2026 JANUARY ISSUE
MET GALA 2025
Report by Genevieve Redding
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From the Desk of the Publisher
It was since 1995, the first Monday of May has been devoted to fashion. This Met Gala 2026 is cochaired by Venus Williams, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Anna Wintour hosted the Costume Institute Benefit, which is an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s and Costume Institute.
The dress code of this year is “Fashion is Art” and the exhibition title is “Costume Art.”
Met Gala is also known as the Costume Institute Benefit, and it is the annual charity event for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts and Costume Institute. The first benefit was held in 1948, and since 1995, the Met Gala has been chaired by Anna Wintour.
This year the Met Gala 2026 took place on May 4, and the red carpet opened at 5:30 pm. It is using its theme — the “Costume Art” to explore the descriptions of the dressed body from across the museum’s curatorial departments and coordinating clothing and art pieces dating back 5,000 years. The exhibition debuted the Met’s newly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, named after the founder of the publisher of Vogue, Vanity, and the New York Times. The exhibition last from May 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027.
In this Met Gala, nearly 400 objects are exhibited, including 200 garments and accessories, 200 paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. The pieces are curated by Andrew Bolton, recurring “body” types through the Met, such as the “Naked Body,” Classical Body,” Pregnant Body,” “Aging Body,” “Anatomical Body,” and “Mortal Body.”
MET GALA
2026
Met Gala 2026: Fashion is Art
The 2026 Met Gala celebrated the opening of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibition: Costume Art. The title pays homage to the history of the Costume Institute, which was formerly known as the Museum of Costume Art.
The corresponding dress code, Fashion is Art, challenged designers, stylists, and attendees to blur the boundaries between fashion and art, treating the body itself as canvas or sculpture. Celebrities brought the theme to life in draped silhouettes that mimicked classical sculpture or painted gowns that took cues from both historic and contemporary art pieces.
Wearable Sculpture
Several celebrities transformed into stunning, wearable sculptures by directly referencing classical statues and surrealism. Kendall Jenner’s look channeled a goddess aesthetic and was custom designed by Zac Posen, the creative director of Gap Inc. Posen manipulated a Gap white t-shirt to mimic the classical Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Similarly, Kylie Jenner’s Met Gala inspiration was the ancient Greek sculpture, Venus de Milo, which served as the muse for her custom Schiaparelli gown.
For her Met Gala debut, Tate McRae’s custom gown was designed by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. The look drew inspiration from historical gilded ethereal angelic statues that adorn La Reale, the ceremonial boat of Louis XIV.
Laura Harrier wore a custom, nude-colored, liquid-bronze gown designed by Di Pesta. The silhouette was deeply inspired by classical Greek drapery and utilized Di Pesta’s signature draping technique to mimic the appearance of marble sculpture.
Heidi Klum bypassed traditional fabrics to become a living classical sculpture. The look designed by prosthetic artist Mike Marino, precisely replicated the 19th-century Veiled Vestal sculpture by Raffaele Monti. Mariano used sculpted foam and latex to mimic the look of carved marble.
Anok Yai’s look was a living tribute to religious and Renaissance art, drawing inspiration from the Black Madonna and Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows). She wore custom Balenciaga couture featuring a dramatic hooded silhouette, metallic gold skin, and intricate sculpted prosthetic hair. Her makeup featured gold tears, evoking the weeping statues and sacred mourning imagery of the Black Madonna.
Designer Robert Wun collaborated with kinetic artist Casey Curran to create a floor-length, all black custom gown featuring moving structural art for fashion editor Nichapat Suphap. The look was directly inspired by Michelangelo’s Renaissance fresco painting, The Creation of Adam.
Jordan Roth also wore a show stopping custom Robert Wun living sculpture gown inspired by Jean-Leon Gerome’s classical painting, Pygmalion and Galatea.
Blackpink’s Lisa wore an avant-garde custom gown deigned by Robert Wun titled The Veil, which featured a diaphanous ivory mermaid silhouette and was inspired by the grace of traditional Thai dance and the surrealist concept of a bride lifting her own veil.
Grecian Style
In addition to wearable sculpture, designers tapped heavily into ancient Greece to channel Hellenistic and Roman art for the gala’s 2026 Fashion is Art theme. Designers referenced ancient Greece with goddess gowns and couture masterpieces adorned with motifs from classical mythology.
Anne Hathaway stunned in a hand-painted Michal Kors Collection gown featuring black and white art by Peter McGough referencing John Keats’ poem Ode on a Grecian Urn.
Aurora James referenced a similar black and white look in a vintage Emanuel Ungaro gown from Fall 1992.
Elizabeth Debicki’s 2026 Met Gala inspiration was a tribute to classical Greco-Roman goddesses, channeling iconic mythological heroines like Medea and Clytemnestra. Her look was a collaboration with designer Vera Wang, who created a custom dress made of lightweight Italian cupro jersey. The gown featured intricate hand-draped and twisted details reminiscent of Madame Gres.
Ayo Edebiri attended the gala in a custom, asymmetrical white Chanel gown designed by Matthieu Blazy. The ethereal look was inspired by classical Greek goddesses and featured layers of gossamer fabric.
Serena Williams’ Met Gala look was a custom Marc Jacobs metallic gold mini dress paired with dramatic gladiator heels. Her ensemble drew heavily from Hellenistic and Roman art blending athleticism with timeless grace and masterful draping of Greek and Roman sculptures.
Women In Art
Many celebrity-looks at the 2026 Met Gala brilliantly celebrated female historical figures, classical muses, and women artists, transforming the red carpet into a living museum.
