Met Gala 2026 “Costume Art” red carpet pictures of Beyoncé, Rihanna and more from New York City

Gold medalist Eileen Gu discussed the artistic decision and symbolism behind her bubble dress from designer Iris van Herpen. 

“I’m thinking about art in motion. I’m thinking about surrealism. I’m thinking about sports and fashion and femininity and whimsy, so” Eileen Gu told CBS News New York’s Ali Bauman on the Met Gala red carpet. 

The 2025 theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” with the dress code “Tailored for You.” It was the first show exclusively focused on Black designers and the first in more than 20 years that focused on menswear. 

It was centered around Black style and the history of dandyism. Most celebrities wore tailored suits, jackets, vests and other sophisticated looks.

The 2024 theme was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and the accompanying dress code was “Garden of Time.” Stars wore nature-inspired designs, with many outfits featuring extravagant flowers. 

In 2023, the theme was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.” The event celebrated the life and work of the designer.

The dress code was “In honor of Karl,” with guests encouraged to wear looks that paid tribute to the late designer. 

Many male celebrities choose to take the easy route with a black tuxedo. Stars like John Batiste, Russell Westbrook, and Danny Ramirez opted for something more out of the box. 

Actress Tessa Thompson channeled a paint splatter for the 2026 Met Gala theme “Fashion is Art.” 

Olympic stars like figure-skater Alysa Liu, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, and alpine skier Lindsey Vonn dazzled on the Met Gala red carpet.

Power couple ASAP Rocky and Rihanna walked the red carpet together on Monday night. Rihanna stuns in Maison Margiela while Rocky looks great in a pink Chanel robe. 

This is not a drill! Rihanna has arrived on the Met Gala carpet. The iconic singer and businesswoman is a fixture of the event and is typically the most anticipated celebrity to arrive every year. 

Actress Sarah Paulson joined stars like Rachel Zelger in wearing a blindfold on the red carpet. 

“Bridgerton” and “Devil Wears Prada 2” star Simone Ashley looks dazzling in a metallic draped dress.

Gracie Abrams dazzles in Chanel at the 2026 Met Gala. Abrams recently announced her new song “Hit the Wall” will be released on May 14.

A person attempted to storm the Met Gala red carpet. Police quickly jumped into action to prevent the person from getting close to any celebrities. 

Actress Ayo Edebiri joins the stars who chose elegant drapery and feathers tonight. This Chanel outfit looks absolutely gorgeous on her.

Cardi B wore Marc Jacobs.

“Love Story” actor Paul Anthony Kelly wore a purple velvet tailcoat paired with black trousers. 

Broadway star Ben Platt strayed from the traditional black suit with a custom outfit from Tanner Fletcher. 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will not attend the 2026 Met Gala. 

It’s not surprising as the event typically draws some incredibly wealthy people as attendees. The mayor has called for raising taxes on the wealthiest people and corporations to help pay for his initiatives.   

However, mayors and politicians have attended the event in the past.

Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been a regular attendee for years. In 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the gala, along with his wife and son. Former Mayor Eric Adams also attended while he was in office, wearing a jacket sporting the message “End gun violence.”   

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attended in 2021, wearing a gown with the message “Tax the Rich” written on it. The House Ethics Committee later found she “impermissibly accepted gifts” and paid below market rate for the dress. Ocasio-Cortez was ordered to pay an additional $2,700 for the gown. 

“Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer wears Prada. 

Colman Domingo looks great in this Valentino outfit. Domingo, one of last year’s chairs for the Met Gala, always knocks it out of the park with his menswear choices. 

Model Anok Yai wears Balenciaga tonight.

Kris Jenner wears Dolce and Gabbana at the 2026 Met Gala. 

Chase Infiniti, a BAFTA and Golden Globe award nominee, looks amazing in this McQueen number. 

Photographers got a preview of the exhibit itself. Take a look at some of what you can expect if you visit. 

Beyoncé knocked it out of the park tonight with this look inspired by the human skeleton. She also wears a feather train, combining two of tonight’s most popular stylistic choices.

The iconic singer, songwriter, and businesswoman is a co-chair of tonight’s Met Gala.  

Fashion icon and singer Cher arrives at the 2026 Met Gala.

