When Nicole Kidman’s model daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban hit the runway for the first time in 2024, the fashion world knew she was destined for a major Met Gala debut. Now, not only has Kidman Urban made that debut—she’s done it with Kidman herself by her side. The moment was especially fitting as Kidman is one of co-chair for this year’s Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, honoring the Costume Institute’s newest exhibit “Costume Art.”

Tonight, the mother-daughter duo floated onto the green and cream carpet, each outfitted in ensembles ready to take flight. Kidman was strikingly clad in a ruby-red Chanel gown covered in sequins. Frothy feathers at her waist and cuffs delivered additional drama fit for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Kidman Urban took a garden-worthy approach in a light pink Dior gown. Her Jonathan Anderson-designed ensemble featured a structured, strapless bodice that created a peplum effect, covered in flared raffia flowers in shades of mauve, pink, and lavender. Small embroidered blooms on her gown’s draped skirt continued the theme, creating the illusion of flowers shedding their petals. That effect continued from head to toe with large silk statement earrings and raffia blossom-coated sandals. A pink Dior Bow clutch brought a sweet finish to Kidman Urban’s look.

Rose made her modeling debut back in 2024, but has quickly become a favorite at Anderson’s Dior. She walked Anderson’s womenswear debut for Dior last fall, and has already starred in numerous campaigns for the brand. On a recent episode of Las Culturistas, Kidman, a Chanel ambassador, explained she had nothing to do with her daughter’s recent success in modeling. “She loves fashion,” said Kidman. “She’s just walked the Dior show, which I have nothing to do with. Its her own world and her own relationship [with] Jonathan Anderson.”

The evening’s dress code, “Fashion is Art,” is one both mother and daughter clearly understood. Each of their dresses made use of expressive textures and shapes, all while highlighting plenty of color and sparkle. The moment also marked Kidman’s latest outing with Chanel after being named one of its new ambassadors under creative director Matthieu Blazy—whose debut show she and Kidnam Urban attended together during Fashion Month last fall. Plus, the pair’s early arrival also hinted at flowers—a constant source of inspiration for artists and designers over the centuries—already being a top theme for this year’s Met Gala red carpet.

Kidman certainly knows a thing or two about dressing for the Gala as one of its longest-running guests, and it’s clear Kidman Urban’s following in her footsteps. After all, mother knows best.

When Odessa A’zion showed up to her first Met Gala on Monday night, she was wearing a custom Valentino look she’d helped design herself. She and Alessandro Michele had traded sketches, notes, and references back and forth, riffing on the night’s dress code, “Fashion is Art,” until they got the daring outfit exactly right.

The final look was a nod to pre-war Hollywood: a black silk peplum corset with sparkling pink-and-blue floral embroidery, matching cut-out lily flowers covering A’zion’s chest, a black silk scarf worn like a choker, black tights and leather thigh-high boots, and a long black and slate blue embroidered cape worn off the shoulder, trailing dramatically on the floor.

“I loved the idea of lily flowers, embroidery, a fabric that would reflect, and a big old scarf and a long wide cape,” A’zion told W . “We had a lot of 1925-1940 cabaret wardrobes and film costumes, especially embroidered body pieces, on our moodboard. What they made back then was so elaborate and detailed. We loved and pulled from that quite a bit.”

A’zion typically does her own hair and makeup, and this night was no different, with a few extensions added to her signature bouncy black curls. She completed the look with well-placed sparkly freckle-jewels on her face and Pandora jewelry, including flower- and heart-detail rings. Of the night’s theme, she added with characteristic flair: “Fashion is always art, baby, no matter what it is!”

Though it was A'zion's initiation into fashion's biggest night—one co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, and which raised a record-breaking $42 million for the Museum's Costume Institute—the 25-year-old is no stranger to a high-stakes red carpet. After her breakout last year as Timothée Chalamet’s love interest in Josh Safdie’s nine-time Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme, followed by her instantly cult-favorite role as Rachel Sennott’s influencer best friend on HBO’s I Love LA, A’zion has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most compelling new faces. The Met Gala was just a chance to show off her sartorial range—and to connect with some of her favorite fellow artists.

