Met Gala 2026 Hosts Beyoncé, Kidman and Williams Under Fashion Is Art Dress Code

New York's hairdressers and makeup artists are fully booked as around 450 A-list guests prepare to arrive for the Met Gala 2026, fashion's biggest night that raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams serve as co-chairs for the event. The dress code is Fashion Is Art.

This year's theme is Costume Art, tied to the museum's new exhibition featuring 400 outfits and objects from 5,000 years of history. Guests are encouraged to explore fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body in art history. Stars may draw from Baroque, Impressionist or Renaissance styles, or even specific paintings, though the broad theme allows for varied red carpet looks, as Vogue noted.

Met Gala chair Anna Wintour selected the co-chairs. This marks Beyoncé's first appearance since 2016, when she wore a futuristic outfit for the technology theme. The host committee includes Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Teyana Taylor, Lisa from Blackpink, Elizabeth Debicki and Lena Dunham, led by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos are co-chairs and sponsors. Bezos stepped down as Amazon's chief executive four years ago. Boycott calls have surfaced, with posters near the museum citing workers' rights issues.

The gala takes place on the first Monday in May, with arrivals starting around 18:00 EST (23:00 BST). The guest list stays private, but A-listers dominate. Inside, attendees enjoy dinner, cocktails, live music and a preview of the exhibition, which runs until January 2027 and funds the Costume Institute.

A strict no-selfie rule applies inside, but the red carpet draws heavy media coverage. Other events time publicity to the gala, such as the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2 over the weekend. The original film from two decades ago parodied the fashion industry and drew loosely from Wintour's Vogue editorship.

Vogue streams the red carpet live, hosted by Ashley Graham, Cara Delevingne and La La Anthony, with Emma Chamberlain as correspondent. The broadcast airs on Vogue's digital platforms, YouTube and TikTok. Other news outlets cover it on Instagram and TikTok. The BBC News website runs a live page during arrivals.

Tickets go only to invited guests, around 450 in total. Fashion houses propose names, but Anna Wintour, Met Gala chair since 1995 and head of content at Condé Nast, approves every invitation.