It's the first Monday in May, which means the countdown for the Met Gala 2026 is officially over!
Widely referred to as fashion's biggest night, the Met Gala is an annual fundraiser event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Every year, fashion enthusiasts from around the world tune in to see celebrities, artists, and fashion insiders arrive at the prestigious dinner, gracing the iconic Met Museum stairs in some of the most coveted sartorial creations, inspired by and honoring the year's exhibition theme.
Back in November, Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the theme for the 2026 exhibition, which serves as the guiding thread for the Met Gala. The news marked the beginning of the countdown to the big night in May 2026, which has at long last arrived.
If you are ready to tune in from the comfort of your home and want to know everything about the invitees, co-chairs, dress code, theme, and more, we've got you covered. Below, find out everything you need to know about the 2026 Met Gala and the Costume Institute's newest exhibition. Continue reading for the full details, or skip to your preferred section using the menu below.
- When is the Met Gala 2026?
- What is the Met Gala 2026 theme?
- What is the Met Gala 2026 dress code?
- Who are the co-chairs of the Met Gala 2026?
- Who else will attend the Met Gala 2026?
- Who will host the Met Gala 2026 red carpet?
- Where can I watch the Met Gala 2026?
- When can the public see the Costume Art exhibition?
When is the Met Gala 2026 taking place?
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as in 2021, the Met Gala takes place on the first Monday in May every year. That means the Met Gala 2026 will take place on Monday, May 4 — a.k.a today! The timing of the Met Gala is not coincidental; it marks the opening of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute spring fashion exhibition, which serves as a guiding thread for the fundraiser.
What is the Met Gala 2026 theme?
On November 17, 2025, Vogue announced the title of the Costume Institute's 2026 exhibition, which the Met Gala 2026 will benefit: “Costume Art.” According to curator Andrew Bolton, the exhibition is inspired by “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collection."
The exhibition will mark the inauguration of nearly 12,000 square feet of the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a fashion-first permanent space located adjacent to the Met's Great Hall. The collection will feature 400 "paintings, sculptures, and other objects spanning the 5,000 years of art represented in The Met, alongside historical and contemporary garments from the Costume Institute.”
“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.”
What's new about the 2026 Met Gala theme? Well, it's Bolton's first exhibition theme ever without a subtitle. Although the theme originally had a secondary part to complement the main title, Bolton and his team ultimately decided to remove it.
"We took it out, and it was like taking off a corset,” Bolton said. “I thought, This is exactly what it should be. It’s bold, it’s strong, it’s a statement of intent. [The goal] is not to create a new hierarchy. It’s just to disband that hierarchy and to focus on equivalency — equivalency of artworks and equivalency of bodies.”
As confirmed by The Met, this year's exhibition and Met Gala benefit are made possible by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos. Additional support is provided by Saint Laurent and Condé Nast. The exhibition's catalog is made possible by Saint Laurent.
What is the Met Gala 2026 dress code?
In a press release, Vogue announced that the 2026 Met Gala dress code is “Fashion Is Art." The gala invites "guests to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history.”
The dress code is usually a nod to the exhibition's focus, and this year it seems the interpretations could go in several directions. Vogue has even put together a guide on the most anticipated runway looks that could make an appearance at the Gala to honor the dress code, ranging from Rococo-, Baroque-, and Renaissance-inspired frocks to takes on pop art, neo-plasticism, surrealism, and more.
Who are the co-chairs of the Met Gala 2026?
On December 10, 2025, The Met and Vogue announced that Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour will serve as co-chairs for the Met Gala 2026 fundraiser. That means the event will mark Beyoncé's return to the Met Gala for the first time since 2016.
Beyoncé made her Met Gala debut in 2008 and attended her second gala in 2011. From then, she was a Met Gala staple, gracing the red carpet for six consecutive years until her last Met Gala in 2016. People have been anticipating her return ever since, and it looks like the wait is over.
For reference, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour served as co-chairs of the 2025 Met Gala, alongside honorary chair LeBron James. Since they are the main sponsors of the Gala and exhibition this year, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will also serve as honorary chairs in 2026.
Who will attend the Met Gala 2026?
