The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled the concept for its 2026 Met Gala, revealing that this year’s May 4 fundraiser will center on the theme “Fashion Is Art.”

The 2026 gala will be led by an impressive group of co-chairs: Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and longtime event architect Anna Wintour. Beyoncé’s involvement marks her return to the benefit after a decade. Philanthropists Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez will sponsor both the gala and the exhibition and serve as honorary chairs.

In addition, the host committee will feature a lineup of style-savvy names, including Zoë Kravitz, Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Teyana Taylor, Misty Copeland, and Lena Dunham, among others. Vogue’s Chloe Malle will take on official hosting duties as a member of the 2026 host committee, joining Wintour on the Met steps.

The annual event will raise funds for the Costume Institute and celebrate its upcoming spring exhibition, Costume Art, while also debuting The Met’s newly built, nearly 12,000-square-foot gallery space located beside the Great Hall. The exhibition will be open to the public from May 10 through Jan. 10 and marks the Costume Institute’s first presentation in the Condé M. Nast Galleries.

Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, shared insight into the vision behind the show. “For The Costume Institute’s inaugural exhibition in the Condé M. Nast Galleries, I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the Museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form. Rather than prioritizing fashion’s visuality, which often comes at the expense of the corporeal, Costume Art privileges its materiality and the indivisible connection between our bodies and the clothes we wear. The opening of the new Galleries will mark a pivotal moment for the department, one that acknowledges the critical role that fashion plays not only within art history but also within contemporary culture. I am grateful to Max for his support and to the generous donors to the Galleries for their belief in fashion’s transformative possibilities.”

In keeping with the exhibition’s concept, the evening’s dress code—also titled “Fashion Is Art”—invites attendees to think of their bodies as a creative canvas and to explore the relationship between garment and form. Bolton previously noted that the idea reflects fashion’s presence throughout the museum, linking every department through the concept of the dressed body.

Although the Met Gala is known for its carefully defined themes, Wintour has previously shared that she rarely knows exactly what guests will wear until they arrive at the museum’s iconic staircase—leaving plenty of room for surprise when fashion’s biggest night unfolds.

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