NEW YORK, May 5 — The Met Gala turned New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art into the world’s most glamorous red carpet, with A-list actors, musicians, athletes, artists and designers coming together for charity — and offering their best looks.

Here are the top five moments of the night:

Queen Bey

As the red carpet arrivals went on for hours, everyone was waiting and wondering: when will Beyonce arrive?

Typically, the event’s co-chairs are among the first on the scene, and tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman did just that.

But Beyonce made a grand entrance, and did not disappoint.

She stunned fashionistas in a diamond skeleton gown, with skin-toned mesh underneath, the bejewelled bones showing to the tips of her fingers. The outfit, designed by Olivier Rousteing, included a feathered coat and an intricate headpiece.

Beyonce making her grand entrance. — AFP pic

At her side was rapper husband Jay-Z, elegant in a black tux and tails, and their 14-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who wore a strapless creamy white dress with a puffy train and a matching jacket.

“It feels surreal because my daughter’s here,” Beyonce told Vogue. “It’s incredible to be able to share it with her and I think she looks so incredible.”

Saint Laurent rules

Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello was co-leader of the gala’s “host committee” — one tier below the co-chairs — and his work was on display all over the red carpet.

From actress Zoe Kravitz, who worked on the committee with him, to supermodel Kate Moss to “heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie, the label was everywhere.

Rapper Doja Cat, also on the committee, wore a draped latex gown with a demure neckline — but slit up to her waist.

And singer Rose, a multiple Grammy nominee this year for APT, her banger collab with Bruno Mars, wore a chic strapless black dress with a high slit and an outsized bird brooch at her waist.

Music divas meet K-pop

The Met Gala hosted some of music’s most glittering stars: Madonna, Cher and Stevie Nicks are all in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And Rihanna is a pop superstar, a beauty mogul and a Met Gala favourite.

Thai singer and actress Lalisa Manobal. — AFP pic

But also on hand were some of the top names in K-pop, including Jennie, Rose, Lisa and Jisoo from girl group Blackpink, and the three women behind the mega-hit “Golden” from the Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters.

While the Material Girl opted for a wispy Saint Laurent slip dress with a grayish cape handled by seven ladies-in-waiting and a towering hat featuring a ship, Cher wore a leather and lace Burberry dress, and Nicks wore a deep blue ensemble with matching top hat.

Rihanna is no stranger to the Met Gala and has made many unforgettable appearances, including last year, when she unveiled her third pregnancy.

Rihanna arriving at the 2026 Met Gala. — AFP pic

This time around, she arrived in a sculptural silver gown from Maison Margiela with an intricately beaded bodice and an Art Deco-style headpiece.

For Team K-pop, singer-songwriter EJAE — an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winner for writing Golden — stood out in a sparkling silver column gown from Swarovski, topped off with Korean hairpins called binyeos, according to Vogue.

Singer-songwriter EJAE. — AFP pic

‘Heated Rivalry’ stars scorch carpet

Are you Team Rozanov or Team Hollander?

Actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have emerged over the past year as the It Boys of showbiz and fashion, on the back of the massive success of their gay hockey romance series Heated Rivalry, based on novels by Rachel Reid.

After taking the Winter Olympics and the Oscars parties by storm, the boys were back.

Storrie (who plays the flashy Ilya Rozanov) arrived first, wearing a chic black Saint Laurent suit with a sleeveless white-dotted black shirt that ended in a long train down his back — which he revealed after ditching the jacket.

Williams (who plays the subdued Shane Hollander) was the more daring of the two, sporting a pale blue Balenciaga suit with a cropped jacket, bare chest and a gauzy black train that was giving couture matador.

Pure whimsy

The theme for the gala is “Fashion is Art”, and while many A-listers played it safe, a few understood the theme and went all-in.

Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie rocked a dramatic off-the-shoulder red Giles Deacon gown with a colorful feathered hat and a face mask in her hands, hoping to conjure the image of a John Singer Sargent painting.

Gwendoline Christie. — AFP pic

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka made her Met Gala debut in a striking Robert Wun ensemble that featured a white coat with red feather accents, which she removed to reveal a red gown studded with thousands of red Swarovski crystals.

Broadway actor Ben Platt wore a pale green and sky blue suit that clearly depicted Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” — the source material for Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sunday in the Park with George.”

And model Heidi Klum — known for her over-the-top Halloween costumes — resembled a living statue, her white gown draped perfectly, looking like marble. — AFP

Beyoncé may have brought her family and worn a silver-and-crystal-jewelry dress made to look like a skeleton for her first appearance in 10 years at the Met Gala. Bad Bunny may have looked like a venerable old man dressed in a Zara suit. The Kardashians may have brought out the big guns—and big corsets—to wear on the most famous steps in the world. But this year, beyond the celebrities, the beautiful dresses, the much-needed inclusivity, and the messages about the conversation between art and fashion, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s gala in New York will be remembered for another issue, one that seems even more important than highlighting body diversity, or how fashion itself is also art: how wealth, changing with each generation, can alter the narrative, take over culture, create a rarefied atmosphere and even usher in a new era.

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Ping! “First we need to sprinkle some cocoa,” advises a female voice. Beside her, the unrestrained laughter of a baby rings out. A brief, deafening applause erupts, and a second later the heavily saturated beat of a techno track explodes. “This dream destination is located just five minutes from Lake Como!” exhorts a man in a tie. Tiriri-tiriri! A ball hits a roulette wheel until it stops, and the applause returns. It is soon drowned out by the angelic choirs of the song “Halo.” “Baby, I can feel your halo,” bellows none other than Beyoncé.

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