The Best-Dressed Stars at the 2026 Met Gala: Women
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York hosts an annual fundraising event for its Costume Institute. The Met Gala, often called "fashion's biggest night", is held on the first Monday in May. This year, it was May 4. The gala marks the opening of the institute's yearly spring fashion exhibition. Every year, the event has a specific theme tied to that year's museum exhibition. This year's museum exhibition is titled Costume Art, and the evening's dress code was "Fashion is Art". There were literal interpretations of the theme - from diaphanous fabrics, to paintings recreated as clothes, to copies of costumes from famous art, as well as more abstract interpretations, including sculptural clothes and garments designed to look like parts of the body. Let's take a look at some of the best-dressed celebrities on the Met Gala's red carpet this year.
Beyoncé
Singing superstar Beyoncé returned to the Met Gala's red carpet as one of the co-hosts after a 10-year absence. Her gown was a naked-illusion creation by Olivier Rousteing, embellished with a crystal skeleton and topped by a matching crown. The look was completed with a floor-sweeping feathered cape.
Sabrina Carpenter
Pop Singer Sabrina Carpenter donned a Dior dress made from celluloid film strips of the 1954 classic Audrey Hepburn movie Sabrina. The dress's high-necked, sleeveless silhouette felt very Old Hollywood and was accessorised with a jewel-encrusted ferronniere across her forehead.
Hunter Schafer
Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer wore a custom Prada gown inspired by the 1912 Klimt painting Mada Primavesi. The white, cap-sleeved, empire-waist gown was distressed in places to reveal an underlayer of grey fabric covered in florals, which spread into a long train at the back.
Madonna
Pop icon Madonna appeared at the event in a Saint Laurent creation, which paid homage to Leonora Carrington's 1945 painting The Temptations of Saint Anthony Fragment II. The relatively simple long black dress was accessorised with a circular brass horn and a towering hat sculpture of a ship with sheer grey silk billowing from it on all sides.
Angela Bassett
Actress Angela Bassett arrived at the gala in a pink corseted gown adorned with bead-encrusted flowers at the waist and on the single strap. The bodice flowed into a long skirt with darker pink beaded tassels flowing over the top. The Prabal Gurung creation was inspired by the Harlem Renaissance painting Girl in a Pink Dress by Laura Wheeler Waring.
And a Few More…
Emma Chamberlain
In Mugler.
Cara Delevingne
In Ralph Lauren.
Doja Cat
In Saint Laurent.
Rihanna
In Maison Margiela.
Nicole Kidman
In Chanel.
What was your favourite look?
Which celebrity outfit did you like best? Do you think they interpreted the theme well? Would you wear any of the pieces?
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TAKE A BOW: The Met Gala may have the flash, but the real finale is fit. Until next time—tailored, applauded, unforgettable.