She was one of eleven attendees dressed by Valentino for the evening, a star-studded group that included Joe Alwyn, Colman Domingo, Sombr, and Tyla—who happens to have worn one of A’zion’s favorite Met Gala looks of all time. Also on A’zion’s personal Met Gala Mount Rushmore: “Rihanna! Madonna! Zendaya! Kim Kardashian! Cher!”

In the end, the best part of A'zion's look was the creative work that went into it. “[It was] really incredible to be able to collaborate on such a piece of art,” she added. “It meant so much to me. I felt so taken care of by Alessandro and the whole team. It was handled with such care and artistry. What a cool experience.”

The Met Gala is a particularly heart-thumping occasion, especially for first-time attendees. The best advice she got from those who’ve done it before, “‘Breathe on the carpet. It’s scary, but it’s fast.’ I think I forgot to,” she says. In past interviews A’zion has joked that she basically blacks out ahead of facing the photographer onslaught, a feeling she reiterated to W. “I don't think I have a free second to calm my nerves until I'm on the other side of the carpet, and it's over,” she said of her getting ready process. “Sometimes I'll turn off music for a little bit beforehand, so my brain doesn't explode."

A’zion was most excited for what happened at the top of the steps. “Honestly, I was most looking forward to seeing what designers had created this year,” she said. “And, seeing what happened on the other side of it all, because I had zero clue what went down in there.”

When she’s in the right headspace, though, her pre-carpet ritual involves putting on the soothing music of her favorite artists. “When I’m listening again, it’s Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, just good music. Whatever feels good.” It’s a fitting move for A’zion, who, in addition to preparing for acting projects like Oscar-winning director Justine Triet’s first English-language feature, Fonda, is also finally embracing her lifelong love of singing. Just a few days before the Met Gala, A’zion officially released her first two songs under her name, “Liquor Store Roses” and “Maybe I’m Not What You Need.” The spare, confessional ballads show off A’zion’s smoky, unguarded vocals.

As for what's next musically? "I guess we'll just have to wait and see!"

Blackpink is no stranger to the red carpet, and, yet, somehow all four members had never attended the same Met Gala. At least until tonight, when Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé had something of a reunion on fashion’s biggest night. It marked the first time that all four members of the South Korean girl group attended the event at the same time. For Jisoo, it was actually her Met Gala debut. In the process, each of their looks highlighted the “Costume Art”-themed evening’s range of red carpet trends, with plenty of sparkle in tow.

Lisa stepped out in a sweeping sheer white dress by Robert Wun, complete with a long-sleeved bodice and mermaid-style skirt. The piece glittered from sprinklings of white and silver Swarovski crystals, but that wasn’t its most eye-catching element. White arm-shaped sculptures dripping in diamond bracelets were attached to the dress, holding up a matching veil over Lisa to form an abstract statement.

On a darker note, Rosé stepped out in a strapless black Saint Laurent gown by Anthony Vaccarello, featuring a bold thigh-high slit. The piece’s greatest statement came from a massive abstract brooch shaped like a Senfo hornbill, which was covered in dark crystals for added glamour. The bird itself frequently inspired Yves Saint Laurent, and famously appeared as a motif in his spring 1988 collection. The singer’s brooch smoothly aligned with the red carpet’s avian theme of birds and feathers while remaining distinctly minimalist. However, it wasn’t her look’s only glam factor; that went to her glistening diamond Tiffany & Co. collar necklace, whose layered jewels appeared to nod to the spreading of bird wings.

Meanwhile, Jennie opted for heavy metals in a shining Chanel dress. Her metallic column style, complete with a cinched bustier bodice, was fully overlaid with shimmering sequined leaves in a range of blue shades. The intricate piece took 540 hours to create, in tandem with creative director Matthieu Blazy’s passion for artisanal craftsmanship. A swinging diamond Chanel High Jewelry earring and diamond ring, complete with a crystal-covered clutch, finished her look with a burst of glamorous sparkle.

Jisoo rounded out the group in her blossoming Dior dress, a sequined style cast in hues of pink, purple, black, and white. The strapless piece was cinched by a sculptural layered waistline, accented—like its upper half—with cascading silk flowers in a similar palette. From far away, the dress appeared to feature a pattern of blossoming floral branches with petals floating down—with the illusion immediately being a work of art itself. A thin, diamond-lined velvet choker, small diamond rings, and ear cuffs from Cartier brought a bejeweled touch to her ensemble, which was one of the latest floral looks to hit the red carpet.

