The 20 most inventive looks at the 2026 Met Gala
The 20 most inventive looks at the 2026 Met Gala
Kathleen PerriconeTue, May 5, 2026 at 4:59 AM UTC
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Sabrina Carpenter, Jordan Roth, and Lisa at the 2026 Met Gala on May 4 in New York CityCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty; John Shearer/WireImage
The theme of the 2026 Met Gala was “Costume Art” and the attendees did not disappoint with their creativity on the red carpet.
More specifically, the dress code was “Fashion Is Art,” and the Met encouraged its stylish guests to “express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history.”
Art and fashion are both subjective — but these are the 20 looks of the night that best embodied “Fashion Is Art.”
01 of 20
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina CarpenterCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Fresh off her Old Hollywood-themed headlining act at Coachella, Sabrina Carpenter brought “SabrinaWood” with her to New York — wrapped in film strips, no less. But it’s not just any movie; the “House Tour” singer’s Dior slit tulle dress is adorned with rhinestone glimpses of the 1954 rom-com-dram, Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden.
02 of 20
Heidi Klum
Heidi KlumCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
It’s always Halloween for Heidi Klum. The queen of costumes hit the Met Gala dressed as a living marble statue, specifically Raffaelle Monti’s 1847 “Veiled Vestal.” Prosthetic makeup artist Mike Marino “transformed fabric into sculpture, manipulating latex and spandex with extraordinary precision to mirror the stillness, delicacy, and illusion of carved marble,” the supermodel said on Instagram. “A piece of fashion art, reimagined in motion.”
03 of 20
Madonna
MadonnaCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Inspired by Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, Madonna’s Saint Laurent ensemble could be perceived as either a dream or a nightmare. The all-black look, from top to bottom, consisted of a ghost-ship headpiece, satin-and-lace slip dress, cape, and leather platform boots. The singer, who also donned a black wig for the evening, was assisted on the red carpet by seven ladies in waiting, each wearing a sheer blindfold.
04 of 20
Jordan Roth
Jordan RothCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
Theater performer-producer Jordan Roth took the “Fashion is Art” dress code quite literally with a sculptural plus-one. Designed by London-based couturier Robert Wun, the piece is a slate gray velvet dress with a human form attached to the back. As Roth explained to Vogue, he envisioned “two bodies in conversation” for his eighth appearance at the Met Gala. “It’s a deeply magical experience to live inside this piece.”
05 of 20
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline ChristieCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
Gwendoline Christie had everyone seeing double on the red carpet. The Game of Thrones actress accessorized with a mask of her own face, created by British artist Gillian Wearing. Christie’s longtime partner Giles Deacon designed her gown, four shades of red layered in chiffon, satin, organza, and tulle. He also worked with milliner Stephen Jones on her headpiece, “an eruption of ostrich and pheasant feathers” dyed to match her dress.
06 of 20
Naomi Osaka
Naomi OsakaCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
For her first Met Gala appearance in five years, Naomi Osaka aced the theme. The tennis star’s dramatic look, created by Robert Wun, is a sculpted ivory coat “with open seams exposing red crystals from within, adorned with stripped feathers flaring outwards like a fountain shape,” Wun explained to Vogue. Underneath is a fitted red crystallized gown featuring more than 659,000 stitches of intricate embroidery and thousands of faceted Swarovski crystals in four shades of red.
07 of 20
Colman Domingo
Colman DomingoCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Colman Domingo made a bold statement in a Valentino technicolor tunic woven with fabrics in shades of red, yellow, blue, and purple. The Michael actor didn’t shy away when it came to his accessories either: gold bracelet, cuff, rings, and earrings all from Boucheron’s “Serpent Boheme” collection.
08 of 20
Lisa
LisaCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
Extra sets of hands was a running theme this year, but no one did it quite like Lisa. The Blackpink singer teamed up with Robert Wun, who also dressed Jordan Roth, to create a look that evoked the “sculpted body” — specifically, hers. Lisa’s arms were 3D-scanned, then posed in a position inspired by traditional Thai dance. The sculptural piece sits on her shoulders and essentially holds up a veil matching her crystalized embroidery sheer gown. Adorned with 66,960 Swarovski crystals, Lisa’s look required nearly 3,000 hours of handwork.
09 of 20
Katy Perry
Katy PerryCredit: Theo Wargo/FilmMagic
Peek-a-boo! Katy Perry paired her Stella McCartney gown with a mirrored mask that opened like a door to reveal her famous face. But it held a deeper meaning. The Miodrag Guberinic-designed headpiece was intended to be “a literal and symbolic reflection that invites the observer to consider that their perception of others can mirror their own internal world, and conversely mask truth,” a rep for Perry told Vogue.
