On Monday, November 17th, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the theme for the 2026 Met Gala, “costume art.” This theme is a parallel to the permanent gallery the museum plans to open, dedicated to its Costume Institute, which is to be named after the founder of the leading media company, Condé Nast. The sponsors of the main event are Jeff and Lauren Bezos, as well as Condé Nast and the French Luxury house Saint Laurent.

The Costume Institute’s head curator, Andrew Bolton defines, “costume art” as “a celebration of the body in all of its strengths and weaknesses; its resiliencies and continuities; its perfections and imperfections, its idiosyncrasies and commonalities; and, above all, its sublime beauty, its wondrous complexity and its glorious and miraculous diversity.”

The various “bodies” that can be expected to be displayed include the anatomical body, the nude body, the classic body, the reclaimed body, and the pregnant body. As for looks, many speculate that we’ll see a lot of Schiaparelli, Moschino, Robert Wun, Iris van Herpen, and other designers who already play with the intersection between fashion as wearable clothing and fashion as gallery art.
I hope we do not see the popular (and rather overdone) “naked dress,” but I think it will undeniably be worn in different variations by several attendee’s, as it’s an apparent go-to with this year’s theme.

I am curious and excited for those who will utilize this theme to send a political message through their clothing, particularly regarding the female body, and I think fine tailoring will be key for all looks this year, especially for those silhouettes that are more form-fitting and hug the body. Those who write this theme off as boring do not fully grasp the nuances of it, which is why it is being understood as rather vast. This surface-level understanding makes it vulnerable to many mediocre looks that are not in theme or just barely scratch the surface of it. I do not want to see clothing symbolizing literal costumes, such as skeletons. That being said, I believe outfits for this theme truly have the potential to be absolutely beautiful and exquisitely done, yet that requires a complete understanding of the theme and its nuances, the relationship between fabric and flesh.

The 2026 Met Gala: Costume Art

So You Want to be A Showgirl, Baby.