No matter how often women are commanded to celebrate their bodies, we know they can be a real inconvenience for souls.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and its new Costume Institute exhibit have an answer, or at least, an exhibit. Costume Art opens to the public on May 10 and runs through January 10, 2027. The show follows this year's Met Gala—co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with a "Fashion is Art" dress code—which raised a record $42 million for the Costume Institute. Costume Art also inaugurates the Met's nearly 12,000-square-foot expansion adjacent to the Great Hall, a permanent home for the Costume Institute's annual spring shows and other exhibitions exploring the connection between fashion and art.
The exhibit might sound like a gallery show with outfits from Star Wars and Moulin Rouge, but it's actually a jam-packed tour of the myriad ways clothes can enhance or alter the human body itself. (The museum calls this practice “examining the centrality of the dressed body.”) The show uses nearly 400 objects—half garments, half more traditional “art,” like sculpture and painting—to make the case that when we get dressed, we create a collision between our inner selves and the outer world. We get to choose, at least a little bit, what the universe can look like. And especially in this political and social moment of imminent bodily harm, this daily practice of getting dressed is both resistance and a major excuse to party.
For the exhibit, the Costume Institute divides “the body” into 13 types, each populated with mannequins dressed in fascinating examples. “The Classical Body” juxtaposes Greek and Etruscan reliefs and statues with 1920s toga riffs from Coco Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier, along with hand-stitched fresco effects from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior era and Thom Browne’s eponymous couture line. “This is all hand-done,” Browne told press during the pre–Met Gala tour of the exhibit. “The graphic work was entirely stitched and embroidered.”
Each mannequin has a mirror for a face—designed by Palestinian-Canadian artist Samar Hejazi—so you can "see yourself" in the look; each dress is paired with an object, such as a 19th-century goddess statue or a column carved in 500 B.C. It gets eerie when the pairings are literal—Yves Saint Laurent and Jonathan Anderson’s takes on Van Gogh irises placed smack in front of the Dutch Impressionist’s 1889 Irises, or Adam McEwen’s faux-obituary screen print of the very much alive Nicole Kidman, displayed right next to the Jean Paul Gaultier dress Kidman wears in the fake-news layout.
Naturally, there’s a lot of corsetry in this show, including historic examples from the Edwardian and Victorian eras and a drop-dead amazing peplum brocade from Versailles. These looks are smooshed against work by Michaela Stark, the Australian artist whose distorted corsets purposefully push the body into fleshy ripples and bulges, creating the type of blobby silhouette most women have been taught to fear. Seeing them alongside the typically “desired” body shapes—slim, taut, gleaming—highlighted by gowns from Alexander McQueen and Tory Burch creates a sense of both hope and exhaustion. We’re still mired in the past when it comes to the female body’s cultural worth.
Even the exhibit’s section celebrating larger sizes and shapes is titled “The Corpulent Body” because, despite reported feedback from activists living in larger bodies, the Costume Institute could not bring itself to say the word “fat.” And if the most exquisite collection of fashion history in the world can’t practice basic body neutrality, what hope do the rest of us have?
The show fares better when it frames “The Disabled Body” in terms of its possibilities, using the Irish activist and fashion consultant Sinéad Burke (who has dwarfism) as both a model and a curatorial adviser. There is an adaptive graphic look by the American sportswear phenom Willie Norris, modeled on Aariana Rose Philip, a trans model who uses a wheelchair and attended the Gala wearing Collina Strada. Seeing these looks presented not just with consent but with the willing participation of these fashion fixtures is a compelling reframing of the daily staring contest that anyone living in an “atypical” body has to navigate with the world. It’s also a reminder that every body is not just valuable but fun, if we want it to be.
Another hit comes in a section called “The Aging Body,” where Batsheva Hay’s tongue-in-cheek HAG sweater lines up with oil paintings of witchy widows and goth-edged outfits with hems that drag on the floor. Perhaps once this black-on-black parade of swishy modesty read as crone-wear, but today you’re just as likely to see it on a junior at Parsons who rides her skateboard to class. Pointing out the breakdown of “age-appropriate” fashion—even as it revels in the black lace veils of a mourner or the quilted garden jackets of a retiree (rendered by Erdem in oversized quilted floral jacquard, of course)—is a considered example of how to dismantle stereotypes through clothes. It’s also a visual hoot.
So can the Costume Institute's new show about bodies make us feel better about our bodies? Maybe. It can certainly make us feel better about our access to power. Even in the Ozempic age, we don't have a choice about what kind of body we live in, and we have limited agency in how the world's larger systems value us, as women and as humans. But deciding how to display our power—and proudly stepping out in garments that reflect our values, whether craftsmanship, nature, ingenuity, or even, if it's your thing, just being blisteringly sexy—can be a tacit permission slip for others to do the same. Nobody's going to tell you what to wear in the morning except you. This exhibit has myriad options. Choose wisely. Wear proudly.
(But maybe avoid the 19th-century whalebone corset. That one really hurts.)
Despite the fact that the Met Gala takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year, it rarely has much to do with the museum’s art collection. Yes, fashion is, in a way, its own type of art, and over the years the Costume Institute has amassed an impressive collection, but we’re talking fine art—paintings, drawings, sculpture.
