Met Gala theme 'Fashion is Art'
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art set the 2026 Met Gala dress code as “Fashion Is Art” for the May 4 fundraiser tied to its spring exhibition “Costume Art,” opening May 10. - The Met said the show will pair garments with artworks across its collection, while co-chairs include Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams for the gala. - The brief follows 2025’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and arrives as the Costume Institute opens new Condé Nast Galleries at the museum. (metmuseum.org)
The 2026 Met Gala will ask guests to dress to the code “Fashion Is Art” when the fundraiser returns to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 4. (metmuseum.org) (apnews.com) The dress code is tied to the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art,” which opens to the public on May 10 and runs through January 4, 2027. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) The Met said the exhibition will pair garments from the Costume Institute with artworks from across the museum to examine “the centrality of the dressed body.” It will focus primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) That museum framing explains the difference between the gala’s exhibition title and its red-carpet instruction. “Costume Art” is the show; “Fashion Is Art” is the dress code celebrities are expected to interpret on the steps. (metmuseum.org) (yahoo.com) The gala will be co-chaired by Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, with a host committee chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz. The Met also named Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris and Emma Chamberlain as event hosts. (metmuseum.org) The 2026 event also marks the opening of the new Condé Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot suite off the Great Hall that will house Costume Institute spring exhibitions. The Met said the galleries will put the department in a more prominent space inside the museum. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) Preview coverage has described this year’s brief as broader than 2025’s, which was tied to “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and the dress code “Tailored for You.” Editors and stylists have pointed to sculptural silhouettes, art-history references and statement jewelry as likely interpretations. (metmuseum.org) (forbes.com) (gq.com) The Met Gala remains the Costume Institute’s main annual fundraiser, and the museum closes its Fifth Avenue building to the public on gala night. This year, that spectacle arrives with a museum argument attached: fashion belongs in the same conversation as painting, sculpture and decorative art. (metmuseum.org) (metmuseum.org)