Altogether, Blackpink’s four members each delivered singular style statements while remaining in sync with the 2026 Met Gala’s key trends. Allover sparkle, sheer “naked” textures, avian and floral motifs, and sculptural accents have spread across this year’s carpet on a range of guests, from Nicole Kidman to Zoë Kravitz, Emma Chamberlain, and more. Together, Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé proved their penchant for keeping up with of-the-moment looks for fashion’s biggest night. Blackpink in your area, indeed.

Like many millennial men, James Harris sometimes wagers on sports. But over the weekend, Harris—one-half of the popular menswear podcast Throwing Fits—zeroed in on an entirely different market: the Met Gala. He staked $120 across three positions on Kalshi—a prediction market that allows users to trade on everything from President Donald Trump’s posts on X to Survivor episode outcomes—betting that celebrities Stanley Tucci, Meryl Streep, and Emma Chamberlain will appear on the red carpet. “I'm going big on The Devil Wears Prada 2,” he tells me.

While questions about Met Gala invitees and their outfits have always generated online gossip ahead of the event, prediction markets have turned idle fashion speculation into a casino game. So far, speculators on Polymarket and Kalshi have shelled out north of $750,000 on Met Gala-related markets. The morning of the event, Kalshi gives Kim Kardashian a 30% of wearing Gucci, while Polymarket predicts there's only a 25% chance Lady Gaga will attend tonight’s festivities.

The trading volume bet on the Met Gala pales in comparison to the money placed on other tentpole events, like the Super Bowl and political elections, which regularly exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. But the fashion extravaganza’s markets are introducing a more stylish set to the billion-dollar betting companies. Take Harris, who had never used Kalshi before now. “This is just me injecting a little bit of personal stakes into the Met Gala,” he explains.

Most of the prediction platforms’ trading volume stem from sports, and both Kalshi and Polymarket seem interested in luring sports-oblivious users to their markets. Last summer, Polymarket took bets about Vogue’s next editor-in-chief, and over $35,000 has been spent on Kalshi predicting the cover star of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition.

Unlike presidential elections, there are already answers to Met Gala questions as people place their bets. Some people know whether or not Meryl Streep plans to attend the benefit. Some stylists know which labels their clients plan on wearing. That means members of the fashion industry could run into legal landmines if they decide to place bets. “These markets could entirely be driven by insiders, people who know the information before it happens,” says gambling industry analyst Dustin Gouker. While Valentino-or-Versace markets are less consequential than, say, the timing of an American invasion of Venezuela, it could still expose insiders to regulators’ wrath.

But it doesn’t require a mole at the Mark Hotel, where many VIPs get dressed before the Met Gala, to boost betters’ odds. “We know who [A$AP] Rocky works with,” notes Harris, referencing the rapper’s ambassador deal with Chanel. “Is Rocky gonna wear Givenchy? It's like, obviously not. If you know a little bit about the industry you can kind of make an informed guess.”

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.

Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and Nicole Kidman

Anok Yai and Pierpaolo Piccioli

Jennie, Hoyeon, and Chase Infiniti

Jennie, Hoyeon, and Chase Infiniti

Coco Jones and Doechii

Beyoncé

Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter

Blue Ivy and Beyoncé inside the Met

Rihanna, Ciara and Katy Perry

Rihanna, Heidi Klum, and A$AP Rocky

Co-chairs Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman and Beyoncé

Beyoncé in her second look of the night

Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Nicks performing

Charli xcx and Sabrina Carpenter

Teyana Taylor and Connor Storrie

Rosé and Lisa

Rosé and Gigi Hadid

Laufey and Sombr

Odessa A'zion and Chase Infiniti

Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian

Akeem Morris and Madonna

Madonna and Akeem Morris

Cher

Tessa Thompson and Ayo Edebiri

Ayo Edebiri and Zoë Kravitz

Zoë Kravitz, Lily-Rose Depp, and Gracie Abrams

Jennie, Zoë Kravitz, Lily-Rose Depp, and Gracie Abrams

Ayo Edebiri and Lily-Rose Depp

Tate McRae, Rosé, and Connor Storrie dancing the night away

Sabrina Carpenter, Zoë Kravitz, and Hailey Bieber

Jisoo, Rosé, Lisa, and Jennie

Lisa and Hudson Williams

Connor Storrie, Charli xcx, and Tate McRae

Sabrina Carpenter admiring the Met’s art collection

Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner

Hailey Bieber, Kylie Jenner, and Zoë Kravitz

SZA, Doechii, and Hailey Bieber

Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, and Russell Westbrook

Chase Sui Wonders, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Hailey Bieber

