The Met Gala 2026, held on the first Monday of May, saw celebrities interpret the theme 'Fashion is Art' with outfits inspired by famous artworks. The event, which opens the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, encouraged attendees to express their relationship with fashion as an embodied art form.
Rosé, a member of Blackpink, wore a black strapless Saint Laurent dress by Anthony Vaccarello, featuring a bird brooch inspired by Georges Braque's bird depictions. The look also referenced Saint Laurent's spring 1998 and spring 2002 couture collections.
Lena Dunham returned to the Met Gala for the first time since 2019 in a red Valentino dress by Alessandro Michele. The asymmetrical silk and sequinned gown, adorned with crow's feathers, was inspired by the blood spatter in Artemisia Gentileschi's painting 'Judith Slaying Holofernes' (c. 1620).
Julianne Moore wore a custom Bottega Veneta black dress with a slipping strap, alluding to John Singer Sargent's portrait 'Madame X' (1884), which caused a scandal in Paris. The painting is part of the Met's permanent collection.
Hunter Schafer's custom Prada dress mimicked the Emilie Flöge design in Gustav Klimt's 'Mäda Primavesi' (1912/1913), complete with a long train and blue eyeshadow. The painting, owned by the Met, depicts the nine-year-old daughter of art patron Otto Primavesi.
