Fashion’s biggest night is almost upon us!
“Short n’ Sweet” singer Sabrina Carpenter attends the Met Gala 2025 in Louis Vuitton (Photo: Getty Images)
From the theme to the celebrity co-chairs, find out everything you need to know about the upcoming Met Gala below.
What is the Met Gala?
The first Met Gala was organised in 1948 by Eleanor Lambert. The legendary American fashion publicist also founded New York Fashion Week, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and the International Best Dressed List. Formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, the Met Gala is a fundraiser for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 2025, the Met Gala raised US$31 million for the iconic institution.
When it was founded, the Met Gala was marketed as ‘The Party of the Year’ and almost every year for the last eight decades, it has lived up to its name.
When is the Met Gala held?
The Met Gala is held annually on the first Monday of May. In 2026, it will fall on 4 May.
The red carpet opens at 4.30pm Eastern Time. To watch live coverage from Malaysia, tune in at 5.30pm on 5 May.
What is the theme of the Met Gala in 2026?
The Met Gala celebrates the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring exhibition. In 2026, the exhibition is titled “Costume Art”. Put together by Andrew Bolton OBE, the British museum curator and incumbent head curator of the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the show sets out to explore the relationship between clothing and the body. According to Bolton, it aims to “present a spectrum of connections and experiences: from the formal to the conceptual, the aesthetic to the political, the individual to the universal, the illustrative to the symbolic, and the playful to the profound.”
A preview of the Costume Institute’s Spring 2026 exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art (Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Organised into three distinct sections of body types, the Naked Body, the Pregnant Body and the Aging Body, there will be “depictions of the dressed body across The Met’s vast collection, pairing garments with artworks to reveal the inherent relationship between clothing and the body.” The artworks include sculptures, paintings, and photographs from the Western hemisphere, focusing on pieces from prehistory to the present. Mirrored mannequins and cast figures will also be used throughout the space to “help visitors reflect on the lived experience of bodies represented”.
The exhibition will inaugurate the Met’s new, nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, adjacent to the Great Hall.
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What is the dress code?
To clear up a common misconception, the theme of the exhibition is not the dress code. The theme of the exhibition lays out the overall concept, whereas the dress code for guests is an invitation to translate the theme onto the red carpet.
The dress code for the Met Gala in 2026 is not yet announced.
Look back at BAZAAR’s Best Dressed List from the 2025 Met Gala.
Who will be hosting the Met Gala in 2026?
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams will join Anna Wintour as co-chairs of the Met Gala. This will mark Beyoncé’s first Met Gala appearance in 10 years; the Renaissance and Cowboy Carter singer’s last appearance at the gala was in 2016, where she dressed to the theme of “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology” in Givenchy haute couture.
Beyonce Knowles attends ‘Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology’ at the Met Gala 2016 (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
As co-chairs, their role is to put together the event, from the guestlist to décor and entertainment, and host their guests on the day.
- 2025 Met Gala Co-chairs: Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams
- 2024 Met Gala Co-chairs: Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez, and Zendaya
- 2023 Met Gala Co-chairs: Michaela Coel, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer and Penélope Cruz
- 2022 Met Gala Co-chairs: Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Lin-Manuel Miranda
- 2021 Met Gala Co-chairs: Naomi Osaka, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Timothée Chalamet
Following tradition, the museum will also set up a gala host committee, chaired by Saint Laurent’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello and actress Zoe Kravitz. The committee comprises of Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Blackpink’s Lisa, Sam Smith, Yseult, Misty Copeland, Teyana Taylor, Elizabeth Debicki, Gwendoline Christie, Lena Dunham, basketball player A’ja Wilson, artist Anna Weyant, Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, Lauren Wasser, and Vogue editor Chloe Malle. More names will be added to the list as the event draws closer.
The lead sponsors for the event are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos, joined by secondary sponsors Saint Laurent and Condé Nast.
