Met Gala set for May 4

The 2026 Met Gala is set for Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour serving as co-chairs. (metmuseum.org) The gala’s dress code is “Fashion Is Art,” a directive announced in February for the fundraiser that launches the Costume Institute’s spring show, “Costume Art.” (metmuseum.org) (nbcnewyork.com) The Met says the exhibition will pair roughly 200 garments with 200 art objects from across the museum to examine what curator Andrew Bolton calls the “centrality of the dressed body.” (metmuseum.org) (nbcnewyork.com) That makes the usual Met Gala shorthand a little tricky this year: the exhibition title is “Costume Art,” while the red-carpet instruction guests are expected to interpret is “Fashion Is Art.” (nytimes.com) (nbcnewyork.com) The event is not just a celebrity spectacle. It is the Costume Institute’s annual fundraiser, and the museum said last year’s gala brought in a record more than $31 million. (nbcnewyork.com) (forbes.com) This year’s gala also arrives with a museum milestone. “Costume Art” will be the first exhibition staged in the Met’s new Condé Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot space next to the Great Hall. (metmuseum.org) (deadline.com) Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz are chairing the host committee, which includes names such as Sabrina Carpenter, Teyana Taylor, Lena Dunham and Misty Copeland. (nbcnewyork.com) (entertainmentnow.com)) The Met has also named Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as lead sponsors and honorary chairs for the exhibition and benefit. NBC New York reported that activist group Everyone Hates Elon protested their involvement with anti-billionaire messages in subway ad displays. (nbcnewyork.com) The carpet still comes down to interpretation. With one week to go before the first Monday in May, the official facts are fixed: May 4, “Fashion Is Art,” and a gala built to open “Costume Art” inside a new wing. (metmuseum.org) (nytimes.com)