The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s steps in New York turned into something between a runway and a museum installation on Monday night, as celebrities arrived at the 2026 Met Gala dressed not just for fashion but for art history.
This year’s theme, “Costume Art”, came with a dress code “Fashion is Art” that asked attendees to treat themselves as the canvas. Most took that instruction seriously. Some took it literally.
The evening celebrated the opening of the 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, where the “Costume Art” exhibit will remain on display through January 2027.
Beyoncé made a high-profile return after a ten-year absence, in a gown by French designer Olivier Rousteing, its bodice mapped with an embellished skeleton and draped in a giant feathered cape. Beside her was Jay-Z, and their daughter Blue Ivy, 14, who became one of the youngest guests in the event’s history. The Gala typically draws the line at 18.
Rihanna arrived last as has become expected of her in a custom Maison Margiela by Glenn Martens gown covered in thousands of jewels and beads. A$AP Rocky, who co-chaired last year’s event, came in a pink Chanel coat with black satin lapels.
Anna Wintour showed up in custom Chanel feathers, which at this point is less a fashion choice and more a uniform. She may no longer run American Vogue but nobody on those steps was going to tell her that.
Not every statement came through fabric. Heidi Klum arrived as a marble statue, which if you know Klum’s Halloween track record was less of a surprise and more of an inevitability. The woman commits.
Bad Bunny, 32, walked the carpet looking decades older than he is, a prosthetic makeup transformation so thorough that most people needed a second look. Katy Perry’s mirrored mask hid her face entirely.
Sabrina Carpenter, who at this point seems physically incapable of showing up anywhere without making it a moment, wore a dress constructed from celluloid film strips. Only she could make a film-reel dress feel like the most obvious choice in the room.
India had two names on the carpet. Manish Malhotra wore a bandhgala and a cape 50 artisans, 960 hours, Mumbai as the reference point. Karan Johar, also in Malhotra, came in a hand-painted cape with characters from Indian mythology over a vintage jacket. He said that the night had him emotional.
Gigi Hadid in Miu Miu delivered the night’s first naked dress flaming motifs placed with enough precision to be art and enough intention to be conversation. It was exactly what you’d expect from Gigi, which is not a criticism when the formula works, it works.
Hailey Bieber’s 24-karat gold Anthony Vaccarello look nodded to YSL’s 1969 sculptural collaboration with Claude Lalanne. The reference was there, the execution was clean, and yet somehow it still felt like Hailey playing it safe. For someone with her eye, you expected her to swing harder than a gold bodysuit.
The Kardashian-Jenner trio made their appearances and only one of them truly delivered. Kendall arrived in a Zac Posen for GAP gown that actually made sense for the evening.
Kylie’s Schiaparelli had the courtesy of a visual gag, a dress engineered to look like it was falling off.
Kim, in an orange Whitaker Malem bodice, looked like she had somewhere else to be.
Among everything the carpet delivered on Monday, one entrance carried actual weight. Model and activist Aariana Rose Philip walked into the Met Gala as the first wheelchair user in the event’s history. In a room full of people dressed as art, she was the most significant statement of the evening.
It wasn’t a perfect night by any measure. It rarely is. That’s what keeps people watching.