Quite an understated look for a woman who once showed up to the Met Gala dressed as a hamburger!
10 of 20
Advertisement
SZACredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
SZA was a ray of sunshine at the Met Gala, dressed in shades of marigold, ochre, corn, and golden flax. The singer’s Bode design was crafted from 100 yards of vintage tulle, taffeta, silk faille, and beadwork on lace all sourced from eBay. As an homage to SZA’s “love of the natural world,” Emily Adams Bode Aujla created a two-tiered flounced skirt and corset embellished with flowers and beaded panels that take the form of butterfly wings.
11 of 20
Janelle Monae
Janelle MonaeCredit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Janelle Monae put a new spin on “upcycled fashion” in a creation by Christian Siriano described as “when nature overtakes the machine for the ART.” The base of the piece was a mossy fabric accented with computer parts and wire — topped off with animatronic butterflies.
12 of 20
Dree Hemingway
Dree HemingwayCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Dree Hemingway’s look was straight off the Valentino Spring/Summer 2026 runway, but it was made for the Met Gala. The elaborate champagne-and-gold confection is a dress, “very heavy” cape, and bonnet that began as the “vision” of Valentino’s Allesandro Michele, and then blended “into the art of, in my vision, a painting,” the Love Story actress told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s a character.”
13 of 20
Emma Chamberlain
Emma ChamberlainCredit: Julian Hamilton/Getty
With “Fashion Is Art” as the dress code, Emma Chamberlain didn’t have to look far for inspiration. “My dad is an oil painter and a watercolor painter, and I grew up in a very creative household with art all over my house,” the fashionista told Vogue. That’s why she wanted her custom Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas gown to resemble a watercolor painting a la Van Gogh or Munch. “There’s a creepy, sort of ominous undertone to the gown, like the way that it moves,” she explained. “And that is very much my taste in art.”
14 of 20
Sabine Getty
Sabine GettyCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
Sabine Getty is a living work of art — with her body as the canvas. The socialite and jewelry designer wore a second-skin Ashi Studio custom look featuring a corset handpainted with a woman’s torso and set of hands. The inspiration was an 18th-century oil painting, but artistic liberty was taken with the subject’s jewelry: pieces from Getty’s own collection.
The final look “explores a tension between control and fragility, between classical craftsmanship and something more instinctive, almost Undone,” explained Getty.
15 of 20
Olivia Wilde
Olivia WildeCredit: Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty
Olivia Wilde was all “business in the front and party in the back” at the Met Gala. The actress wore an off-the-shoulder black gown with white tulle petticoat by Thom Browne that featured an exposed leather bustle when she turned around.
16 of 20
Jon Batiste
Jon BatisteCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
If Jon Batiste looked like a walking work of art, it’s because he was: The singer-musician’s all-white ensemble was modeled after Barkley L. Hendrick’s 1974 painting “What’s Going On.”
17 of 20
Lena Mahfouf
Lena MahfoufCredit: Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty
Lena Mahfouf got some helping hands, silver and molded onto her cleavage, at the Met Gala. The bottom half of the French social media star’s look, designed by Burc Akyol, was a cut-out draped skirt in a shade of pale blue that matched her eyeshadow.
18 of 20
Nichapat Suphap
Nichapat SuphapCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Following a similar trend, Nichapat Suphap had four silver sculptural hands embellishing her black mermaid-style gown designed by Robert Wun and inspired by “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo. “When I first heard the theme back in November; this idea of fashion as body art, I immediately started thinking about the human body,” the Thai fashion editor wrote on Instagram. “I kept asking myself, which part of the body should inspire the dress? And I kept coming back to hands… So this dress is about power, ownership… and building my story and fulfilling my dream with my own hands.”
19 of 20
Yseult
YseultCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
It’s a look custom-fit for a visionary artist. Yseult rocked a Harris Reed sculpted bodice that required 400 hours of glass bead work. “An homage to the body, framed within fluid tailoring,” described Reed, “power held in form.”
20 of 20
Sombr
SombrCredit: Mike Coppola/Getty
For his Met Gala debut, Sombr asked Valentino’s Alessandro Michele to transform him into a “canvas with a point of view.” And what he got with this silver hand-embroidered tulle and chiffon sequined cape that took more than 500 hours of work to complete.“Fashion is Art, and art is about expressing emotion,” the singer told Vogue. “The idea (and the result) was pure emotion.”
on Entertainment Weekly
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