Fashion is Art: A look into the 2026 Met Gala
By Shivani Dubey | 5 May 2026 | Culture
With a theme of ‘fashion is art’, the 2026 Met Gala returned on the first Monday in May for a sartorial spectacle. Here, we take a look at the night’s biggest fashionable moments
Each year, the first Monday in May is seen as the biggest event in the fashion calendar, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York unveils its latest costume exhibit with the Met Gala. For the 2026 iteration of the Met Gala, the exhibition is called “Costume Art”, which, according to Vogue, considers depictions of the dressed body from across the Met’s curatorial departments, pairing garments with art objects spanning 5,000 years.
Objects in the exhibit are divided into a series of thematic body types, ranging from the more mainstream ‘naked body’ and ‘classical body’ to the oft overlooked ‘pregnant body’ and ‘aging body’.
To celebrate this exhibit, attendees were asked to dress to the theme of “Fashion is Art” for the 2026 Met Gala on 4 May – a broad directive that invites celebrities to treat the body as a canvas and clothing as a work of art. Think dramatic shapes and silhouettes, nude dresses, molded corsets and marble statue references, as well as nods to the many famous works of art from around the world.
Leading this year’s Met Gala red carpet were co-chairs Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Beyoncé. This was Beyoncé’s first appearance at the event in a decade, and she showed up wearing an Olivier Rousteing ensemble with an embellished skeleton design, and added a giant feathered cape.
Some standout fashion moments from the night included YouTube sensation and interviewer Emma Chamberlain, who brought the house down with a custom hand-painted Mugler look. Janelle Monae merged tech and flora with her Christian Siriano high-necked gown featuring a bricolage of electrical cables, moss, succulents, and circuit board fragments.
Meanwhile, designer Robert Wun had a banner night, with celebrities like Naomi Osaka and Lisa wearing some of his incredible looks. Lisa wore Bulgari jewels and her outfit had her 3D-scan her own arms and hands to create a veiled arrangement inspired by traditional Thai dance positions. Another standout was Sabrina Carpenter, who wore a custom Dior gown made from the film reel of Audrey Hepburn’s film Sabrina.
And while the menswear this year was not as fun as the ‘Tailoring Black Style’ theme of last year, some men stood out in their bold interpretations of the theme. Indian director Karan Johar wore custom Manish Malhotra, and turned the paintings of renowned Indian artist, Raja Ravi Varma into a caped masterpiece. Another great look came from Luke Evans, who was inspired by the leather-clad art of Tom of Finland.
Other celebrities with memorable looks include Chase Infiniti, Rihanna, Colman Domingo, Nicholas Hoult, Blake Lively, Teyana Taylor, Kendall Jenner, Manish Malhotra and more.
The Met Gala is an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with the event raising sums of over eight figures each year.
Images: Getty Images, Buccellati, Hublot and Audemars Piguet