Blake Lively stunned on the Met Gala red carpet in Versace. Lively is considered a Met Gala icon, always knocking it out of the park with her on-theme outfits. 

Her appearance comes hours after she reached a settlement with Justin Baldoni in the “It Ends With Us” lawsuit. 

Bad Bunny wears Zara tonight and some serious prosthetics to make him appear decades older. 

Madonna is wearing one of Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent designs, accessorized with a pirate-ship hat and a brass circular trumpet. She is also joined by several women with sheer blindfolds who help display her outfit. 

Tate McRae is glittering in gold on the red carpet tonight. 

Anne Hathaway wears Michael Kors tonight to the Met Gala. This has already been a big year for Hathaway, who has starred in “Mother Mary” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” The iconic actress isn’t quite done yet, though; she still has Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and “Verity” coming out later on this year. 

Rachel Zelger looks stunning in this outfit tonight. The singer and actress recently announced that she will return to Broadway to star in “Evita.” She captivated last year in London with her performance of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”  

Doechii skipped the shoes and went for a dramatic headpiece at the Met Gala. 

Ballerina Misty Copeland is a member of the Met Gala Host Committee. 

Kendall Jenner wears Zac Posen tonight. Posen is currently the creative director of GapStudio. 

“Heated Rivalry” star Hudson Williams wears dramatic eye makeup tonight. This is his Met Gala debut.  

Lily Rose-Depp poses at the top of the Met Gala stairs. She, like Margot Robbie, wears Chanel tonight. 

Actress Margot Robbie wears Chanel at the Met Gala. 

SZA stuns on the Met Gala red carpet tonight. 

Sabrina Carpenter wears a dress made of film tonight from Dior. She embodies the theme wholeheartedly by blending the two art forms with this look.

Model Alex Cosani staged a dramatic outfit reveal on the Met Gala carpet. She looks gorgeous in not one but two Gucci looks. 

Hailey Bieber is channeling sculpting tonight in this contrasting outfit. 

Icon Stevie Nicks arrives at the Met Gala in Zara.

Kylie Jenner has officially arrived with a new look, bleached eyebrows.   

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wears Thom Browne tonight. 

Fresh off “The Devil Wears Prada 2” press tour, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, alongside wife Felicity Blunt, look astonishing on the Met Gala red carpet. Now we are waiting for Andy, I mean Anne Hathaway, to arrive!

Heidi Klum is channeling a marble statue at tonight’s Met Gala, and no, she’s not wearing Michelangelo. 

Supermodel Gigi Hadid looks amazing tonight in this grey Miu Miu number. Hadid is known for her on-theme Met Gala looks. 

“White Lotus” star and singer Lisa arrives at the Met Gala with extra limbs holding up a veil. 

Maya Hawke, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, will star in the highly anticipated new “Hunger Games” movie, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” later this year. 

Actress Camila Mendes, who rose to fame as Veronica Lodge in “Riverdale,” will star in “Masters of the Universe” later this year. She told CBS News New York’s Ali Bauman she is wearing an Indian designer, Manish Malhotra, who was inspired by the painter Amrita Sher-Gil.

“She was known to be very much about female empowerment,” Mendes said of Sher-Gil. 

Singer Laufey and actress Camila Morrone accompany designer Tory Burch tonight. Both Morrone and Laufey wear Burch’s designs.

The Met Gala will draw some 400 or so guests. 

Among the numerous luminaries on the guest list: Huma Abedin, Maude Apatow, Babyface, Bad Bunny, Angela Bassett, Jon Batiste, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gale Brewer, Adrien Brody, Sabrina Carpenter, Colman Domingo, Ayo Edebiri, Jack Harlow, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Kim Kardashian, Comptroller Mark Levine, Rami Malek, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Kate Moss, Margot Robbie, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Amanda Seyfried, Rev. Al Sharpton, Ben Stiller, Connor Storrie, Stanley Tucci, Donatella Versace, Lindsey Vonn, Rachel Zegler, and many more. 

Katy Perry took an anonymous spin on tonight’s theme with a silver and mesh mask. She later removed the front part of the cover as she traveled up the Met Gala stairs. 

This marks Connor Storrie’s first Met Gala after becoming one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood following the release of “Heated Rivalry” last year. Storrie wears Saint Laurent tonight.

