The Metropolitan Museum of Art has officially announced the 2026 Met Gala dress code as “Fashion Is Art.” The theme will guide the high-profile event scheduled for Monday, May 4, 2026.
The gala will coincide with the launch of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, “Costume Art.” This marks the first show to be held inside the museum’s new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries. The exhibition will feature nearly 400 objects. Curators will pair about 200 historical and contemporary garments with 200 artworks from the museum’s permanent collection. Together, they will explore the relationship between clothing and the body.
Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, explained the vision behind the theme:
“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body.”
He added:
“Hopefully, it will put an end to the rather obsolete ‘Is Fashion Art?’ debate once and for all.”
The 2026 Met Gala will feature an impressive list of co-chairs. Music icon Beyoncé will return to the gala for the first time since 2016. She will join actress Nicole Kidman, tennis champion Venus Williams, and longtime Met Gala chair Anna Wintour. Meanwhile, the host committee will be led by Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz.
Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the museum, described the exhibition as:
“A dynamic and scholarly conversation” between the Costume Institute’s archive and the museum’s wider collection.
He further stated:
“I hope we all agree that fashion is art, but actually I think the exhibition will make it obvious how fashion is actually happening… all across the museum and in all different mediums already.”
The “Costume Art” exhibition will be organized into themes such as the “Classical Body,” “Pregnant Body,” and “Aging Body.” It opens to the public on May 10, 2026, and will run through January 10, 2027.
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