The Met Gala's 2026 theme has officially been revealed.
Below, read what we know so far about fashion's biggest night, and remember to check back here as we learn more in the coming months leading up to the 2026 Met Gala.
The theme for the 2026 Met Gala and concurrent spring 2026 museum exhibition is "Costume Art," a theme that aims to "celebrate fashion as an art form" according to a joint Instagram post from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Met Costume Institute.
"Focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present, Costume Art will be organized into a series of thematic body types that reflect their ubiquity and endurance through time and space," the Met stated in a press release about the exhibition. "These comparisons will highlight the inextricable relationship between clothing and the body and reveal that artistic representations of the body are shaped by the garments that clothe them and that the garments, in turn, are shaped by the bodies which they clothe."
The Met Gala, also called the Costume Institute Benefit, is held annually in support of the Costume Institute exhibition and serves as the primary funding source for the institute's various activities and operations. The benefit is organized by Vogue and has been chaired or co-chaired by Vogue's Global Editorial Director Anna Wintour -- previously Vogue's longtime editor-in-chief -- since 1995.
The dress code for the Met Gala is generally announced a few months after the theme announcement, meaning the 2026 dress code has not yet been revealed.
Met curator Andrew Bolton told Vogue on Monday that the exhibition theme is inspired by "the centrality of the dressed body in the museum's vast collection," so it's possible we'll see a dress code that follows suit.
"What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body," he said. "It's the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was, this epiphany ... the dressed body is front and center in every gallery you come across. Even the nude is never naked. It's always inscribed with cultural values and ideas."
The Met Gala is traditionally held the first Monday in May.
In 2026, the event will take place on Monday, May 4.
The co-chairs for the 2026 Met Gala have yet to be announced.
According to Monday's press release, the co-chairs and honorary chairs "will be announced in the coming months, along with members of the Gala Host Committee."
The gala and exhibition will also inaugurate several new major galleries adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, where the art and clothing will be on display and future shows highlighting fashion's place in art will take place.
"In recognition of a significant lead gift from Condé Nast, the nearly 12,000-square-foot space will be named for the company's founder, the late Condé M. Nast," the museum announced Monday.
Additional "generous contributions toward the renovation" were provided by designer Thom Browne and designer Michael Kors and his husband Lance Le Pere.
"Further support is provided by Met Trustee Aerin Lauder, Tory Burch LLC, Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers, as well as Met Trustee Amy Griffin and John Griffin," the Met stated.