The Met Gala guest list is always top secret until the night of, but you can get a glimpse of who to expect based on each year's co-chairs and the Host Committee. On December 10, The Met and Vogue announced that designer Anthony Vaccarello and actor Zoë Kravitz will serve as co-chairs for the Gala Host Committee in 2026.
The publication also announced several members of the 2026 Met Gala Host Committee, including Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, Lisa, Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, and Yseult, who are all also confirmed to attend.
Additional members of the Host Committee who were later announced and are also confirmed to attend the Met Gala include Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Elizabeth Debicki, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Amy Sherald, Tschabalala Self, Teyana Taylor, A'ja Wilson, and Chase Sui Wonders.
Vogue has confirmed that each Met Gala hosts about 450 attendees, so beyond the co-chairs and host committee members, there are also plenty of vacant seats, and you can get an idea of who will occupy each by paying attention to who's flocked to NYC ahead of the big Monday.
This year in particular, there's been no shortage of pre-Met Gala events—from Vogue's own pre-Met Gala party to various celebrity bashes. Some of the invitees at these parties include Simone Ashley, Sombr, Gabbriette, Law Roach, Laura Harrier, Odessa A'zion, Lila Moss, Chase Infiniti, Hunter Schafer, Colman Domingo, Kendall Jenner, and more—so it's more than likely that we will be seeing most (if not all) of those names also gracing the Met stairs tonight.
Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie have also both been spotted around NYC ahead of the Met Gala, which likely means the rumors that they will be making their debut are true. Also spotted in the city are BLACKPINK's Jennie (often clad in Chanel), as well as Gracie Abrams, Rauw Alejandro, and Olivia Rodrigo, the latter after taking on double duty at SNL, so it's unclear if she could have already departed by the time the Met Gala starts or if she will grace the red carpet once again. (Rodrigo has only attended the Gala in 2021, 2022, and 2023.)
Kim Kardashian, who has become a Met Gala staple alongside her sisters, confirmed on Instagram that she will be attending her 13th Met Gala today, so there's no surprise there. (TBD on if we get to see North West with her, even if it's just while getting ready.)
As for Zendaya, whose looks are always among the most anticipated as soon as the Met Gala rolls around, she's a big question mark. Days before the event, she was seen in California supporting an event for Tom Holland's Bero company. She was later seen in NYC visiting an On store. There's chatter that she will skip this year's event, but we will have to wait until the red carpet ends to know for sure.
Who will host the Met Gala 2026 red carpet?
The Met Gala 2026 red carpet will be hosted by Ashley Graham, La La Anthony, and Cara Delevingne. They will be joined by Emma Chamberlain, who will reprise her duty as the main Red Carpet Correspondent once again.
Where can I watch the Met Gala 2026?
If you want to know everything about how to watch the Met Gala 2026 from home, we've got you covered with specific times, streams, and what to expect. You can also tune in right here with the livestream below:
When can the public see the Costume Art exhibition?
Following the Met Gala, which serves as a fundraiser and inauguration, the public will be able to see the Costume Art exhibition that the Ball benefits from May 10. The exhibition will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue through January 10, 2027. Museum members receive early access starting May 5.
“The whole show [is] structured around a typology of bodies, and these are bodies that you see across the museum when you encounter artworks,” curator Andrew Bolton explained to Vogue. “The simple thesis for the show really is the fact that the dressed body is the connecting thread throughout the entire museum.”
“I wanted to present fashion as a lens with which to look at art,” Bolton continued. “I wanted the pairings to be sometimes formal, sometimes conceptual, sometimes political, sometimes humorous, sometimes deeply profound, and sometimes lighthearted. When you juxtapose a garment with an artwork, another meaning comes about. Something else happens. I want to focus on that. It’s as if one plus one equals three…. Hopefully, the show will empower people to make those connections beyond the four walls of the museum.”
You can expect to see pieces by Glenn Martens for Y/Project, Jean Paul Gaultier, Walter Van Beirendonck, Robert Wun Couture, Thom Browne Couture, Loewe, and many more. If you want a sneak peek at what to expect, check out Vogue's exhibition preview here.
This story has been updated as news about the Met Gala 2026 broke.
