On Monday night, extravagantly dressed celebrities and designers made their grand ascent up the Met Gala staircase, marking the start of fashion’s biggest night and raising money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour are the 2026 Gala co-chairs, with Lauren Sánchez Bezos as an honorary co-chair. The dress code, “Fashion is Art,” corresponded with the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition “Costume Art,” which opens to the public on May 10 in the Met’s new Condé Nast gallery spaces. Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton says the exhibition seeks to connect artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form.
Here are some red carpet outfits from the night:
– Beyoncé arrived in a sheer gown adorned with silver pieces shaped like a ribcage, pelvis and vertebrae, with a silver headpiece and a gray train.
– Rihanna attended in an eye-catching look on the staircase.
– Singer Lisa wore a sheer white gown with two sculpted white arms holding up a sheer veil.
– Bad Bunny appeared transformed as an old man in a black suit and cane.
– Teyana Taylor wore head-to-toe silver fringe, photographed turning as the fringe moved.
– Madonna arrived in a black suit with a headpiece resembling a wooden ship; gray fabric from the headpiece was held by six models in pastel dresses.
– SZA wore a yellow gown with a headpiece woven from orchids and shells.
– Anne Hathaway attended with designer Michael Kors; Hathaway wore a black gown featuring a large hand reaching toward a dove, while Kors wore a black tuxedo and sunglasses.
– Sabrina Carpenter wore a gown made of film strips and a jeweled headpiece.
– Rauw Alejandro sported a silver ear piece and jewelry extending across his nose.
– Kylie Jenner appeared in a striking gown on the carpet.
– Janelle Monáe wore a gown woven with cords and moss, accented with butterflies.
– Emma Chamberlain wore a floor-length gown with beaded fringe on her arms.
– Janelle Monáe, Ashley Graham and other models and personalities presented varied interpretations of the theme: Graham in a beige gown and dramatic silver fingernail, Sinéad Burke in a floor-length black gown and train, and Aariana Rose Philip in a black ruched gown using a motorized wheelchair.
– Co-chairs Nicole Kidman, Lauren Sánchez Bezos and Anna Wintour arrived together: Kidman in a red sequined gown with red feathers, Sánchez Bezos in a navy gown, and Wintour in a light-blue feathered jacket over a beaded gown.
– Venus Williams arrived with husband Andrea Preti in a black sequin floor-length gown and a metallic neckpiece; Preti wore a black suit with a maroon bowtie.
– Jon Batiste wore a white suit with an oversized floor-length white puffer jacket; his wife, author Suleika Jaouad, was seen in a red patterned gown.
– Performer Joshua Henry wore a red suit during a staged performance with backup dancers.
– Sam Smith attended in a black sequined gown with a feather headpiece.
– Actor Connor Storrie wore a black-and-white polka-dot sleeveless top with black pants.
The night combined theatrical fashion, performance and the Costume Institute’s curatorial lens on clothing as art, with guests interpreting “Fashion is Art” in many personal and inventive ways.