- The 2026 Met Gala will take place on May 4, 2026.
- The event's theme is "Costume Art," and the dress code is "Fashion Is Art."
- Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams will co-chair the gala with Anna Wintour.
The 2026 Met Gala will be here before you know it.
Fondly known as fashion's biggest night, the Met Gala is an annual fundraiser that supports the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and is hosted by the museum, Anna Wintour, and Vogue.
It's always held on the first Monday in May, which will be May 4, 2026. Celebrities descend on New York City in droves for the event, showcasing their most high-fashion looks of the year on the iconic steps of the Met.
The 2026 event will support the museum's "Costume Art" exhibition, and a slew of A-list stars will serve as co-chairs for the gala, which has a "Fashion Is Art" dress code.
Here's everything we know about the 2026 Met Gala so far.
Celebrating 'Costume Art'
The Met Gala has a different theme each year, centered on the exhibition the Costume Institute displays in conjunction with the gala.
For 2026, the museum will host the "Costume Art" exhibition, curated by Andrew Bolton, as announced in November 2025.
"Celebrate fashion as an art form this spring at The Met," an Instagram post about the exhibit from the museum read. "Focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present, the show will explore artistic representations of the dressed body, pairing fashions and artworks from the Museum's vast collection to highlight the inherent relationship between clothing and the body."
In a press release shared on December 10, 2025, Bolton said of the exhibit, "I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form."
The exhibition will also be the first to be held in the museum's new, almost 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries.
The 2026 Met Gala dress code is 'Fashion Is Art'
The Met Gala's theme is separate from its dress code, though they are typically related. In past years, for example, attendees have worn costume-like pieces for the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" event, Chanel designs for the gala that honored designer Karl Lagerfeld, and pieces with religious nods for "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."
And in February, Vogue announced the dress code for the 2026 gala is "Fashion Is Art." In its announcement, Vogue said "the dress code encourages attendees to consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas."
That dress code is fairly open for interpretation compared to those in the past. For instance, the 2022 Met Gala had a "gilded glamour, white tie" dress code, so attendees had a relatively narrow range of what they could wear. "Fashion Is Art" is more open to interpretation, as each designer expresses their art differently in fashion and naturally lends itself to greater variety on the red carpet.
Vogue also shared over 50 runway looks it said would suit the dress code, focusing on outfits that embraced specific artistic styles, like Baroque, Surrealism, and Impressionism. The list included dozens of designer artists, from Vivienne Westwood to Saint Laurent. It also spotlighted interactive art garments, such as the spray-painted gown Bella Hadid wore in a Coperni fashion show in 2022.
It's clear there is no one way to rock the "Fashion Is Art" dress code, so fans of the event can look forward to seeing all kinds of artistic looks on the Met Gala red carpet in 2026.
Beyoncé makes her return to the Met Gala
The exhibit and its adjacent gala have been funded this year by Saint Laurent, Condé Nast, and Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who were also named honorary co-chairs.
"It has been such a fun and meaningful experience," Sánchez Bezos said on "Today " about the Met Gala. "When Anna called me and said, 'Do you want to co-chair and also be the sponsors of the Met?' I was so honored."
The couple made their first appearance together at the 2024 event, during which Sánchez Bezos walked the carpet solo in an Oscar de la Renta gown and later met up with the Amazon founder inside.
Sánchez Bezos is especially excited about this year's theme, as she said fashion designers like Elsa Schiaparelli "are true artists."
"It's going to be incredible to see what everyone wears and to be able to really honor all these designers," she added. "I cannot wait."
They're not the only stars who will be influential to the 2026 gala, though.
Each year, a different set of co-chairs partners with Wintour on the event, and in 2026, she turned to some of the most famous women on the planet to bring it to life.
Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman, and Beyoncé — who last attended the Met Gala in 2016 — will serve as the official co-chairs for 2026. Kidman and Williams have been frequent attendees of the event in recent years.
In addition, Zoë Kravitz and Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of YSL, are heading up the Host Committee, where they will work with a slew of stars.
Sabrina Carpenter at the 2024 Met Gala.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
They include musicians such as Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, and Lisa, as well as actors like Gwendoline Christie, Lena Dunham, Chase Sui Wonders, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Hall, and Elizabeth Debicki.
Models Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, Lauren Wasser, Yseult, and Adut Akech are also included, as are athletes Misty Copeland, A'ja Wilson, and Aimee Mullins.
Chloe Malle, the new top editor of Vogue, writer and activist Sinéad Burke, and artists Anna Weyant, Amy Sherald, and Tschabalala Self will also join the committee.
Vogue has never shared many details regarding the group's duties, but they're confirmed to attend a special dinner before the gala.
Where to watch
Though the actual gala is a private event, celebrity arrivals are filmed and photographed for the world to see.
Vogue will exclusively livestreamthe Met Gala red carpet on YouTube, TikTok, and its other digital platforms beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
Model Ashley Graham, actor La La Anthony, and model Cara Delevingne will host the livestream, while influencer Emma Chamberlain will serve as a red carpet correspondent.
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