The Tamesis
When Anok Yai heard the theme of Met Gala 2026, her first thought was: I must become a statue. The Sudanese-American model quickly created a mood board and sent a message to Pierpaolo Piccioli. Starting from scratch – she “begged” Balenciaga’s recently appointed creative director to collaborate, and (spoiler!) of course he obliged. The pair thought the look would be a powerful work of art (“obviously,” she said) and fit the theme of “fashion is art,” but more than that, she said, they wanted to “send a message.” They landed on the Black Madonna.
“With the climate we’re living in right now, we need hope,” Yai said in the hair and makeup chair on the day of the Met Gala. “I feel like being a black Madonna in a Trump world will send that message.”
Still, Yai is worried. “The Met is always stressful,” she said. “I was excited, but the nerves were killing me.” Maybe prosthetics played a role? The second step in the creative process, once Yai and Piccioli’s homage to religious icons was locked in, was beauty. “When I walk on the red carpet, I don’t want to look like a person,” says Yai, for whom hydration and facials are key to a radiant look on a Met Night. “I wanted to look like a walking statue – that’s why I decided to use a wig.”
