The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the theme and dress code for the 2026 Met Gala, offering clear direction for one of fashion’s most scrutinised red carpet events.

The 2026 exhibition theme, “Costume Art”, will shape the annual fundraising gala, while the official dress code, “Fashion Is Art”, provides guests with a practical interpretation for their attire. The phrase is intended to guide attendees in translating the curatorial concept into red carpet fashion.

Each year, the Met Gala theme influences both the exhibition at the Costume Institute and the evening’s most talked-about looks. In 2026, the focus signals a shift towards positioning fashion within the wider context of fine art and museum practice.

The announcement coincides with a milestone for the Costume Institute, which will open its new permanent home, the Condé M. Nast Galleries. The 12,000-square-foot space, located beside the museum’s Great Hall, marks the first time the Institute has had a dedicated gallery for rotating displays from its collection.

While the theme informs the exhibition’s scholarly framework, the dress code offers more specific guidance for attendees. For 2026, “Fashion Is Art” “encourages attendees to consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas.”

Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of the Costume Institute and curator of the new exhibition, said, “What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body. It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was.”

Bolton has emphasised the “centrality of the dressed body”, pairing historical and contemporary garments with artworks from the museum’s 5,000-year collection. The approach is expected to shape red carpet fashion in sculptural and interpretive ways, reflecting the body as both subject and canvas.

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on, May 4, 2026 with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour as co-chairs for the event. 

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are honorary chairs meanwhile host committee co-chairs are Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz.