The countdown for the Met Gala 2026 is officially on, as information about the date, hosts, theme, and other details are being revealed.
Widely referred to as the Oscars of fashion, the Met Gala is, of course, the annual fundraising event for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute that’s become a global cultural phenomenon on a par, interestwise, with the Academy Awards. Every year, fashion and pop culture enthusiasts from around the world tune in to see celebrities, designers, socialites, and other fashion insiders arrive at the event, walk the iconic stairs of The Met, and showcase truly astounding looks inspired by and honoring the exhibition’s theme, which changes yearly.
Below, find out everything you need to know so far about the 2026 Met Gala. Continue reading for the full details, or skip to your preferred section using the menu below.
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When is the Met Gala 2026 taking place?
The star-studded event takes place on the first Monday in May every year, which means the Met Gala 2026 will take place on Monday, May 4, 2026.
What is the Met Gala 2026 theme?
On November 17, 2025, Vogue announced the Met Gala 2026 theme is Costume Art. According to curator Andrew Bolton, the theme is inspired by “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collection.”
The upcoming 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 “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 different about the 2026 Met Gala theme is that it’s Bolton’s first without a subtitle. Although in the past, the theme had a secondary component 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,” he 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.”
What is the Met Gala 2026 dress code?
Fashion Is Art. The “Costume Art” exhibit juxtaposes fashion pieces with artworks that are reminiscent of the clothing, or vice versa, so guests will be expected to embody art as well. Vogue was kind enough to round up 56 runway looks and sort them by artistic movement, if you want to get a sense of how this dress code might match the theme.
Who are the co-chairs of the Met Gala 2026?
There are a few levels to chairing here, as the Gala and the Host Committee are slightly separate entities. But here’s what we know, per Vogue.
Co-chairs of the Gala: Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour.
Gala Host Committee co-chairs: Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz
Gala Host Committee members: 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, Yseult, Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald, and Chase Sui Wonders.
Lead sponsors of gala and exhibition, honorary chairs: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.
Who will attend the Met Gala 2026?
The Met Gala guest list is always top secret until the night of; however, it’s a safe bet that all the various chairs and members listed above will be in attendance. We also expect to see an array of the word’s biggest stars walking the steps of The Met; this might include Kendall Jenner, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Zendaya, Rihanna, Timothée Chalamet, and more. We’re also banking on some new faces (rising pop superstar Olivia Dean, perhaps?) being present and accounted for.
Who will host the Met Gala 2026 red carpet?
We don’t know who will be the host of the 2026 Met Gala red carpet just yet. For reference, Vogue unveiled last year’s hosts (LaLa Anthony, Teyana Taylor, and Ego Nwodim) just a few weeks before the event.
This story originally appeared on Teen Vogue, and will be updated as more news about the Met Gala 2026 is released.