Met Gala Theme Announced

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has set the 2026 Met Gala for Monday, May 4, and tied it to a spring Costume Institute exhibition called Costume Art. (metmuseum.org) The museum announced the exhibition on February 23, 2026, saying it will pair garments with artworks from across The Met’s collection to examine how clothing has been represented over time. The show opens to the public on May 9 and runs through October 4 at The Met Fifth Avenue. (metmuseum.org) The Met’s exhibition page says Costume Art will focus primarily on Western art “from prehistory to the present,” linking pieces from The Costume Institute with objects from other museum departments. The museum describes the project as a study of the relationship between clothing, the body, and image-making. (metmuseum.org) That is the official frame for the 2026 gala: the Met Gala serves as the annual benefit that opens The Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, and the museum calls it the department’s primary source of funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and operations. (metmuseum.org) The Met has not, in the press materials now posted on its site, announced a gala theme called “Eternal Elegance.” Its February 23 release names the exhibition as Costume Art and lists the gala date, but it does not use the phrase “Eternal Elegance.” (metmuseum.org) The museum’s March 26 spring exhibitions release repeats the same structure: Costume Art is listed as the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 show, opening May 9 and closing October 4. That release also does not mention “Eternal Elegance.” (metmuseum.org) That distinction matters because Met Gala themes are usually anchored to the Costume Institute exhibition itself. In 2025, for example, the museum’s official release tied the gala directly to Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. (metmuseum.org) The broader pattern is consistent on the museum’s department page, which says the gala takes place on the first Monday in May and marks the opening of the spring exhibition. For 2026, the confirmed facts on the record are the date, the exhibition title, and the exhibition’s public run. (metmuseum.org) So the clearest verified takeaway is narrower than the rumor: the 2026 Met Gala is scheduled for May 4, and the official exhibition it opens is Costume Art. If the museum later assigns a separate dress code or gala phrasing, it has not published that language in the official materials currently available. (metmuseum.org)