How will celebrities bring 'Costume Art' to life at 2026 Met Gala?

The Met Gala has delighted its global audience with the reveal of its 2026 theme, offering a striking, two-word statement: Costume Art.

The news came from Vogue on Monday, with Andrew Bolton, head curator of the Anna Wintour Costume Centre at the Met, explaining why simplicity speaks volumes. 

“Fashion has the status of art because of, and not in spite of, its relation to the body,” he told CNN, hinting at the exhibition’s focus on how garments intimately interact with human form.

The theme ties directly to the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibition, which will occupy the Met’s brand-new Condé Nast Galleries, the museum’s first permanent fashion-dedicated space. 

Spanning nearly 12,000 square feet, visitors can expect an immersive mash-up of paintings, sculptures, and artefacts from 5,000 years of global art, all paired with historical and contemporary fashion pieces from the Institute’s archive.

Bolton stressed the power of the clean, no-subtitle approach: “It’s bold, it’s strong… The goal is to dissolve hierarchies — to bring artworks and bodies into pure equivalency.”

As always, the dress code and star-studded guest list remain under wraps. 

Last year’s gala brought together Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and co-chairs Anna Wintour and LeBron James. 

Come May, the fashion world will once again sweep into the Met, transforming its iconic steps into a living, breathing gallery of bold style.

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