Met Gala set for May 4
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2026 Met Gala will be held Monday, May 4, opening the Costume Institute’s spring show “Costume Art” and using “Fashion Is Art” as this year’s dress code. - The exhibition pairs fashion with artworks from across the museum and opens in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, with more than 200 objects tracing the “dressed body” from prehistory onward. - The gala remains the Costume Institute’s annual fundraiser and follows a record $31 million haul in 2025, raising the stakes for fashion’s biggest red-carpet night. (metmuseum.org)
The 2026 Met Gala is set for Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, tied to the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “Costume Art.” (metmuseum.org) The Met said the gala will open the exhibition and use “Fashion Is Art” as the evening’s dress code. The museum closes its Fifth Avenue building to the public on May 4 for the event. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) “Costume Art” is the actual exhibition title, and it is broader than the red-carpet prompt. The show examines the “dressed body” by pairing garments from the Costume Institute with artworks from other parts of the museum. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) The Met said the exhibition will focus primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present. It will present more than 200 objects in the museum’s new Condé M. Nast Galleries. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, is leading the show. The museum said the pairings are meant to move from formal and aesthetic links to political, symbolic, and playful ones. (metmuseum.org) (metmuseum.org) That helps explain why early coverage has described this year’s brief as unusually open-ended. The Associated Press said the broad dress code is expected to produce especially varied interpretations on the carpet. (apnews.com) The gala is not just a celebrity red carpet. The Met says the annual benefit marks the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition and serves as the department’s main fundraiser. (metmuseum.org) That fundraiser has grown sharply. Forbes reported the 2025 gala brought in a record $31 million, giving the 2026 event added financial weight as the museum opens a new gallery suite. (forbes.com) (metmuseum.org) Public access starts after the party. The Met says member preview days for “Costume Art” begin May 5, with timed tickets released April 27 at 12 p.m. Eastern. (metmuseum.org) (metmuseum.org) So the clearest way to read this year’s Met Gala is as two linked events: a fundraiser on May 4 and a museum exhibition, “Costume Art,” that opens to visitors immediately after. (metmuseum.org)
