthetics that aged his appearance by decades. Irina Shayk's outfit, designed by Alexander Wang, consisted entirely of jewelry—watches, rings, and necklaces replacing traditional fabric.
The evening marked debuts for several actors who have recently ascended to prominence. Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, stars of "Heated Rivalry," walked the red carpet for the first time. Sarah Pidgeon, who catapulted to fame playing Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in Ryan Murphy's "Love Story," attended her first gala. Tate McRae, the singer, also made her debut, glittering in gold. Tennis player Naomi Osaka delivered one of the evening's first dramatic reveals, while figure skater Alysa Liu, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, and alpine skier Lindsey Vonn brought Olympic credentials to the red carpet. Gu spoke to the artistic intention behind her bubble dress from Iris van Herpen, describing her thinking as encompassing "art in motion," "surrealism," and the intersection of "sports and fashion and femininity and whimsy."
Notable absences included Zendaya, a Met Gala fixture known for her meticulously on-theme interpretations. Her stylist, Law Roach, attended without her. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife did not attend, a choice that drew some attention given that the event typically draws the city's wealthiest residents. Former mayors Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio, and Eric Adams have attended in the past. When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attended in 2021 wearing a gown emblazoned with "Tax the Rich," the House Ethics Committee later determined she had received the dress below market rate and ordered her to pay an additional $2,700.
Once inside the museum, guests encountered a catered dinner prepared by Olivier Cheng Catering and Events, featuring burrata, rack of lamb, and three dessert options. Performers took the stage at the Temple of Dendur—in past years, Ariana Grande, Madonna, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga have provided entertainment. Attendees could browse the new exhibition before its public debut. The museum enforces a strict no-phone, no-social-media policy inside, though Kylie Jenner has been known to circumvent the rule with bathroom selfies. The red carpet officially opened at 5:30 p.m., though many celebrities arrived significantly later, with Rihanna closing the evening nine minutes after the official cutoff. The exhibition opens to the public on May 10, inviting broader audiences to experience the curatorial conversation between the Costume Institute's holdings and the museum's wider collection.
Citações Notáveis
I'm thinking about art in motion. I'm thinking about surrealism. I'm thinking about sports and fashion and femininity and whimsy.— Eileen Gu, Olympic freestyle skier, on her bubble dress
Costume Art will present a dynamic and scholarly conversation between garments from The Costume Institute and an array of artworks from across The Met's collection, elevating universal and timeless themes while bringing forward new ideas and ways of seeing.— Max Hollein, CEO of The Met
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the Met Gala matter beyond the spectacle? What's actually at stake?
It funds the Costume Institute, which is the museum's scholarly center for understanding how clothing functions as both art and history. The exhibition itself isn't just decoration—it's asking a real question about the relationship between bodies and the garments that cover them.
So the theme isn't arbitrary. It shapes what people wear.
Exactly. When the theme is "Costume Art," you get skeleton silhouettes and dresses made of film stock. The best attendees don't just wear expensive clothes; they interpret the curatorial premise. That's why Sabrina Carpenter's film dress works—she's literally answering the question the exhibition poses.
What about the people who don't show up? Zendaya's absence seems significant.
She's been synonymous with the event for years. Her absence is noticeable because she's known for looks that are so precisely on-theme they become part of the cultural conversation. When someone like that doesn't attend, people notice.
And the mayor skipping it—is that a statement?
It could be read that way. The gala draws the city's wealthiest people, and he's been calling on billionaires and corporations to fund his initiatives. Attending might have looked tone-deaf. But it also means the city's elected leadership wasn't in the room where cultural power concentrates.
Inside the museum, there's a no-phone policy. How does that change the experience?
It creates a genuinely private space for these people, which is rare. They can't perform for social media in real time. They eat, they watch performances, they see the exhibition. It's almost intimate, which is strange to say about an event this exclusive.
What does it mean that Olympic athletes were there alongside actors and musicians?
The guest list has always mixed worlds—fashion, entertainment, sports, politics. But having Lindsey Vonn and Alysa Liu on the red carpet alongside Beyoncé suggests the museum is thinking about bodies and movement across different disciplines. An athlete's body in motion is as relevant to "Costume Art" as an actor's.