The 2026 Met Gala Dress Code “Fashion is Art” Leaves Much to the Imagination

On Monday, May 4, guests at the 2026 Met Gala will celebrate the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “The Art of Costume.” But what will they wear? Today we have at least one idea: The dress code for this year’s Met Gala is “Fashion is Art.”

The instruction perfectly embodies the ethos of Costume Art, exploring the “centrality of the clothed body” through depictions and interpretations of the human form from the Met’s rich collection. The exhibition, composed of nearly 400 objects, will be held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Condé M. Nast Gallery adjacent to the Great Hall, pairing costumes from the Costume Institute with paintings, sculptures and other works spanning some 5,000 years of art history. In turn, the dress code encourages attendees to consider the many ways designers use the body as a blank canvas.

“What connects every curatorial department and every gallery in the museum is fashion, or the body that wears it,” said Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of the Costume Institute. “That’s something the whole museum has in common, and that was the original idea for the exhibition.”

So, who should we expect to see their best performances at the Met? While the full guest list for the gala will remain a closely guarded secret until the first Monday in May, we do know some of the big names.

As previously announced, the 2026 Met Gala co-chairs are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour, and the gala host committee (co-chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz) includes Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, Chloe Marler, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Wyant, Aja Wilson, and Iseult.

Also joining the host committee are Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald and Chase Sui Wonders. As major sponsors of this year’s gala and exhibition, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos will also serve as honorary chairs.

If any of them need a little guidance, we’ve rounded up some dress code-friendly options for Monday’s Met Gala. Otherwise, we can’t wait to see how attendees embody this theme.