The 2026 Met Gala Theme Was Just Revealed — And It Leaves a Lot of Room for Interpretation

This year’s Met Gala theme has officially been announced and it’s … fashion.

Vogue announced Monday (Feb. 23) that the 2026 Met Gala dress code is “Fashion Is Art,” a theme that leaves much room for interpretation. As always, the dress code is meant to reflect the theme of Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute spring exhibition. This year’s exhibition theme is “Costume Art.”

The exhibit explores “centrality of the dressed body,” Vogue explained in an Instagram post. The show will feature more than 400 objects, including garments from the Costume Institute’s Collection, paintings, and other works. We can expect that this year’s Met Gala attendees will take inspiration from the show and play with the broad dress code.

Though the official guest list remains a secret, there are a few music megastars we will definitely see hit the Met Gala red carpet. For the first time in a decade, Beyoncé is set to attend the annual event — this time as a co-chair. Her fellow co-chairs include Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour, while Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos serve as honorary co-chairs.

Other celebrities set to attend include members of the Gala Host Committee such as Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, LISA, Sam Smith and Teyana Taylor, all of whom attended last year’s event as well.

While their attendance is not confirmed, there are a few music stars known for gracing the Met Gala red carpet who we hope to see again this year. Since making her Met Gala debut in 2018, Cardi B has become a staple of the event, topping best-dressed lists year after year. Last year, Rihanna, another Met Gala favorite, arrived fashionably late to the event and revealed that she was pregnant with her third child. This year’s event conveniently falls during a break in Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour. Having graced the Met Gala red carpet the last several years, the Puerto Rican superstar will hopefully attend again this year.

The 2026 Met Gala will take place May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.