The 2026 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 4, 2026. This year’s theme is ‘Costume Art,’ representing Andrew Bolton’s first theme without a subtitle.
The dress code for the event will be ‘Fashion Is Art.’ The exhibition will cover nearly 12,000 square feet within the Condé M. Nast Galleries.
It will showcase paintings, sculptures, and garments from the Costume Institute. The theme was officially announced by Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 17, 2025.
Bolton explained that this theme is inspired by the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s collection. He stated, “What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body.”
This marks a pivotal moment for the Met Gala, which is often referred to as fashion’s biggest night. The event serves as an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
Bolton noted that removing subtitles from themes can feel liberating—”We took it out and it was like taking off a corset.”
The exhibition will highlight how fashion has been accepted as an art form on art’s terms. It aims to explore various interpretations of costume and its significance in cultural expression.
The next Met Gala promises an abundance of possibilities for creativity and expression in celebrity fashion.