Tennis player Naomi Osaka, known for her stunning outfits out on the court, marks the first dramatic reveal of the evening. 

Actress Sarah Pidgeon absolutely catapulted into stardom this year when she starred as fashion icon Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story.” 

Host committee co-chairs Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz arrive at the 2026 Met Gala. Vaccarello is the current creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, and Kravitz looks amazing in one of his designs. 

CBS Mornings Gayle King posed with musician Doja Cat. King told CBS News New York’s Ali Bauman that she is wearing Christian Siriano.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos is one of the event’s honorary chairs alongside her husband, Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder has remained absent from the red carpet so far this evening. 

Gwendoline Christie took the dress code, “Fashion is Art,” seriously with this look tonight. 

Actress Lena Dunham, known for “Girls,” recently published her memoir, “Famesick.”

Singer, songwriter, and actress Chali xcx, known for her iconic album “Brat,” looks gorgeous on the 2026 Met Gala carpet.

Musician Sam Smith arrived at the 2026 Met Gala wearing a giant feather headpiece.

Tyriq Withers starred in the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular novel “Reminders of Him.” This is his first Met Gala. 

A senior fashion editor at Cosmopolitan said celebrities’ outfits could vary vastly as they take on their own interpretations of this year’s theme. 

Jessica Neises said some could lean into the “body and fitted silhouettes,” meaning bodycon dresses. Some stars could also tap into the art side.

“Maybe the garment itself is a beautiful piece of art with embroidery or different beading,” she said. 

Neises said she thinks there will be a lot of color and vibrancy on the red carpet.

“Tonight is not about being quiet with the fashion. It’s really about being loud. Hopefully, no plain black suits. We want extravagance,” she said. 

Tennis player Venus Williams is serving as one of the co-chairs of the event. She, like many other attendees tonight, is leaning into statement jewelry. 

Nicole Kidman, one of tonight’s co-chairs of the event, brings along her daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. This is Sunday Rose’s first time attending the Met Gala, while Nicole is a seasoned pro who has attended the event for over 20 years. 

Chloe Malle replaced Wintour as head of editorial content at Vogue in September 2025 at the age of 38.

Anna Wintour, now the chief content officer for Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, arrives at the Met Gala. Wintour is the deciding force behind who gets to attend the prestigious event.  

Cara Delevingne, one of the red carpet hosts for Vogue, arrives in a custom Ralph Lauren dress. Delevingne has been a frequent face at the Met Gala since her first appearance in 2011. 

Singer Beyoncé, Actress Nicole Kidman and tennis player Venus Williams will co-chair the event alongside Anna Wintour. 

There’s also a host committee chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz. 

There are several celebrities who are also on the host committee. It includes musicians Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, LISA, Sam Smith and Yseult; dancer Misty Copeland; actors Teyana Taylor, Elizabeth Debicki, Gwendoline Christie and Lena Dunham; WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson; models Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser and Lauren Wasser; Vogue editor Chloe Malle; and artist Anna Weyant.

Model Ashley Graham and influencer Emma Chamberlain will serve as Vogue’s red-carpet hosts throughout the evening, alongside actor Cara Delevingne and TV personality La La Anthony.

The Met Gala’s dress code is “Fashion is Art,” going hand-in-hand with the “Costume Art” theme.

Organizers say the show will highlight the connection between clothing and the body and the “complex interplay between artistic representations of the body and fashion as an embodied art form.”  

The event is held on the first Monday in May every year at the museum in New York City. 

Arrivals officially start at 5:30 p.m., but many stars are known to show up late.   

Singer Rihanna showed up around 10 p.m. last year, just after rapper and Bronx native Cardi B and actress Halle Berry. The first to arrive last year was singer-songwriter and actress Teyana Taylor a little after 5 p.m. 

Members of the press check in hours before to line up along The Met’s iconic steps and watch the stars arrive.

The annual gala is based on the spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.   

“Costume Art” strives to make the connection between bodies and the clothes they wear, according to the exhibit’s curator.   

“Costume Art will present a dynamic and scholarly conversation between garments from The Costume Institute and an array of artworks from across The Met’s collection, elevating universal and timeless themes while bringing forward new ideas and ways of seeing,” said Max Hollein, CEO of The Met.