The Metropolitan Museum of Art has officially announced the theme for the 2026 Met Gala, revealing “Costume Art” as the creative focus of fashion’s biggest night.
Each year the Met Gala theme becomes the northern star of the red carpet moments that often become defining moments of the zeitgeist in their own right. Who could forget Jared Leto carrying a replica of his own head, Zandaya’s Cinderella-esque gown complete with Roach Law as fairy Godmother or Tyla’s form-fitting gown that embodied the sands of time?
The 2026 theme marks a pivot from the Costume Institute as it looks to recontextualisation fashion within the broader dialogue of fine art.
It also accompanies a major milestone for the Costume Institute, which will open its new permanent home—the Condé M. Nast Galleries—a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space positioned beside the Met’s Great Hall. This marks the first time the Institute has had a dedicated, permanent gallery for rotating displays of its collection.
So, let’s unpack, shall we?
What Does The 2026 Met Gala Theme Actually Mean?
With the announcement of the 2026 Met Gala theme as “Costume Art”, you may be wondering what does that actually mean?
Curator of the new exhibition, Andrew Bolton, asserted that fashion doesn’t just hang on a mannequin – it is inseparable from the human body.
Bolton emphasized the “centrality of the dressed body” by pairing historical and contemporary garments with artworks drawn from the Museum’s 5,000-year collection.
“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” Bolton told Vogue.
“It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was, this epiphany: I know that we’ve often been seen as the stepchild, but, in fact, the dressed body is front and center in every gallery you come across. Even the nude is never naked
Because the exhibition focuses on the body as both subject and canvas, we can expect celebrities and designers to translate that idea in bold, sculptural and highly interpretive ways.
How Does The Theme Differ From The Dress Code?
While the theme guides the exhibition, the Met Gala dress code offers attendees a more specific direction for what they will wear on the night. For example, last year’s dress code was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” on which the dress code further elaborated to be labelled, “Tailored For You.”
The dress code has not yet been released for 2026, and it typically arrives closer to the event.
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