The 10 Best Looks from the 2026 Met Gala

You had me at Beyoncé.

The 2026 Met Gala co-chairs are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with Beyoncé gracing fashion’s most glamorous carpet for the first time since 2016. In full transparency, she could show up in sweats, and I’d probably still put her on this list.

Everyone else has to play by the theme. This year’s theme is “Costume Art,” the spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with a dress code of “Fashion is Art.”

The Met Gala has been annually held on the first Monday of May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York City for 78 years. Last year, per The New York Times, the Met Gala raised a record $31 million.

Philanthropy, but make it fashion.

If you haven’t had the chance to see “The Devil Wears Prada 2” yet, consider this your opportunity to cosplay as Miranda Priestly and judge every look. Below are our 10 best looks from Monday’s 2026 Met Gala.

Beyoncé

What did I tell you?

Beyoncé arrived on the carpet with JAY-Z, her husband, and Blue Ivy, her 14-year-old daugher. Everyone else in the country should cancel whatever family portraits they planned to take this year.

Nicole Kidman walked the carpet with her daughter, Sunday Rose, and they both joined La La Anthony on Vogue’s YouTube livestream. Kidman explained the inspiration behind her custom Chanel red dress by Matthieu Blazy, per Vogue.

“Fashion is art,” the Oscar-winning actress said. “I wanted something red because I wanted to embrace the way in which red has been used in art through the years. I feel that it’s a strong symbol for love, for passionate love, for vitality, for power, and motherhood.”

Venus Williams

Venus Williams took this year’s theme literally. According to Vogue, her Swarovski crystal mesh gown was directly inspired by Robert Pruitt’s “Venus Williams, Double Portrait,” commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in 2022. If you look at the portrait and then look at Williams’ look tonight, you won’t be able to tell a difference.

Williams has regularly attended the Met Gala since 2008, but this is the first time she’s attended with her husband, Andrea Preti.

Fresh off conquering Coachella with her “Sabrinawood” headlining set, Sabrina Carpenter brought old Hollywood to the Met Gala.

“It is film,” Carpenter said of her gown while on Vogue’s livestream. “It’s all made of film, which is my dream. Jonathan Anderson, the genius that he is, and Dior, the whole team, I can’t even express my love and gratitude for them. We just finished all of my Coachella looks together, and then they hopped right into this dream dress.”

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka treats every grand slam tennis tournament like the Met Gala - her words, not mine - so she was prepared to ace this theme. And she did. Tonight’s look was again designed by Robert Wun, with whom she’s collaborated before, and it was a two-for-one.

At first, Osaka arrived on the carpet in a sculpted white gown with artful red feathers and an eye-catching hat. But at the top of the stairs, Osaka shed her white shell for a shimmering red dress and opera gloves:

The dress code is “Fashion is Art,” and Emma Chamberlain looks like an elegant painting come to life in a custom Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas.

“My dad is an oil painter and a watercolor painter, and I grew up in a very creative household with art all over my house," Chamberlain told Vogue, adding, "There is sort of this watercolor feel, and I love watercolor painting. But then also there's a creepy, sort of ominous undertone to the gown, like the way that it moves. And that is very much my taste in art.”

A’ja Wilson

A’ja Wilson has won so many trophies in her all-time great WNBA career that she finally morphed into one. The reigning WNBA MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and three-time WNBA champion served on the carpet, and she’s serving on the host committee.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway’s look is Princess of Genovia meets Runway Magazine.

Hathaway and designer Michael Kors appeared together on the Vogue YouTube livestream, and Kors explained the intricate story behind Hathaway’s black-and-white gown.

“I went to school with a guy, his name is Peter McGough, and he’s a brilliant artist,” Kors said. “He was an artist when we were kids who loved fashion, and I was a fashion person who loved art. So, we collaborated, and he hand-painted Anne’s dress.”

Hathaway’s dress is a black canvas material, featuring white paintings of a dove and the goddess of peace.

Eileen Gu

Eileen Gu captured the world’s attention with her gold medal-winning skiing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February. She did it again at the Met, this time with a bubble dress. Many attendees played it very safe - lots of black suits - so you have to appreciate the creativity.

Paloma Elsesser

Model Paloma Elsesser embodies beauty in the details with her mesmerizing gown, which is from Francesco Risso’s “Bureau of Imagination” project, which she described as “a manufacturer or objects.” Elsesser told the Vogue livestream that her gown was “sourced from eBay,” including “100 dresses from the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s that we constructed to make this.”

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 5:50 PM.