All that changed with this year’s Met Gala. Themed “Costume Art,” the event and corresponding exhibit explored the dressed body within the Met’s collection, placing works of art alongside both historical and contemporary garments. The word “body” in that description did lead many to go down the route of showing off their own figure, but just as many attendees focused on the intersection of fashion and art, looking to famous sculptures, paintings, and artists for sartorial inspiration. As a result, the 2026 Met red carpet turned into an art nerd’s dream, as gowns inspired by Gustav Klimt, Vincent Van Gogh, and more ascended the steps one by one. There were dozens of art-adjacent references, really too many to count, but we’ve chosen our favorite 14, the ones that really knocked the dressing assignment out of the park (Georges Seurat’s park, to be exact).
Hunter Schafer as Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi
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There were a few guests who opted to dress like figures from art history, and specifically, figures from Gustav Klimt's paintings. Hunter Schafer, for example, attended the Met Gala as Mäda Primavesi, the nine-year-old subject of Klimt’s painting by the same name. Created between 1912 and 1913, the portrait depicts the daughter of patrons Otto and Eugenia Primavesi, and just so happens to be sitting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection.
In order to transform into Primavesi, Schafer (with the help of her stylist Dara Allen) tapped Prada to create a linen gown with an empire waist lined with rosettes that matched the child’s own. Schafer also wore an almost identical bow in her hair, and mimicked Primavesi’s juvenile makeup with pink cheeks and blue eyeshadow smeared across her lids. That is where the similarities end for the most part. In the portrait, Primavesi wears a dress by couture designer Emilie Flöge, who was a friend of Klimt. The dress stops just under the knee in layers of ruffles, while Schafer’s deteriorated into tatters. Holes and tears emerged under the actor’s bust, and by the time the skirt reached the floor, there were merely shreds of the original fabric. But underneath the linen, flowed a floral skirt of pleated silk chiffon that created a dramatic train behind Schafer. Perhaps, the idea was that Schafer found the Flöge dress in the Primavesis’s attic over a century after Mäda sat for her portrait. Though the piece was destroyed from decades of storage, she handed it to Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons to fix it up for her to wear to the Met Gala.
Gracie Abrams as a Klimt Lady
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Schafer wasn’t the only one inspired by Klimt’s work. Gracie Abrams, too, came as a leading lady from the Austrian artist’s mind. She seemingly referenced two of his most famous paintings: The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
Matthieu Blazy designed a gorgeous, gilded Chanel dress for the singer featuring an embellished off-the-shoulder neckline and halter straps. Embroidered fabric continued the decadence while a chiffon skirt draped in chains fell to the floor. Abrams looked like she was covered in the gold leaf Klimt used generously throughout his “Golden Period,” when he painted both works.
A Quartet of Madame Xs
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Madame X was another popular figure at the 2026 Met Gala, and Julianne Moore, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Claire Foy, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley all attended the event dressed in their own takes on the controversial figure.
In 1884, John Singer Sargent painted a portrait of the young socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau titled Madame X. In the original work, Gautreau was depicted in a black dress with a dramatic, sweetheart neckline, a fitted waist, and jeweled straps. One of those straps, however, was haphazardly falling off Gautreau’s shoulder. That may seem like nothing in the era of naked dressing, but in the late 19th century, when the portrait was displayed at the Paris Salon, it was considered vulgar. The backlash was so bad that Sargent reworked the painting and altered the strap so it was securely placed on Gautreau’s shoulder. Now, Madame X, which resides in the Met, is considered the American Mona Lisa, so it’s no surprise it was referenced multiple times on the Gala’s red carpet.
Moore tapped Bottega Veneta for her recreation, wearing a simple black dress with a white strap that hung off her shoulder, while Foy went for a similar effect with her Erdem design. Sánchez Bezos, meanwhile, was the most true to Madame X’s original silhouette, and her Schiaparelli gown featured similarly jeweled straps, one of which draped her upper arm. Huntington-Whiteley, in Burberry, meanwhile, ditched the straps altogether, a concept the people of 1880s France likely wouldn’t have been able to comprehend.
Rachel Zegler as Lady Jane Grey
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Paul Delaroche’s 1833 painting, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, already has a place in fashion history. It was the inspiration for Alexander McQueen’s fall 1999 couture collection for Givenchy. At the 2026 Met Gala, however, Zegler tapped Prabal Gurung to turn her into the painting subject: the 17-year-old Queen of England who reigned for only nine days before being beheaded for high treason.
Delaroche’s painting depicts the final moments of Grey’s life, before she was deposed and killed in 1553 at the behest of her cousin, Queen Mary I. In the painting, Grey has been partially undressed, and she’s seen wearing a while silk underdress with a lace-up corset. Gurung took direct inspiration from this ensemble, placing Zegler in a similar top, albeit with a column skirt instead of Grey’s more voluminous alternative. The pièce de résistance, however, was the Jennifer Behr eye-covering Zegler wore over her face, solidifying the connection between her look and the famous painting.
