Fashion's biggest night is underway as the Met Gala 2026 kicks off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This year's event marks the opening of the Costume Institute's new 12,000-square-foot Condé Nast Galleries, with the exhibition theme 'Costume Art' exploring the relationship between clothing and the body. The dress code for guests is 'Fashion is Art,' encouraging attendees to celebrate fashion as an embodied art form.
Anna Wintour, Vogue's global editorial director, continues to oversee the gala, with co-chairs including Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, who provided majority funding for the exhibition and gala, have been named honorary chairs, sparking outrage from activist groups. Anti-Bezos posters have appeared near the museum, and a protest is expected outside the event.
The guest list remains undisclosed but is expected to include host committee members such as Anthony Vaccarello, Zoe Kravitz, Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Teyana Taylor, A'ja Wilson, Chase Sui Wonders and Sam Smith. However, New York's new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has declined to attend, citing a focus on affordability in the city.
This year's gala has been dubbed the 'tech gala' due to corporate ticket purchases by Meta, Snapchat, OpenAI, ShopMy and Amazon. Individual tickets cost around $100,000, up from $75,000 last year, with tables fetching upwards of $300,000. Last year's event raised a record $31 million, and organisers hope to surpass that figure.
