Met Gala 2026 dress code revealed — and it leaves a lot of room for interpretation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute has announced nan dress codification for this year’s Met Gala: “Fashion is Art.”

The depository announced nan dress codification Monday, on pinch this year’s personage committee and co-chairs.

According to an announcement successful Vogue, nan directive is meant to bespeak nan ethos of “Costume Art,” which explores nan “centrality of nan dressed body” done depictions and interpretations of nan quality shape in nan Met’s extensive collection.

The dress codification encourages guests to deliberation astir really designers tin usage their bodies arsenic a blank canvas.

“What connects each curatorial section and what connects each azygous assemblage successful nan depository is fashion, aliases nan dressed body,” Andrew Bolton, nan curator successful complaint of nan Costume Institute, said successful a statement. “It’s nan communal thread passim nan full museum, which is really what nan first thought for nan accumulation was.”

Joining this year’s apical co-chairs — Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, tennis champ Venus Williams and Vogue’s Anna Wintour — is simply a “host committee” chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz, and featuring names from Sabrina Carpenter and Teyana Taylor to Lena Dunham and Misty Copeland.

On Monday, Vogue announced nan caller members joining nan big committee, including Chase Sui Wonders, Angela Bassett, Rebecca Hall and Aimee Mullins.

Jeff Bezos and his woman Lauren Sánchez Bezos are besides serving arsenic co-chairs of nan event, which was announced successful November.

They, and everyone other attending, will beryllium figuring retired what to deterioration travel May 4. The codification seems to person been chosen for maximum flexibility. “Hopefully, it will put an extremity to nan alternatively obsolete ‘Is Fashion Art?’ statement erstwhile and for all,” Bolton quips.

As fashion-lovers know, nan gala is not only a fundraiser for nan institute — a self-funding section — but a launchpad for nan yearly outpouring manner exhibit. Curated by Bolton and his team, this year’s show, “Costume Art,” seeks to coming manner arsenic a through-line successful nan full history of art.

The grounds will beryllium nan biggest, successful position of objects, that nan institute’s ever done: astir 400 successful total, aliases 200 garments and 200 artworks from astir nan museum, placed successful pairs. “It’s a beast,” Bolton said.

The idea, he noted, is to analyse “the dressed body” successful each its aspects, and to make nan constituent that not only is manner creation — thing erstwhile shows person shown — but that creation is fashion. “It’s reversing what we’ve done before,” Bolton explained. “Now we’re looking astatine creation done nan lens of fashion.”

He besides called nan Spring 2026 “Costumed Art” exhibition, group to unfastened to nan nationalist connected May 10 astatine nan Met, 1 of nan highlights of his career.

“We’re trying to make a connection present — that this is thing WE tin do astatine nan Met,” he explained. “We person entree to 16 curatorial departments crossed nan museum.” And, of course, entree to nan institute’s much than 33,000 garments. “Really, cipher other has this capacity,” Bolton says.

Additional reporting by AP