Olivia Wilde and Katy Perry

Hailey Bieber, Hunter Schafer, Lux Pascal, Paloma Elsesser, Alex Consani, and Kylie Jenner

Alexis Roche, Kylie Jenner, and John Galliano

Colman Domingo and Janelle Monáe

Felicity Blunt, Heidi Klum, Colman Domingo, Emily Blunt, Carey Mulligan, and Nicholas Hoult

Jordan Roth, Paul Anthony Kelly, and Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde and Patrick Schwarzenegger

Mark Zuckerberg, Alysa Liu, and Priscilla Chan

Chase Infiniti and Hoyeon

Greta Gerwig, Stella McCartney, and Tate McRae

Margot Robbie and Lily-Rose Depp

Huma Abedin and Ben Stiller

Julianne Moore and Lux Pascal

Ben Stiller and Heidi Klum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Beyoncé has returned to the Met Gala for the first time in 10 years, and boy, did she make the wait worth it. The co-chair arrived fashionably late to the event on Monday night, not only with her husband, Jay-Z, in tow, but also with her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, by her side.

And while, for the most part, the 2026 Met Gala red carpet lacked the drama one would expect to come from a “Costume Art” theme, Beyoncé made sure to bring it tenfold thanks to Olivier Rousteing. The singer attended in a jewel-encrusted dress mimicking a skeleton, depicting her collarbone, spine, hands, and hips, before continuing down her legs in a column skirt. On top, a coat of gray ombré feathers trailed many feet behind her, necessitating a team of attendants to help her walk the stairs. A spike cap, covered in more crystals, and Chopard jewelry completed this over-the-top ensemble.

On the red carpet, Beyoncé spoke about her decision to work with Rousteing on the design, describing the former Balmain designer as “someone who has been so loyal to me.” She said the look is about “celebrating him” as well as all the “juicy, curvy, thin, tall” bodies. “Whatever God gave you.”

And if Beyoncé brought the theatrics, it was up to Blue to bring the chic glamour. The 14-year-old opted for a much more toned-down ensemble for her Met debut, wearing a white Balenciaga dress with a bubble hem that picked up at the front to reveal crystal-covered Jimmy Choo heels finished off with quartz. A matching cropped puffer and sunglasses upped the cool factor. Jay-Z, smartly, let the women in his life shine, and wore a simple black Louis Vuitton tux with tails and a double-breasted vest, topped with a Briony Raymond brooch.

Now, it is pretty surprising that Blue is on the Met Gala red carpet, as the event famously is limited to those 18 and up. Of course, if the Met is going to make an exception, it would be for Beyoncé’s offspring. Though likely Blue will just walk the steps and then head home for the night, as her parents go on inside to enjoy the festivities.

The last time Beyoncé attended the Met Gala was back in 2016 for the “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” themed event. She wore a latex dress by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, a designer and brand she’d worked with for five straight Met appearances. And while she opted to go in a different direction for the 2026 iteration, this look does have shades of the black and purple look Tisci designed for the singer back in 2012. Clearly, Beyoncé loves jewels and she loves feathers, and we can’t blame her.

Fell cuts through the analysis and legal deconstruction and reminds us that racism is real, which, at heart, is all you really have to know. Some racism is intentional and conspiratorial, like redistricting to keep Black candidates out of office or requiring bogus literacy tests to keep Black citizens from qualifying to vote. But it […]

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.

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.

There’s nothing quite like coordinating outfits with your best friend—even for the Met Gala. While striding up the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s soaring steps this evening, Hailey Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Kendall Jenner each wore a sculptural breastplate. Of course, being the Met, their armor-like pieces were works of high fashion—or, as the 2026 dress code specified, fashion as art.

Kylie instantly made a statement while arriving to the museum in a sweeping Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown by Daniel Roseberry. Her custom design included a pale butter-toned, duchess satin skirt with a corset folded across it, mimicking the removal of clothing—and putting a clever spin on “naked” dressing.