Angela Bassett as Girl in Pink Dress
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Zegler was joined on the red carpet by another attendee who Gurung dressed to look like a character straight out of a painting. The Nepalese designer also designed a look for Angela Bassett based on Laura Wheeler Waring’s 1927 work Girl in Pink Dress, which is also part of the Met’s collection. Waring was an American artist known for her portrayals of Black women during the Harlem Renaissance. Girl in Pink Dress epitomizes Waring’s work, depicting a young woman with a coiffed bob wearing a pink, flapper-style dress featuring a shoulder of flowers. Bassett’s gown is decidedly more modern with its draped bodice and a beaded skirt, but the color and addition of a flower-adorned shoulder make the inspiration very clear.
Heidi Klum as Raffaele Monti’s Sculpture
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The most shocking look of the evening was undoubtedly worn by Heidi Klum. The Queen of Halloween clearly tapped her spooky season team to turn her into Raffaele Monti’s Veiled Vestal sculpture. During an interview with Ashley Graham and Cara Delevingne on the red carpet, Klum explained that she was inspired by a trip to the Met when she saw Monti’s work.
Veiled Vestal in an 1847 sculpture that depicts the Vestal Virgin. At the time, the depiction of translucent fabric was very popular in sculpture, and William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, who commissioned the piece, requested Monti employ the technique. Upon its completion, Veiled Vestal was displayed at Cavendish's West London Chiswick House, though it was moved to Chatsworth House in 1999. If the sculpture looks familiar to you, that’s because it was featured in the 2005 film, Pride and Prejudice.
Klum’s over-the-top look was created by prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino and is actually made of “foam and latex.” Klum insisted it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it looked. “I can sit, I can eat, I can do everything,” she said.
Kendall Jenner as a Winged Sculpture
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Klum was in good company when it came to those who recreated sculptures at the Met. There were many dressed in statuesque ensembles, including Kendall Jenner, who opted for a slightly less literal approach from GapStudio by Zac Posen.
Jenner took inspiration from Winged Victory of Samothrace, the second-century Greek statue depicting the goddess of victory. Anyone who has visited the Louvre has seen the work, as it welcomes visitors at the top of its main staircase, making it the perfect piece to embody on the Met steps.
Along with Winged Victory, Posen was also inspired by the white t-shirt, a Gap staple. He used a lightweight cotton-viscose blend as well as liquid jersey with satin-face chiffon and organza to achieve the draped look on the dress. The fabrics covered up a leather corset, created by Abel Cepeda Ljoka and Will Kowall of Seks, which peeked out at Jenner’s bust for an extra touch of sex appeal.
And while Jenner didn’t display her wings while on the carpet, she had the opportunity to do so inside, lifting her satin-faced chiffon train to reveal the gorgeous printed effect.
Amy Sherald as Her Own Muse
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What is cooler than dressing up like a figure from a historic painting? Dressing up as a figure from your own painting. American artist Amy Sherald attended the Gala in a custom Thom Browne look that turned her into a young woman in what is arguably her most famous work, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance). She wore a black dress with white polkadots down one side, and a red pompom headpiece by Esenshel. White opera gloves and a red Hector bag completed this quirky ensemble.
Sherald first painted the work in 2014, citing Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as inspiration for the piece. In 2016, Miss Everything won first in the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Just last year, the work was used for the cover of The New Yorker. It feels fitting, then, for Sherald to pay homage to this important piece in her repertoire on an evening celebrating art.
Venus Williams as her National Portrait
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The biggest flex of all, though? Dressing like yourself from your National Portrait Gallery painting. Venus Williams did just that, showing up to the Met Gala in a Swarovski dress that seemed to jump right off Robert Pruitt’s canvas, Venus Williams, Double Portrait. The tennis player, who co-chaired the event, had Giovanna Engelbert recreate the Wimbledon-plate-inspired necklace from the painting, while also incorporating hidden symbols, which represented her family and her career as well as Black tennis history.
“It reflects not just my journey but the legacy of those who came before me—especially pioneers like Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, who paved the way,” she told Vogue. “It felt like a personal way to connect with ‘Costume Art’—using fashion to tell a story about legacy and progress and honoring those who made it possible.”
Madonna as the Queen of Sheba
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To appreciate the inspiration for Madonna’s Saint Laurent look, one must view it from afar. As the singer ascended the Met Gala steps on May 4, she was flocked by seven women holding a large bolt of grey chiffon that emerged from her like a seven-pointed star. The effect brings to mind the 1945 work by British-born Mexican surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, The Temptation of St. Anthony.
Carrington originally painted Temptation for a competition organized by film director Albert Lewin. He tasked multiple artists, including Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí, to create their own surrealist version of the much-repeated subject, and Ernst’s depiction won the competition. In Carrington’s work, St. Anthony is the focus, but Madonna, instead, looked toward the Queen of Sheba, depicted to the right of him, with her own array of colorfully dressed helpers. Like the Queen of Sheba, Madonna held a circular trumpet as she walked the carpet to really drive home the reference.
This isn’t Madonna’s first time interpolating Carrington’s work. She was also one of several female surrealist painters that helped inspire her ‘Bedtime Stories’ video. When it was released in 1995, it was the most expensive music video of all time.
