Met Gala set for May 4

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (abcnews.com) (metmuseum.org) This year’s gala will open the Costume Institute’s spring show, “Costume Art,” which the Met says examines how clothing and the body shape each other across art and fashion. (metmuseum.org) (abcnews.com) The exhibition itself opens to the public on May 10 and runs through October 4, 2026. The Met says it will inaugurate the museum’s nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries. (metmuseum.org) The co-chairs are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour. Vogue’s host committee is chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz. (abcnews.com) (apnews.com) The dress code is “Fashion is Art,” a broad brief that points guests toward interpretation rather than a single historical silhouette or designer reference. (apnews.com) (abcnews.com) The Met Gala is not just a red carpet. The museum says the benefit is the Costume Institute’s primary source of annual funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, operations and capital improvements. (metmuseum.org) That funding model is why the guest list, co-chairs and livestream matter beyond celebrity coverage. The gala underwrites the department that stages the museum’s annual fashion blockbuster. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) Vogue says its sixth annual red-carpet livestream will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern on May 4 across its digital platforms, including YouTube and TikTok. Emma Chamberlain will return as red-carpet correspondent. (abcnews.com) (vanityfair.com) The Met has also posted that its Fifth Avenue building will be closed on May 4, the day of the gala. That is standard for the benefit, which takes over the museum’s front steps and Great Hall. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) The night still follows the formula that made the Met Gala fashion’s biggest annual spectacle: a museum fundraiser, a theme built for interpretation and a guest list designed to turn the steps into a global stage. (metmuseum.org) (apnews.com)