The Met Gala theme for 2026 has been announced, ad it’s (drum roll)… “Costume Art,” inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s vast collection and the connective tissue that runs through it all—the dressed body.
As W magazine reports, curator in charge of the Costume Institute, Andrew Bolton, said in a recent interview that the core idea is this: no matter which gallery you’re perusing in the world-famous museum, you’ll be exploring the relationship between clothing and the human form.
But that’s not all. As Vogue reports, the spring 2026 exhibition at the Costume Institute will mark the inauguration of the nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, adjacent to The Met’s Great Hall. “It’s a huge moment for the Costume Institute,” says curator in charge Andrew Bolton. “It will be transformative for our department, but I also think it’s going to be transformative to fashion more generally—the fact that an art museum like The Met is actually giving a central location to fashion.”
To mark the momentous occasion, Bolton has conceived an exhibition that addresses “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collection,” by pairing paintings, sculptures, and other objects spanning the 5,000 years of art represented in The Met, alongside historical and contemporary garments from the Costume Institute.
What does that mean? Well for instance, a quintessentially padded Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons garment is situated next to a photograph from German artist Hans Bellmer that displays a similarly bulbous shape. A classical Greek sculpture, meanwhile, is compared to a Fortuny gown from the 1920s, which mimics the color and fabrication of the garment portrayed in the late 5th-century work.
Okay, but how will this translate to the red carpet? When it comes to attendees’ looks, expect many art-adjacent gowns and suits. And if you thought sheer dressing was on the way out, think again. This theme is all about the body, and it will likely be shown off like never before on those museum steps. One can also likely expect a lot of Saint Laurent designs on the red carpet, as the brand is a sponsor for the exhibition.
As of now, the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala have not been announced. As usual, Anna Wintour is expected to be the primary host of the evening. She will be joined by Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, who are sponsoring the event. And as usual, the Met Gala will be held the first Monday in May, meaning in 2026, it will take place on May 4. The exhibition, meanwhile, will run from May 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027.
The “Costume Art” show itself will focus primarily on Western art. Almost 200 works will be displayed with 200 garments and accessories. The exhibition will be divided into three categories: bodies omnipresent in art (i.e., the nude form), other kinds of bodies that are often overlooked (pregnant or aging bodies), and universal bodies (like the anatomical body).
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