Luke Evan’s Tom of Finland Representation
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While many attendees looked to fine art for inspiration, Luke Evans went in a different direction. He wore an outfit that immediately brought to mind Finnish artist Touko Valio Laaksonen, AKA Tom of Finland, who is known for his pencil drawings depicting hypermasculine male characters. The actor wore a full burgundy leather look from Palomo covered in silver studs and finished off with a matching tie, gloves, and leather belt. A hat, created by Spanish milliners Vivas Carrión, topped off the ensemble.
Beyoncé as the Visitor
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While neither Beyoncé, Olivier Rousteing, nor the singer’s stylist, Ty Hunter, has confirmed it, we’re pretty sure the singer’s 2026 Met Gala look was inspired by Caroline Durieux’s 1994 work, Visitor. Durieux was a New Orleans-based artist, and any Beyoncé fan knows her connection with the city. Plus, the design of her crystal and feather-covered look mimics the skeletal figure in the lithograph. On the red carpet, Beyoncé said the ensemble was about celebrating “juicy, curvy, thin, tall” bodies, but if we were gamblers, we would say Durieux was also on the mood board.
Charli XCX’s Irises
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Not every art reference at the Met was so overt. Charli XCX opted for something more subtle. The singer wore a black strapless dress by Saint Laurent, punctuated by resin irises climbing up her torso. Yves Saint Laurent was famously a big fan of Van Gogh, and for his spring/summer 1988 collection, the designer looked specifically to the Dutch painter’s famed floral paintings, Irises and Sunflowers, creating jackets embroidered with the flowers. While we can’t imagine Charli wearing the very buttoned-up outerwear, this was her way of referencing Saint Laurent, his love of art, and a famous painting, while still remaining disctinctly Charli.
Ben Platt as Georges Seurat’s Canvas
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On the other end of the spectrum is Ben Platt, whose inspiration was clear the second he stepped on the red carpet. Platt turned his suit into a canvas, enlisting Tanner Fletcher to hand-paint and embroider an ivory silk wool suit with a scene referencing Georges Seurat’s famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
The Costume Institute’s “Costume Art” exhibit celebrates the “dressed body,” and last night on the Met Gala red carpet celebrating the exhibit several stars found their fashion inspiration in the human body. Though, one body part proved particularly popular, and perhaps not the one you’d think. The red carpet was something of an all-hands meeting, with several stars putting their hands (and several extras) where our eyes could see.
Anne Hathaway kicked things off in a sweeping black Michael Kors Collection gown, which featured a strapless silhouette and full skirt. The star’s classic style earned an artistic touch from Peter McGough, who hand-painted the piece with a white Grecian design—including open palms—inspired by John Keats’ poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Others went the more sculptural route, like Lena Mahfouf. The French content creator’s look for Burc Akyol featured a pale blue draped skirt, complete with daring hip cutouts. Its most dynamic feature came from a metal bodice sculpted in the shape of silver hands, remaining innovative and bold while providing strategic coverage.
A similar effect—albeit with more technical results—was seen on Nichapat Suphap’s dress by Robert Wun. The Venture Management founder’s black, long-sleeved mermaid style gown included silver metal hands placed on its bodice, hip, and calf. However, the accents were actually animatronic, moving and adjusting their fingers on a whim—which proved both technologically eye-catching, going instantly viral online.
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images
Wun also dressed Broadway producer and real estate heir Jordan Roth, who wore a muted gray velvet turtleneck dress with fully gloved sleeves. A spectral, faceless human form—a signature seen in Wun’s couture shows—protruded from the back of Roth’s dress. By appearing to gently touch his face, the accent added a surrealist, hands-on edge to Roth’s attire.
Matt Crossick - PA Images/PA Images/Getty Images
Wun’s hand-focused crew was complete with Blackpink member Lisa, who wore a sweeping sheer white gown with a matching veil—all embroidered with gleaming pearls and crystals. To keep her headwear upright, two extended white arms (naturally, covered in diamond bracelets) added to the look’s avant-garde nature. The pieces also created the surreal effect of Lisa having four arms, which certainly made a sculptural statement.
Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Sabine Getty rounded out the group in an Ashi Studio gown. The socialite and jewelry designer’s look featured a wispy, pale white layered skirt and one-sleeved bodice, punctuated by a sculpted breastplate. Cast in shades of black, brown, and red, her style depicted hand-painted arms clutching her body. Utilizing craft and an undone effect, her artisanal piece literally portrayed hands as a work of art—which, naturally, was perfectly on-theme.
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images
All of the red carpet’s various hands leaned into a central theme of body security, all while highlighting the natural shape of the human form. However, their wide range of formats proved there’s more than one way to grasp that concept—both figuratively and literally.
To follow up 2023’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan has chosen one of history’s great epics for his next blockbuster. The Odyssey will arrive in theaters this summer, and a stacked cast of Hollywood’s biggest stars will help bring Homer’s ancient Greek story to very modern IMAX audiences. Here’s everything we know about the film so far, including its first full-length trailer:
Is there a trailer for The Odyssey?