The newly named editor of American Vogue, Chloe Malle’s 2026 Met Gala look was inspired by Frederic Leighton’s 1895 masterpiece painting, Flaming June. Brooklyn-based designer Colleen Allen translated the famous painting into a custom, washed-silk draped chiffon gown in a luminous, marigold orange color.
Rachel Zegler’s Met Gala looks paid homage to Paul Delaroche’s 1883 painting, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Her custom Prabal Gurung gown brought to life the tragic final moments of England’s “nine-day queen”, centering around the profound innocence and vulnerability of the artwork’s subject. The gown was made of pearl silk moiré and was paired with a custom silk chiffon blindfold by Jennifer Behr.
Dree Hemingway’s look was inspired by Peter Paul Ruben’s 1606 portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria. She channeled the 17th century aristocratic painting in an ethereal, sculptural gown from Maison Valentino haute couture. The sparkling silver silhouette made of an intricate lurex fabric with sculptural design elements transformed the portrait into a modern work of wearable art.
Gracie Abrams attended the gala in a custom gold Chanel gown by Matthieu Blazy inspired by Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. The look drew heavily from Klimt’s decorative, gold leaf and patterned geometry. The gown featured a mosaic design constructed from thousands of embroidery elements, including crystals, sequins, and cascading chains.
Lila Moss leaned directly into the gilded, shimmering aesthetic of artist Gustav Klimt’s 1907 painting Water Serpents in a custom, pale gold mermaid gown designed by Conner Ives. The gown was constructed from three deconstructed 1920’s flapper dresses, featuring rare vintage gelatin sequins in a geometric pattern.
Hunter Schafer wore a custom Prada gown inspired by Gustav Klimt’s 1912 portrait of nine-year-old Mada Primavesi, which belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The light blue and off-white empire-waist dress featured a line of rosettes and a long sweeping train. The deconstruction of layers of delicate floral silk chiffon mimicked a painting gathering layers of dust over time.
Artist Amy Sherald attended the 2026 Met Gala wearing a custom Thom Browne look inspired by her own 2013 painting, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance). The look featured a black and white tailored dress adorned with small white embroidered flowers accessorized with long white gloves and a red dachshund shaped bag.
Alex Consani’s custom Gucci gown designed by Demna was inspired by the Renaissance painting Primavera by Sandro Botticelli. The look drew from the mythological figure of Chloris and her metamorphic transformation into Flora. The angelic, voluminous white faille cape was removed to reveal a sheer nude bustier underneath and a dramatic, sweeping train in black feathers.
Lauren Sanchez Bezos’ Met Gala look was inspired by John Singer Sargent’s iconic 1884 painting Madame X. The custom midnight-blue gown designed by Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry featured the painting’s signature off-the-shoulder diamond and pearl encrusted straps. Sargent’s original portrait of French socialite Virginie Gautreau caused a massive uproar in the 1880s because of its plunging neckline and a single, fallen jeweled strap, which was considered scandalously provocative at the time.
Painted Canvas
Emma Chamberlain’s Met gala look was directly inspired by Post-Impressionist art. The color palette and bleeding, watercolor-like textures directly referenced works by Vincent van Gogh, specifically The Night Cafe and The Starry Night. The custom Mugler gown designed by Miguel Castro Freitas was hand-painted by artist Anna Deller-Yee.
Alexa Chung’s gala inspiration was Claude Monet’s impressionist painting, specifically his Water Lilies series. Her chartreuse silk gown was custom designed by Jonathan Anderson for Dior. It was adorned with a single, sculptural water lily.
Georges Seurat’s iconic 1884 painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, was the inspiration for Ben Platt’s custom Tanner Fletcher ensemble. The bespoke suit was a wearable reinterpretation of Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece. The silk-wool suit was hand-painted, embroidered, and beaded to achieve the textured effect of the painting.
Hailey Bieber’s look directly referenced Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Fall 1969 couture collaboration with French sculptor Claude Lalanne. Her custom YSL ensemble featured a molded 24 karat gold breastplate cast specifically to her body, perfectly paired with a flowing royal blue silk chiffon skirt and matching cape. The bold, rich hue of the skirt was inspired by the saturated ultramarine pigment famously developed by French artist Yves Klein in the 1960s.
Tessa Thompson’s Met Gala look was also heavily inspired by French painter Yves Klein and his iconic, patented shade International Klein Blue. She collaborated with Alessandro Michele of Valentino to treat the human body as a living canvas. Her ensemble paid homage to Klein’s 1960s series Anthropometries, where he used nude models covered in blue paint as living paintbrushes to create art. The custom Valentino gown in blue silk crepe featured sculptural, dripping cutouts to mimic the fluidity of wet, splattered paint. She collaborated with nail artist Mei Kawajiri to coat her hands in a textured, latex blue makeup to look like they had been literally dipped in an artist’s paint bucket.
For her first Met Gala appearance, Audrey Nina wore an avant-garde gown designed by Robert Wun from his AW2025 couture collection. The look, titled The Pigment, featured a coat dress splattered with over 15,000 jet-black Swarovski crystals inspired by Jackson Pollock’s 1948 painting, No. 23. The intricate micro beading and crystal placements gave the dress the abstract texture of a drip canvas.
The 2026 Met Gala celebrated the Costume Institute’s exhibition Costume Art with the dress code: Fashion is Art. The record-breaking event featured stunning body centric and avant garde designs. The Costume Art exhibition paired garments with artworks spanning 5,000 years to reveal the inherent relationship between fashion and art.