The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the name of the exhibit that will inform the theme of the 2026 Met Gala on Monday: Costume art.
The spring exhibit will “examine the centrality of the dressed body, juxtaposing objects from across the Museum’s vast collection with historical and contemporary garments from The Costume Institute,” the museum said in a news release.
The Met Gala will take place May 4, 2026, with co-chairs and honorary chairs to be announced in the coming months.
The dress code theme is also to be announced but, as has been the case in past years, it will likely tie in with the theme of the spring exhibit.
Max Hollein, CEO and director of the Met, told the Associated Press the theme will allow visitors to the museum to take a journey through art and fashion history by pairing 200 works from the museum’s collection with 200 pieces of clothing.
“It’s a show that can really live in fascinating ways at the museum and can pull from all different areas of our collection — paintings, sculpture, drawings,” Hollein said.
“I hope we all agree that fashion is art. But actually I think the exhibition … will make it obvious how fashion is actually happening, so to say, all across the museum and in all different mediums already.”
The exhibit — which opens to the public on May 10 and runs until Jan. 10, 2027 — will inaugurate the museum’s new, 12,000 square-foot Conde M. Nast Galleries wing.
“It’s a huge moment for the Costume Institute,” curator Andrew Bolton said in Vogue’s Nov. 17 announcement. “It will be transformative for our department, but I also think it’s going to be transformative to fashion more generally — the fact that an art museum like The Met is actually giving a central location to fashion.”
This year’s gala is sponsored by Saint Laurent, Conde Nast and Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos.
Last year, the Met theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the first time the event was focused primarily on the style and design of Black Americans.
With tickets costing $75,000, the gala typically raises tens of millions for the museum’s operations and acquisitions.
