The Met Gala 2026 will take place on 4 May with the official dress code “Fashion is Art,” aligning with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s landmark exhibition “Costume Art” and exploring the relationship between clothing, culture and the human form.

On the first Monday in May, fashion’s most photographed staircase will once again become a living canvas. The Met Gala will return on 4 May 2026 with a newly announced dress code, “Fashion is Art,” establishing the mood for an evening where clothing is expected to converse directly with culture, history and the human form.

The Dressed Body as Cultural Text

The theme accompanies the spring exhibition “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show explores the central role of the dressed body across five millennia of art. The exhibition positions garments alongside paintings, sculpture and other works from the museum’s vast holdings, arguing that attire has always been embedded with meaning. Even when the body appears nude in art, it is framed by social codes and cultural values.

A Permanent Home for Costume at the Met

Significantly, “Costume Art” will inaugurate the Costume Institute’s first permanent galleries within the museum. The new Condé M. Nast Galleries, located beside the Great Hall, mark a milestone moment for a department that has long operated without a fixed home. The exhibition will open to the public on 10 May 2026 and run until 10 January 2027, extending the conversation beyond the gala itself.

Bolton has structured the exhibition around three thematic body types. These include bodies frequently idealised in art, those often overlooked such as ageing and pregnant bodies, and universal bodies including the anatomical form. In doing so, the show broadens the definition of beauty and invites designers and guests to reflect on who is represented and how.

As ever, anticipation around the guest list is intense. Confirmed co chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour. Beyoncé’s involvement is particularly notable as it will mark her first appearance at the gala in a decade, her last being in 2016.

The host committee features an eclectic mix of creative talents and cultural figures, co chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz. Among the names announced are Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, A’ja Wilson and Yseult. Additional members include Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald and Chase Sui Wonders. As lead sponsors, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will serve as honorary chairs.

The gala, which benefits the museum’s Costume Institute, has evolved dramatically since its early fundraising dinners in the mid twentieth century. It was under the influence of former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland that the event adopted thematic dressing, beginning in 1973 with a tribute to Cristóbal Balenciaga. In recent years, themes have ranged widely, including 2025’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Styles,” inspired by Monica L. Miller’s study of Black dandyism.

For 2026, “Fashion is Art” feels both direct and expansive. It calls on attendees not solely to wear beautiful clothes, but to treat the body as a site of interpretation. Expect sculptural silhouettes, painterly embellishment, references to classical statuary and perhaps meditations on overlooked forms. If the exhibition argues that fashion runs through every gallery in the museum, then the red carpet will serve as its most theatrical proof.