The biggest stars are ready to strike their best poses on the steps of the Met for fashion’s biggest night.
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The 2026 Met Gala is here — which means it’s time for daring looks, possible baby bump debuts and some meme-worthy moments.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s affair.
This year’s theme: ‘Costume Art’
Since 1948, the gala has raised money to fund the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s operations and exhibitions. Last year, the event brought in a record $31 million dollars, the New York Times reported.
The event is traditionally held on the first Monday in May and is considered to be the highest-profile fashion event of the year.
The theme is derived from the institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art.” Max Hollein, CEO and director of the Met, previously told the Associated Press last year that the goal of the exhibit is to take visitors on a journey through art history, where they will see connections throughout.
“It’s a show that can really live in fascinating ways at the museum and can pull from all different areas of our collection — paintings, sculpture, drawings,” Hollein told the publication.
The show is “organized thematically by different body types,” Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, told the AP. Some of the sections include: the “Naked Body,” the “Classical Body,” the “Pregnant Body” and the “Aging Body.”
The Met Gala dress code is “Fashion is Art,” with guests being asked to “celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history,” the museum said.
Beyoncé to make her long-awaited Gala return
The Beyhive is buzzing over news of musician Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s return to the Met Gala for the first time in a decade.
The superstar has attended the event seven times, wearing Givenchy to five of those carpets. Though she made her Met Gala debut in 2008, most will likely remember her appearance in 2014, when footage of an elevator fight between her husband Jay-Z and sister Solange was leaked to TMZ.
This year, Bey serves as a co-host, alongside actor Nicole Kidman, tennis star Venus Williams and magazine executive Anna Wintour, who has long spearheaded the event.
Kidman, who previously chaired the gala in 2003 and 2005, has made six appearances at the Gala in total.
This will be Williams first time serving as chair. She has been involved in fashion on and off the court through her career as a tennis player, including launching her own label.
This year also marks the first Met Gala since Wintour stepped down as Vogue’s editor-in-chief, taking on two new titles: Condé Nast’s chief content officer and Vogue’s global editorial director. Chloe Malle was tapped as the new head of editorial for American Vogue last fall.
Rumored guest list features A-list stars
Tickets for this year’s event started at $100,000 a seat, and $350,000 for a table of 10, according to the AP.
But Wintour, as always, has full control over the guest list and must approve of each attendee.
In addition to Wintour’s co-hosts, there’s another Meta Gala Host committee, which is chaired by Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello and actor Zoë Kravitz.
It’s unclear whether Kravitz’s rumored fiancé Harry Styles will accompany her to the affair, but eagle-eyed fans will be looking out for an engagement ring.
Other members of the committee who are expected to attend include pop star Sabrina Carpenter, writer Lena Dunham, singer Sam Smith and WNBA star A’ja Wilson.
Onlookers can also expect to see frequent Met Gala guests, such as members of the Kardashian-Jenner family, and fashion icons, like Sarah Jessica Parker, on the Met steps.
While New York City’s sitting mayor is usually a guest at the event, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji will be skipping the affair this. When asked about the Gala by the publication Hell Gate, Mamdani said that he is focusing on affordability issues in the city.
Bezos’ involvement in Gala stirs controversy
Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos are the evening’s honorary co-chairs, a decision that has prompted some New Yorkers to call for a boycott of the star-studded affair.
In an interview “TODAY” in March, Sanchez Bezos said that Wintour approached the couple to sponsor the exhibition this year. The tech billionaire’s wife was featured on the Vogue cover after their June 2025 wedding.
An anti-billionaire group called Everyone Hates Elon has been putting up ads around New York City accusing Bezos of things like “enabling ICE,” “avoiding tax” and “exploiting workers.”
Vogue’s livestream kicks of at 6 p.m. ET
The red carpet arrivals typically begin around 5 p.m. ET and end around 8 p.m. ET. Most red carpet livestreams, including Vogue’s, will begin at 6 p.m ET.
Some of the most well-known guests tend to show up on the later side. Last year, for example, Rihanna made a fashionably late appearance on the carpet, hours after her partner A$AP Rocky confirmed the news that she was pregnant.
The official Met Gala live stream will be featured across Vogue’s website, YouTube and TikTok pages. Influencer Emma Chamberlain, actor Cara Delevingne, model Ashley Graham and TV personality La La Anthony serve as Vogue’s official red carpet hosts.
Additionally, E! is live-streaming departures from The Mark Hotel, The Carlyle Hotel and Pierre Hotel — three venues where celebrities tend to get ready with their stylists.
And of course, NBC News will be live blogging the event all evening.
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