A short teaser for the film leaked last July and later debuted in theaters, but the first full-length trailer for The Odyssey premiered on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 4, 2026. The clip conveys the story's texture and, like the great epic, starts with Matt Damon’s Odysseus recounting his life back home to Charlize Theron's Calypso. He recalls his decade-long journey, from helping the Athenians take Troy to navigating treacherous seas and other difficult situations. It hints, though, that the film will focus a great deal more on life back in Odysseus’s home of Ithaca, where his son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), and wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), have been waiting for him and trying to fend off Antinous (Robert Pattinson) from taking everything Odysseus has.
There’s also some strong evidence here that The Odyssey will simply be Nolan’s most Dad-friendly film yet. When Pattinson’s Antinous threatens to replace Odysseus as the master of the home, telling him he’s “pining for a daddy he’ll never know,” Holland’s Telemachus tells him with a shaky voice: “My dad is coming home.”
Watch the first Odyssey trailer below:
Who is in the cast of The Odyssey?
Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are part of Nolan’s film, including Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as his son Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as his wife Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Odysseus’s rival and Penelope’s suitor Antinous, Zendaya as the goddess Athena, Charlize Theron as the sea witch Calypso, Jon Bernthal as Spartan king Menelaus, Benny Safdie as Menelaus’s brother Agamemnon, Mia Goth as the maidservant Melantho, John Leguizamo as Odysseus’s friend Eumaeus, and Himesh Patel as the Odysseus’s second-in-command Eurylochus.
Those are just the ones whose characters have been officially announced, though. The sprawling cast also includes: Elliott Page, Lupita Nyong’o, Logan Marshall-Green, and Travis Scott, to name a few.
Anne Hathaway as Penelope | Universal/YouTubeRobert Pattinson as Antinous | Universal/YouTubeTom Holland as Telemachus | Universal/YouTube
Who has worked together before?
The film marks several creative reunions, including for Nolan and Hathaway, who starred in 2014’s Interstellar (along with Matt Damon) and 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. Pattinson has also worked with the director, starring in 2020’s Tenet.
The Odyssey is the second of three movies starring Pattinson and Zendaya releasing this year, which also includes The Drama and Dune: Part Three. It’ll also bring Zendaya and partner Tom Holland back to the screen for the first time since 2012’s Spider-Man: No Way Home (their fourth Spider-Man installation, Brand New Day, arrives in theaters on July 31).
How will The Odyssey film diverge from the original saga?
There have been several films and TV series that draw inspiration from the foundational myth of The Odyssey. Kirk Douglas starred in a popular Italian version of the story in 1954’s Ulysses, and the Coen brothers’s 2000 musical-comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? put George Clooney in the Odysseus role on a satirical journey through the American South (and included a folk-revival soundtrack that won the Grammy for Album of the Year). Nolan’s epic is closer to a faithful adaptation of Homer’s 8th-century BC epic, though it seems life back in Ithaca, with Holland’s Telemachus and Hathaway’s Penelope warding off Pattinson’s Antinous, will get significant screentime in addition to Damon’s long journey home as Odysseus, where he’ll battle mythical creatures like Cyclops and sirens.
What has Christopher Nolan said about the film?
It’s fitting that a director known for his massive-scale filmmaking would take on history’s great epic, and Nolan brought his characteristic sense of grandeur to the 91-day shoot. He told Empire magazine that they shot over two million feet of film (The Odyssey is the first feature film in history to be shot entirely with 70mm IMAX film cameras).
Much of that shoot occurred on the open ocean, which he called “vast and terrifying and wonderful and benevolent, as the conditions shift. We really wanted to capture how hard those journeys would have been for people. And the leap of faith that was being made in an unmapped, uncharted world.”
Of his decision to shoot in such physical conditions, he added: “By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways. Because you’re confronted on a daily basis by the world pushing back at you.”
He also told Colbert on The Late Show that The Odyssey was the original Marvel movie, saying: “Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or D.C. or all the rest, a lot of it comes directly from the Homeric Epics. The thing about Homer is, nobody knows if that was a person. Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas of his time.”
And adding more evidence to the Dad Movie theory of it all, he also told Colbert that The Odyssey’s major thread about Odysseus’s dog is what really made him want to make the film. “It's really one of the things that hooked me,” Nolan said. “I'm a new dog owner. I'd never had a dog growing up. I didn't have a dog when my kids were young. We denied that, and then as soon as they left for college, we got a dog. They love the dog, too, when they get to visit. I decided to do The Odyssey because it's the ultimate dog story.”
In the aughts, the Met Gala was largely sponsored by fashion companies—from Gucci and Chanel to Burberry and Balenciaga. Since Amazon sponsored the gala in 2012, it’s been mostly tech companies: Yahoo, Apple (twice), Instagram (twice), and TikTok. This year, the sponsor was not a tech company, but tech people: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, both of whom also served as honorary co-chairs. (Saint Laurent sponsored the exhibition catalogue, though.) Meanwhile, tech companies—from Snapchat and Meta to OpenAI—bought tables, which reportedly cost $350,0000. The Amazon money, and the general presence of tech titans, elicited social media calls to boycott the “Tech Gala.”