The intricate design was covered in thousands of natural baroque pearls, sating stitch balls, and painted fish scales, which totaled over 11,000 hours of work, according to the brand. Kylie’s pièce de resistance, however, was a structured, corseted brown bustier crafted from brown toile that instantly brought body armor to mind. Her ensemble was finished with an antique bird head-accented silver necklace, as well as swinging chandelier earrings covered in pearls and crystals.

Meanwhile, Kendall brought a romantic take to the same look with her own breastplate and pale yellow dress, paired with small Buccellati pearl drop earrings. The model’s structural, nude-toned bodice and off-the-shoulder gown actually hailed from Gap Studio. Zac Posen’s strategic draping and gathering created a cinched, smooth silhouette, akin to clothing often seen on statues.

True to her own style, Bieber chose a more minimalist approach for her own avant-garde breastplate. The Rhode founder’s Saint Laurent look prominently featured a bodice sculpted from 24-carat gold—the purest form of gold available. In fact, the piece marked the second time she’s worn high-fashion hardware by Saint Laurent, following a similar gold metal bra seen in a 2021 Harper’s Bazaar shoot.

Bieber’s sculptural bodice was framed by a long silk chiffon skirt and sheer lavallière scarf in rich blue hues. Small gold earrings and rings added subtle metallic accents, drawing focus immediately back to her high-fashion breastplate.

Jenner and Bieber’s breastplates certainly stood out—but they weren’t the only stars wearing the structured piece. Jenner’s older sister Kim Kardashian stepped out in a bright orange chrome style on the red carpet, while Jen Rubio wore a wooden version accented with carved monkeys. The style has been a standout at past Galas, with iterations in mother-of-pearl, gold metal, and wood seen on guests including Ariana Grande, Taylor Russell, Kiara Advani, and Lil Nas X in the past.

Both Bieber and Jenner’s breastplates embraced starkly different aesthetics, but took the armor-like piece to new heights. While numerous guests opted for sheer, bejeweled, or floral outfits at this year’s Met Gala, theirs stood out from a pure dedication to artisanal craft. After all, it takes a true fashion diehard to wear a solid gold bodice—whether on or off the red carpet.

Hunter Schafer is having an art-filled week. In Sunday’s episode of Euphoria, her character, Jules, recreated Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, turning the neo-impressionism masterpiece into a ghoulish scene too explicit for poor Lexie (Maude Apatow) or network television.

But on Monday, on a Met Gala red carpet filled with sheer and barely-there dresses, Schafer was one of the few attendees who opted for a more demure look. She also took the evening’s theme seriously, dressing like a figure straight out of art history.

Schafer arrived to the 2026 Met Gala in a custom Prada look inspired by Gustav Klimt’s 1912/1913 painting Mäda Primavesi. The portrait depicts the nine-year-old girl in a confident stance amid a colorful background, wearing a white dress by Klimt’s friend, couture designer Emilie Flöge, decorated with flowers. Appropriately, the painting is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Like Primavesi, Schafer wore an empire-waist gown with a line of rosettes just under the bust. While Primavesi’s dress ended just under the knee in layers of ruffles, however, Schafer’s reached the floor. Holes and tears along the waist and skirt made the dress look almost as if it were falling apart. Underneath the linen fabric emerged a floral silk chiffon fabric that continued into a long train behind the actor that draped the steps as she ascended. Schafer finished the look with a bow in her hair just like Primavesi, and a simple face of makeup—pink cheeks and blue eyeshadow—that matched the nine-year-old's own pre-war glam.

The result is Schafer as Primavesi all grown up. Or, like the actor discovered the old Emilie Flöge dress tucked away in an attic, filled with holes after years of gathering dust, and brought it to Prada to refurbish.

The theme on Monday night was Costume Art, and many attendees opened up their old art history textbooks to find references for the evening. Schafer wasn’t the only attendee to dress like a figure who stepped right off a canvas. Artist Amy Sherald tasked Thom Browne to dress her like the young woman from her 2014 painting, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance). While others, like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, embodied the infamous John Singer Sargent subject, Madame X. As a result, the evening is truly an art nerd’s dream. Surely, Jules would have enjoyed the festivities greatly.

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).

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.

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.

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.