Met Gala 2026: Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams Lead Fashion’s Biggest Night
The 2026 Met Gala returns to New York City on Monday, May 4, bringing together fashion, celebrity culture and museum fundraising at one of the most closely watched red-carpet events in the world.
Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the annual gala supports the museum’s Costume Institute and marks the opening of its spring fashion exhibition. This year’s theme is “Costume Art,” while the official dress code is “Fashion is Art,” according to the source material citing the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Costume Institute and Vogue.
The event is expected to draw high-profile figures from entertainment, fashion, sports and culture, with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams among the names listed in the source material as expected participants.
The Met Gala returns on the first Monday in May
The Met Gala traditionally takes place on the first Monday in May, a date that has become a major fixture on the international fashion calendar. In 2026, that date falls on May 4.
For global audiences, the Met Gala is more than a celebrity red carpet. Officially known as the Costume Institute Benefit, it is a fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the department dedicated to fashion and costume history.
The gala is organized by Vogue and has long been associated with Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer, who has chaired or co-chaired the benefit since 1995, according to the source material.
This year’s theme is “Costume Art”
The 2026 gala is connected to the Met’s spring 2026 exhibition, also titled “Costume Art.” According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Costume Institute, the exhibition aims to celebrate fashion as an art form.
The source material states that the exhibition focuses primarily on Western art, from prehistory to the present, and is organized around thematic body types. The museum’s stated aim is to explore the relationship between clothing and the human body across time, culture and artistic representation.
In practical terms, the theme asks guests, designers and viewers to consider fashion not simply as decoration, but as part of the way bodies are represented, interpreted and understood in art.
The dress code is “Fashion is Art”
The official 2026 Met Gala dress code is “Fashion is Art,” according to Vogue as cited in the source material.
The dress code reflects the exhibition’s broader concept: that clothing and the dressed body appear throughout museum collections, not only in fashion galleries. Met curator Andrew Bolton previously told Vogue that the “dressed body” is a common thread across the museum’s galleries, according to the source material.
That framing gives designers and guests wide room for interpretation. However, the source does not provide details about specific outfits, so any claims about what guests will wear would be speculative.
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour are co-chairs
The 2026 Met Gala co-chairs are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour, according to the source material.
Their roles reflect the event’s blend of music, film, sports, fashion media and museum culture. Beyoncé is one of the world’s most prominent music figures, Kidman is an internationally recognized actor, Williams is a major figure in tennis, and Wintour is one of the most influential editors in fashion media.
The 2026 host committee is chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, according to Vogue as cited in the source material. Additional committee members listed include Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, A’ja Wilson and Yseult.
The source material also states that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will serve as honorary chairs, as they are the lead sponsors for both the gala and the exhibition, according to Vogue.
How to watch the 2026 Met Gala red carpet
For viewers outside New York, the red carpet will be available through Vogue’s livestream.
According to the source material, Vogue announced that its sixth annual Met Gala red-carpet livestream will begin at 6 p.m. ET on May 4. The stream will be hosted exclusively by Vogue and broadcast across its digital platforms, including YouTube and TikTok.
The livestream hosts are Ashley Graham, Cara Delevingne and La La Anthony, while Emma Chamberlain is set to return as Vogue’s red-carpet correspondent, according to the source material.
What the Met Gala supports
The Met Gala is the primary annual funding source for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, according to the source material.
The Costume Institute uses the benefit to support its exhibitions, activities and operations. Each year, the gala’s theme is tied to the institute’s spring exhibition, making the event both a fundraiser and a major cultural launch for fashion scholarship and museum programming.
This structure helps explain why the Met Gala receives attention far beyond the fashion industry. It combines museum fundraising, celebrity visibility, designer interpretation and global media coverage into a single event.
Why the 2026 theme matters
The 2026 theme places emphasis on the idea that fashion can be understood as art, not merely as trend or spectacle. By connecting clothing to the body and to artistic representation, “Costume Art” gives the gala a broader cultural frame.
For international readers, the event offers a look at how one of the world’s major museums uses fashion to explore history, identity, visual culture and celebrity influence. While the red carpet often dominates public attention, the 2026 edition is also tied to a museum exhibition that asks viewers to think about how clothing shapes the way bodies are seen across art and time.
As the first Monday in May arrives, the 2026 Met Gala is positioned not only as a fashion event, but as a high-profile conversation about the place of costume, image and the dressed body in art.