Tech bros seem increasingly interested in fashion: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat front row at the most recent Prada runway show and has made custom t-shirts emblazoned with his favorite Latin phrases, while Bezos is now a regular at the Met Gala and attended Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel runway debut. However, tech guys are still not known for their sense of style. What might a Silicon Valley shark wear to a “Costume Art” themed gala?
Turns out, there are two types of tech bros: those who wear exceedingly normal suits, and those who wear exceedingly quirky suits. There is no middle ground. See for yourself below.
Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Brin’s outfit—an otherwise normal black suit—was festooned with blue embellishments that formed a vaguely Fauvist face on his chest. Accessories included a wilting pussy bow and jewelry reminiscent of an Oura ring.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram CEO
Photo by Julian Hamilton/Getty Images
Mosseri, a frequent Met Gala attendee, wore neither a tie nor Meta Ray-Ban glasses. His Kartik Research suit was embroidered with flowers. Some bouquets grew out of the hems of his pants.
Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
No detail went untweaked: Butterfield swapped a traditional button down for a mock turtleneck, lopped off classic lapels, and cropped his pants.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO
Photo by Cindy Ord/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
For his first Met Gala, Zuckerberg skipped the red carpet and snuck into the museum in a very basic black Prada tuxedo with a black bowtie. He’s not only a tech bro, but also a watch bro: he wore the George Daniels Anniversary watch.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and Executive Chairman
Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Although he was the event's sponsor and honorary chair, Bezos also bypassed the red carpet in a straightforward tuxedo. When facing a mountain of criticism, it’s probably wise to wear a safe outfit. His main accessory was beard scruff.
Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Another tech titan in a simple outfit: a classic double-breasted black tuxedo, but zhuzhed up with a diamond brooch.
Evan Spiegel, Snap Inc. CEO
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Spiegel is a regular at the Met Gala and, as usual, went for an uncontroversial tuxedo. That said, the anonymity of his outfit was offset by having his wife, the model Miranda Kerr, by his side. Both were wearing Dior.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Nobody commits to a theme—or a body-conscious statement—on the Met Gala’s red carpet quite like Kim Kardashian. This year, the star took the “Fashion is Art” dress code quite literally, opting to work with two actual artists to form a wearable sculpture. Let’s dive in, shall we?
While working with photographer and frequent collaborator Nadia Lee Cohen, Kardashian’s chief inspiration for her orange, chrome-effect bodysuit came from British pop artist Allen Jones. Jones, 88, is best known for his colorful and often controversial fetish-informed sculptured and paintings. Have you ever seen those fiberglass scultpures of women’s bodies reimagined as furniture? Yes, those are Jones works and they’ve been both heavily referenced throughout pop culture and heavily protested (at times they’ve been attacked by stink bombs and defaced while on display).
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Earlier in the day, Kardashian’s signaled her inspiration by posting the controversial poster for the explicit 1975 film Maîtresse to her Instagram stories. Jones was commissioned to paint the film’s posters by Barbet Schroeder, and the French film courted controversy for its frank and unflinching depiction of BDSM (in another fashion footnote, Karl Lagerfeld designed the film’s costumes). Fitting portraits with Jones also made the rounds from Kardashian’s Instagram post of her references.
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However, there was another Pop Art duo that also worked on Kardashian’s look. Whitaker Malem founders Patrick Whitaker and Keir Malem were responsible for making Kardashian’s breastplate and leather skirt. The pair are known for their leatherwork pieces and sculptures inspired by the human body, which they’ve created for over 30 years. With art collaborations with Christian Louboutin, Burberry, and Givenchy under their belts, the pair were certainly up for the task of creating Kardashian’s attire for fashion’s biggest night.
With its literal embodiment of art and clear nods to the human figure, Kardashian’s chrome-esque orange piece fit within the night’s aforementioned dress code—and the exhibit’s “Costume Art” theme. It also has a direct fashion precedent. Back in 2013, Jones worked with Kate Moss to refashion her into one of his famed sculptures.
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Of course, Kardashian also found a way to weave in her own signature bombshell glamour. The star slipped on a pair of nude Christian Louboutin pumps, complemented by tousled blond waves, which neutrally framed her high-shine body armor. Though her look was entirely original, Kardashian was one of several guests to embrace sculptural attire at the Met Gala. Breastplates were also seen on sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, as well as close family friend Hailey Bieber—proving that great minds, indeed, think alike.
Who needs a little black dress when you have a little lace dress? The go-to party girl take on naked reigned supreme during last night’s Met Gala after-parties. A small arms of starlets — Alex Consani, Charli XCX, and Zoë Kravitz included — fanned out across Manhattan last night, each in their own distinct take on lacy dress.
After hitting the Met steps in a black lace Saint Laurent gown, host committee co-chair Zoë Kravitz doubled down on the texture for the brand’s after-party at People’s. Her black floral lace dress included a velvet skirt. A fluffy black hat, soft silk clutch, and cap-toed PVC pumps continued the texture mixing method to styling.
