The Tamesis
Before the 2026 Met Gala, Alexa Chung called two people: stylist Danielle Goldberg and personal trainer Matt Bevan. “Normally, I just keep going on my own, so this really helps,” she said of recruiting a strong team with a clear vision. “It turns out everyone else is doing this!” The fourth member of Metropolis Chung’s crew? Jonathan Anderson.
As it turns out, Danielle’s first piece of advice was “Dior,” which happens to be Chung’s coveted “fashion is art” dress code. Focused on reason and craftsmanship, Anderson happily crafted a fluid chartreuse gown with a lily blooming on top, referencing Monet and his own Dior fall 2026 show in the Tuileries Garden. “Wanting to cover up and wear something with structure and architecture is in my sartorial DNA, but it’s also cute to wear something a little sexier,” says Chung. “There’s something elfin about it.” To anyone watching, the low-slung confection looked more like a supermodel than something supernatural.
Hence, the gym membership. Having purchased a last-minute back exfoliator from Aesop the morning we spoke, Chung was photographed wearing a signature navy sweater in Met-ready mode at her East London home. “Honestly, if you’re wearing a strappy silk dress, there’s not a lot of room for error,” Chung explains, before noting that hydration and carb-loading are both key to the day, as well as a safe beauty routine. “Now is not the time to experiment.”
Although she insisted that this year’s Met Gala was all about feeling beautiful and not “clunking on the carpet in something hard to maintain,” Chung couldn’t resist the cyclamen-inspired couture headpiece, a gift from John Galliano to Anderson when he took over at Dior. “I’m a big fan of some tiaras,” Chung asserted, recalling her 2023 look by Róisín Pierce, which featured a half-bridal spray of crocheted flowers that swung around as she mingled with fashion’s greats. “It’s really nice to wear a headdress to express yourself in a conversation, so I’m totally open to adding that width.”
Her Met Gala philosophy is also the same as Alexa’s: “Don’t sweat it all, it’s bigger than it is,” she quipped when asked about her survival strategy for the night, saying it’s like “watching TikTok come alive. No matter how many times I’ve been, it’s still weird to see certain people standing next to other people. It’s kind of like a school party, but not like that…”
