Metropolitan Museum of Art Sets 'Costume Art' Theme for 2026 Met Gala on May 4
The 2026 Met Gala will occur on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, featuring the theme 'Costume Art' to celebrate fashion as an art form. Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour. The event supports the museum's Costume Institute through fundraising organized by Vogue.
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The 2026 Met Gala is scheduled for Monday, May 4, 2026, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with celebrities such as Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams set to attend. The theme for both the gala and the concurrent spring 2026 museum exhibition is 'Costume Art,' according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Met Costume Institute.
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This theme aims to celebrate fashion as an art form, focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present.
The 'Costume Art' exhibition will be organized into a series of thematic body types that reflect their ubiquity and endurance through time and space, the Metropolitan Museum of Art stated. 'These comparisons will highlight the inextricable relationship between clothing and the body and reveal that artistic representations of the body are shaped by the garments that clothe them and that the garments, in turn, are shaped by the bodies which they clothe,' the museum said in a press release.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art issued this press release about the 'Costume Art' exhibition on November 17.
The livestream is hosted exclusively by Vogue and will be broadcast live across its digital platforms, including YouTube and TikTok. Emma Chamberlain will return as Vogue's red carpet correspondent for the 2026 Met Gala livestream, while Ashley Graham, Cara Delevingne and La La Anthony will host the event.
The co-chairs of the 2026 Met Gala are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour, according to Vogue. Anna Wintour is the chief content officer for Condé Nast. The 2026 Met Gala Host Committee is chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, with additional members including 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.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will serve as honorary chairs of the 2026 Met Gala, Vogue reported. They are also the lead sponsors for both the 2026 Met Gala and the exhibition. The dress code for the 2026 Met Gala is 'Fashion is Art,' as stated by Vogue.
The 2026 Met Gala exhibition is inspired by the centrality of the dressed body in the museum's vast collection, according to Andrew Bolton. 'What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,' Bolton said.
'It's the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was, this epiphany ...
The dressed body is front and center in every gallery you come across. Even the nude is never naked. ' The Met Gala is traditionally held on the first Monday in May. It is held annually in support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition and serves as the primary funding source for the institute's various activities and operations.
The Met Gala benefit is organized by Vogue and has been chaired or co-chaired by Anna Wintour since 1995. Condé Nast is the parent company of Vogue.
Key Facts
Story Timeline
5 events- 2026-04-20
The 2026 Met Gala article was published by the GMA Team at 6:24 PM.
1 source@ABC - 2025-11-17
The Metropolitan Museum of Art issued a press release about the 'Costume Art' exhibition.
1 source@ABC - 2026-05-04
The 2026 Met Gala will take place, with red carpet livestream starting at 6 p.m. ET.
1 source@ABC - 1995
Anna Wintour began chairing or co-chairing the Met Gala.
1 source@ABC - ongoing
The Met Gala is traditionally held on the first Monday in May annually.
1 source@ABC
Potential Impact
- 01
Increased visibility for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute through celebrity attendance and livestream.
- 02
Boost in fundraising for the Costume Institute's operations from the gala benefit.
- 03
Potential rise in digital engagement via Vogue's platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
- 04
Promotion of thematic body types in art, highlighting clothing-body relationships in exhibitions.
- 05
Cultural emphasis on fashion as art, influencing public perception of museum collections.
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