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Alex Consani’s version looked like lace in design, but was actually made entirely of latex. Thin spaghetti straps and piped cups added to the Luis de Javier piece’s lingerie effect—as well as her simple black thong base layer. The star model kept the focus on her outfit with subtle black leather mules, plus a crystal-covered clutch for a dash of sparkle.
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Like Kravitz, Tate McRae’s after-party dress channeled the same effect as her Met Gala gown. After walking the Met steps in a gold lace Ludovic de Saint Sernin number, McRae gleamed in a second see-through, metallic gold lace number from the brand. Her knee-length style featured a slip silhouette, with its shine taking center stage when accented by a small pendant necklace and PVC-strapped sandals. Black oval-shaped sunglasses gave the singer’s ensemble a nonchalant edge.
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Always one for a fashion risk, Charli XCX wore a sheer black Saint Laurent dress made entirely of thin-cut lace to the label’s Met Gala after-party. Worn over high-waisted briefs, her style featured long sleeves and a thigh-high slit. Oversized sunglasses and glossy patent leather pumps sharply took the singer’s look from the boudoir to the red carpet.
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Laura Harrier also took black lace for a spin at Saint Laurent’s after-party—though her style was slightly different. Nodding to classic lingerie slips, the actress’s thin lace dress featured a sleeveless, asymmetric silhouette with side cutouts and a plunging neckline. Harrier complemented the daring piece with strappy black sandals and gleaming diamond earrings.
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Clearly, lace spans a range of transparencies, shapes, and colors, making it surprisingly versatile. As premieres fill up the summer and fall seasons, lace is sure to continue picking up steam, whether on or off the red carpet.
After the steps have been ascended, the dinner picked at, and the photos taken, you might consider the Met Gala to be done. But for the attendees of fashion’s biggest night, their departure from the Metropolitan Museum of Art is just the beginning. Because after that glamorous evening in the Temple of Dendur, it’s time for the after-parties. There, away from (as many) cameras and prying eyes, the celebrities can finally let loose. This year, just like any, there were a number of events pulling stars across the city. Of course, Beyoncé and Jay-Z hosted a little something, which Rihanna called the “only” after party, but there was also Zoé Kravitz’s fête with Saint Luarent cretive director Anthony Vaccarello and an evening at The Standard’s Boom with Grace Gummer and Gabriela Hearst. Each one brought with it a host of star-studded attendees, all of whom pulled out a second look for which to party into the late night (Or, should we say, early into the morning?). For some of the best after-party looks, keep scrolling.
Zoë Kravitz
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In Saint Laurent.
Hailey Bieber
XNY/Star Max/GC Images/Getty Images
In Dilara Findikoglu with Jessica McCormack jewelry.
Rosé
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Kendall Jenner
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In GapStudio by Zac Posen.
Charli XCX
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Sabrina Carpenter
Backgrid
In Tacori jewelry.
Lisa
BFA
In David Koma and Intimissimi.
Madonna
Backgrid
Hunter Schafer
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In Steve O. Smith.
Doja Cat
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Margot Robbie
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In Chanel.
Connor Storrie
Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images
Jennie
BFA
In Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Hudson Williams
Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images
In ERL.
Sarah Pidgeon
Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images
In Loewe.
Troye Sivan
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Olivia Rodrigo
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A$AP Rocky
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In Chanel with Briony Raymond x Pavē Niteō jewelry.
Cardi B
BFA
Chase Infiniti
Neil Rasmus/Shutterstock
In Delphine with Bulgari jewelry.
Angela Bassett
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In Contessa Mills.
Tate Mcrae
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In Ludovic de Saint Sernin with Gentle Monster sunglasses.
Jisoo
BFA
In Dior.
Alex Consani
The Hapa Blonde/GC Images/Getty Images
In Luis de Javier and Fleur du Mal.
Tessa Thompson
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In Valentino couture.
Paloma Elsesser
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Louis Jacobson
Neil Rasmus/Shutterstock
In Dilara Findikoglu.
Adwoa Aboah
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In Viktor Gichev.
Misty Copeland
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Rami Malek
Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images
Katy Perry
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Dree Hemingway
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Maude Apatow
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Rachel Sennott and Chase Sui Wonders
Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images
Sui Wonders is in McQueen.
Gabbriette
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Lux Pascal
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Rauw Alejandro
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Camila Mendes
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Amelia Gray
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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
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Vittoria Ceretti and Laura Harrier
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Ceretti is in Mugler.
Imaan Hammam
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Sombr and Odessa A’zion
BFA
Simone Ashley
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In Frank Darling jewelry.
Romeo Beckham and Kim Turnbull
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Charlotte Lawrence
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Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter. Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
The first Monday in May means one thing: the Met Gala, fashion’s biggest night. As always, A-listers descended on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including co-chairs Nicole Kidman and Beyoncé (who returned to the Met steps for the first time in a decade). Kidman fulfilled her co-chair duties by arriving early with daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, making her Met ball debut. Mom wore Chanel, while her progeny donned a floral Dior gown (which, the 17-year-old Kidman noted on the carpet, represented her “blossoming” at her very first Met Gala). Zoë Kravitz embodied a baroque painting—and this year’s dress code, “Fashion Is Art”—in her black lace Saint Laurent gown with panniers. Alexa Chung wore a piece designed by Jonathan Anderson for Dior’s latest collection; her strappy sandals matched the chartreuse shade of the dress perfectly. Hailey Bieber leaned into a trend for the evening: body plates, only hers was worn with the deepest shade of Saint-Laurent cerulean. Jennie’s Chanel dress, designed by Matthieu Blazy, featured 15,000 embroidered elements in varying shades of blue—a look she worked with a pumped-up French twist and bleached eyebrows. Rihanna and A$AP Rocky shut down the carpet as usual with Rihanna in a Maison Margiela Artisanal creation and Rocky wearing a baby pink Chanel robe coat with a tasseled belt.
