Met Gala 2026 will celebrate fashion as an ’embodied art form’: A guide to the theme, dress code, cochairs and hosting committee of the starry event

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Are you ready for fashion’s biggest night?! The 2026 Met Gala is fast approaching, which means we’ll soon be able to see a slew of A-list celebrities ascend the fabled steps at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in their finest luxury garments.

The Met Gala has long been the site for some of fashion’s most showstopping moments. Who could forget The Drama star Zendaya’s Joan of Arc-inspired chainmail dress, designed by Donatella Versace, at the 2018 Met Gala? What about Cardi B’s over-the-top, feathered Thom Browne gown at the 2019 Met Gala? Rihanna’s 2025 Met Gala look still lives rent-free in our minds: Her custom, deconstructed Marc Jacobs ensemble doubled as an iconic pregnancy announcement.

This year’s Met Gala dress code, “Fashion Is Art,” invites guests to curate high-fashion looks inspired by their personal relationships to fashion as an “embodied art form.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 Met Gala.

What is the Met Gala?

The Met Gala is an annual charity fundraiser and event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Traditionally the benefit has been timed to coincide with the Costume Institute’s annual exhibition.

Widely considered to be fashion’s biggest night, the Met Gala features a star-studded guest list that ranges from celebrities and designers to philanthropists and athletes, all of whom will ascend the famed staircase in their decadent designer creations. Met Gala attendees are encouraged to dress in accordance with the Costume Institute’s chosen theme.

Last year’s event raised a record-breaking $31 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the most in the Met Gala’s 77-year history, Condé Nast reported.

Part of that record-breaking amount includes the cost of Met Gala tickets. Tables for 10 start at $350,000, and individual tickets, offered only by invitation, are $75,000, according to the New York Times.

When is the Met Gala? Where is it held?

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 4 — it’s tradition for the starry gala to typically occur on the first Monday of May — at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. While the gala itself takes place at the landmark museum, many guests who’ve scored a coveted ticket to the event typically stay at nearby hotels, such as the celebrity hot spots the Mark and the Carlyle hotels. Crowds of fans often wait outside these hotels to catch glimpses of their favorite celebrities, lavishly dressed.

What is the theme for the Costume Institute’s exhibition?

The theme for the spring 2026 exhibit is “Costume Art,” which is inspired by “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collections,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge, told Vogue.

The upcoming exhibit will also mark the inauguration of Condé M. Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot permanent space dedicated to the celebration of fashion history.

“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” Bolton told Vogue. “It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was, this epiphany: I know that we’ve often been seen as the stepchild, but in fact the dressed body is front and center in every gallery you come across. Even the nude is never naked. … It’s always inscribed with cultural values and ideas.”

The spring 2026 exhibit also marks a departure from previous Costume Institute shows, emphasizing the significance of the body rather than just the garments. Bolton told Vogue that the show will highlight “the indivisible connection between our bodies and the clothes we wear.”

What is the Met Gala dress code?

The 2026 Met Gala dress code is “Fashion Is Art” — but how this year’s attendees will interpret it is anyone’s guess.

Guests are invited “to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Historically, though, Met Gala guests haven’t always stuck to the theme.

Who are this year’s Met Gala cochairs? Who is on the hosting committee?

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour will serve as cochairs of the 2026 Met Gala. Though Wintour has never outright confirmed what cochairs do, it’s rumored that the selected individuals have a hand in determining the benefit’s dress code and in planning the dinner and the performances.

This will be Kidman’s third time as cochair, while Beyoncé previously served as honorary chair. Williams is a first-time cochair for the Met Gala, while Wintour has held the role every year since 1995.

There will also be a gala host committee, chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, to support the event. The committee is Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Misty Copeland, Alex Consani, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, Rebecca Hall, Lisa, Chloe Malle, Aimee Mullins, Amy Sherald, Tschabalala Self, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Anna Weyant, Lauren Wasser, A’ja Wilson, Chase Sui Wonders and Yseult.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the lead sponsors for this year’s gala and exhibition, will act as honorary chairs.

Am I able to watch the Met Gala?

Unfortunately, audiences won’t be able to watch what happens inside the gala itself. Since guests are required to follow a strict no-phone policy, the closest we’ll ever get to seeing what goes on inside the Met Gala is through footage shared by Vogue’s official social media accounts. What we would have given to see Ariana Grande perform at the 2024 Met Gala!

Exclusive red carpet coverage for the 2026 Met Gala will stream live through Vogue’s official website and YouTube channel.