The Met Gala guests interpret the dress code Fashion is Art

Highlights from the Met Gala 2026

Attendees at the Met Gala, from Beyoncé to Naomi Osaka, did not play it safe on Monday. The celebrities presented custom-made artworks in tribute to this year’s theme, “Fashion is art” (Fashion is art).

Beyoncé dazzled the audience in a sculptural custom-made dress by Olivier Rousteing, resembling a skeleton, with a train of cream and powder blue feathers, also wearing a diamond crown. The Grammy winner, accompanied by her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, stopped to pose as a family on the red carpet.

Osaka made a statement in a spectacular white sculptural dress by Robert Wun, with exaggerated shoulders and adorned with red feathers, paired with a matching hat. A similar outfit by Wun is displayed in the “Costume Art” exhibition at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, open to the public from May 10.

Amid all the buzz around “The Devil Wears Prada 2”, Met Gala co-chair Anna Wintour opted for a mint-colored outfit. Wintour’s ensemble included a feather cape and a pearl-embroidered dress by Matthieu Blazy for Chanel, combined with her iconic bob cut and oversized sunglasses.

The other gala co-chairs, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, chose more subdued outfits. Venus Williams wore a sparkling black dress with bare shoulders, accessorized with a dazzling gemstone necklace, paying homage to a portrait of herself by Robert Pruitt for the National Portrait Gallery.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the event’s sponsor, arrived in a form-fitting Schiaparelli dress, telling Vogue that she drew inspiration from John Singer Sargent’s 1884 painting, “Madame X”.

Unlike last year’s blue carpet, this year’s seemed intentionally untouched by time. The carpet was littered with overgrown tufts of grass surpassing stone steps, with trimmed bushes lining the side balustrade. Purple flowers in pots adorned the entrance of the carpet in large terracotta pots.

Among other celebrities who climbed the steps of the Met, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, and Canadian actor from the series “Passionate Rivalry” Hudson Williams were present.

Dress codes from previous galas paid tribute to creators and were inspired by literature. Last year, the art of couture was celebrated with the dress code “Tailored for you”.

This highly publicized event raises funds for the Met’s Costume Institute, and each year, the gala’s dress code is inspired by the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition.

The “Costume Art” exhibition, presented this spring, “explores representations of the dressed body,” as stated on the Met’s website.