The world stopped, of course, when Beyoncé emerged with her daughter, Blue Ivy, and husband, Jay-Z. The “Crazy in Love” musician wore a beaded, sequined, and feathered custom gown by Olivier Rousteing—a real stunner. But according to Bey, the best part of the Met Gala was getting to experience it “through the eyes of Blue.”
Rihanna in Maison Margiela Artisanal and A$AP Rocky in Chanel
Photo by Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
Jennie in Chanel
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Jay-Z in Louis Vuitton, Beyoncé in Olivier Rousteing and Chopard jewelry, and Blue Ivy Carter in Balenciaga.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Zoë Kravitz in Saint Laurent
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Alexa Chung in Dior
Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/WWD via Getty Images
Teyana Taylor in Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Hailey Bieber in Saint Laurent and Belperron jewelry.
Photo by Julian Hamilton/Getty Images
Doechii in Marc Jacobs and David Webb jewelry.
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Chase Infiniti in Thom Browne and Marli jewelry.
Photo by Theo Wargo/FilmMagic
Madonna in Saint Laurent
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban in Dior and Nicole Kidman in Chanel with Chanel Fine Jewelry and Omega watch.
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
The first Monday in May has arrived, which in the fashion world means one thing: the stars have descended upon Manhattan for the Met’s annual gala benefiting the Costume Institute. This year's edition, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour—with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as honorary chairs—celebrates the opening of "Costume Art," an exhibition pairing garments and artworks from across the Met's vast collection to make the case for fashion as an embodied art form. The dress code, "Fashion Is Art," plays on the same theme.
The gala surpassed last year's $31 million in funds raised with a record-breaking $42 million, an especially vital sum given that the Costume Institute is largely self-funded. That’s part of what makes the night so important for supporting the arts, and while the parade of celebrities, designers, and artists posing in meticulously crafted looks is the night's biggest draw, the spontaneous moments once guests clear the museum steps are the most coveted. That's in part because phones and photography inside the gala have been banned—per Wintour—since 2015, though a few candid photos typically manage to make it out (you might recall 2017’s infamous bathroom-smoking photos). Below, the behind-the-scenes celeb run-ins and moments from the 2026 Met Gala you might've missed.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and Nicole Kidman
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Anok Yai and Pierpaolo Piccioli
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Jennie, Hoyeon, and Chase Infiniti
Matt Winkelmeyer/MG26/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Jennie, Hoyeon, and Chase Infiniti
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Coco Jones and Doechii
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Beyoncé
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Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter
Dia Dipasupil/MG26/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesArturo Holmes/MG26/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Blue Ivy and Beyoncé inside the Met
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It’s not a Met Gala without Rihanna. The singer is basically as essential to the event as Anna Wintour herself, and the evening just doesn’t seem complete until she hits the red carpet. And while Rihanna arrived late, per usual, to the 2026 Met Gala, she didn’t deny us the drama for which she has become known, thank goodness.
Rihanna attended the Gala on Monday night in Maison Margiela Couture by Glenn Martens, inspired by a look from the designer’s fall/winter 2025 collection. Metallic fabric wrapped the singer’s legs in a column skirt before climbing up and encircling her upper torso, creating an opening to show off a jewel-encrusted turtleneck top. Diamond rings dotted her fingers while forty metal pin curls from Jennifer Behr covered her hair, mimicking the shape of the dress and adding an artful touch to the ensemble.
The best part about Rihanna’s Met Gala repertoire is that we never know what to expect. A silk, fur-lined coat? A pearl-covered pope? A deconstructed suit? Each year brings with it something different, and 2026 was no exception.
Of course, Rihanna was joined by her partner, A$AP Rocky, on the red carpet, and together, the two made for the most fashionable couple of the evening. For his part, Rocky wore a pink Chanel jacket-cum-house coat featuring a belt finished off with fringe and a feathered flower brooch. The pair’s looks were in no way coordinating, but they represented both of their respective styles, allowing each to shine in their own way.
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images
We don’t know what Rihanna’s goals were for her look this evening, but perhaps she wanted to look “pretty,” like in 2019. Milliner Stephen Jones, who made Rihanna’s pope hat that year, asked the singer the simple question of how she wanted to look prior to the event. He recalled the moment recently to W. “She replied, 'Funny enough, nobody has asked me that,’” he said. Jones warned Rihanna of the hat’s weight, but the singer, always a pro, was unconcerned. “Have you seen the shoes?” she asked. “The hat is not the problem.” Tonight, then, must have been a breeze for her.