The Met Gala’s 2026 theme, “Fashion is Art”, might be the event’s most ambiguous dress code yet.

Monday’s annual star-studded fundraiser for the museum’s Costume Institute was inspired by “Costume Art”, the Met’s blockbuster Spring exhibition, which explores depictions of the dressed body through a series of thematic body types: “the naked body,” “classic body,” “pregnant body” and “ageing body.”

Guests were instructed to “celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history” on the red carpet, and stylists had predicted plenty of naked dresses and subversive, sculptural silhouettes. But which celebrities played it safe, and who left us speechless?

Nicole Kidman was one of the first stars to arrive on the blue carpet Monday night in her role as co-chair for this year’s event, wearing a breathtaking sequinned and feathered Chanel gown — gorgeous, but not exactly nailing the dress code (yes, we are the theme police tonight).

Beyoncé, who returned to the Met Gala for the first time in a decade (now as a co-chair), blew us away in a custom diamante skeleton-style bustier dress by Olivier Rousteing, with her daughter Blue Ivy by her side in an all-white ensemble.

On the more bizarre end of the spectrum, Katy Perry was channelling fencing chic in a futuristic headpiece covering her entire face and a matching white gown from Stella McCartney, while Heidi Klum — known for her imaginative fancy dress looks — literally turned to stone and transformed into a walking statue.

Find our best and worst dressed below...

Beyoncé

Beyoncé made a long-awaited comeback to the Met Gala after a 10-year hiatus, arriving with her daughter, Blue Ivy, and husband, Jay-Z, in tow to make it a family affair. For the ensemble, the musician turned to her longtime collaborator, Olivier Rousteing, whose interpretation of the “Fashion is Art” dress code resulted in a sheer silver gown featuring a skeleton of crystals. Complete with a sweeping feathered train and a crystal headpiece, it was undoubtedly one of the most dramatic looks of the night.

Rihanna

Rihanna is always one of the most highly anticipated Met Gala guests due to her legacy of red carpet looks (remember the viral Guo Pei gown aka “the omelette dress”?). This year, she didn’t disappoint, arriving with her husband A$AP Rocky in custom Maison Margiela. Inspired by Medieval architecture, the sculptural metallic gown was complemented by Rihanna’s lavish accessories, including several diamond rings and bejewelled eye makeup. The singer is famously always one of the last A-list stars to don the Met Gala red carpet (in 2025, she arrived at 10pm, one hour after the carpet closed), but this year arrived fashionably on time.

Doechii

Doechii was always going to make a sartorial splash for her sophomore Met Gala; her bespoke Louis Vuitton suit was one of the standout looks from last year. This time around, the two-time Grammy winner wore a burgundy Marc Jacobs wrap dress that exposed her torso and back. She ditched shoes in favour of committing to the bohemian vibe of her ensemble. Let’s hope someone brought her a spare pair to see out the rest of the New York City night.

Madonna

Fresh from releasing her latest single, “Bring Your Love”, with Sabrina Carpenter (and a viral Coachella appearance), Madonna arrived in a witchy ensemble designed by Saint Laurent that came with its own coven. With seven “ladies-in-waiting” joining her, the singer was inspired by Leonora Carrington’s 1945 painting, “The Temptation of St Anthony Fragment II”, which features a crowned woman with long black hair surrounded by women holding a sheer cape around her. The resemblance is truly uncanny.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman arrived early for hosting duties; she was one of the event’s celebrity co-chairs, which puts extra eyes on her outfit: a deep cherry red gown with a feathered hip trim. The gown was a custom number by Chanel newbie Matthieu Blazy, who took the reins at the luxury French fashion house in December 2024 after an acclaimed stint at Bottega Veneta. Kidman walked the red carpet with her daughter, Sunday Rose, who opted for a pink Dior gown.

Naomi Osaka

One of the standout looks of the night came from one of sport’s most stylish stars, Naomi Osaka, who donned an outfit that came right out of the Met’s current exhibition, “Costume Art”. The white gown featured wide, sculptural shoulders with a full pleated skirt and red feathers. The matching red gloves with razor-sharp claw-like nails added an additional layer of spice to the outfit. And that’s before we’ve even considered the hat: a curved, flat style from Robert Wun. This was a masterpiece personified.

Emma Chamberlain

This year marks Emma Chamberlain’s sixth Met Gala, and she took the responsibility more seriously than ever before, telling Vogue she decided to skip all of the event’s glossy pre-parties. “I just want to be as peaceful as possible and rest,” she said. The outfit was a custom Mugler design and encompassed Chamberlain’s father’s career as an oil and watercolour painter and a childhood that was, quite literally, coloured by artistry.

Connor Storrie

The Heated Rivalry star arrived in a Saint Laurent look, featuring a polka dot halter-neck top with a long train, and wide-leg black tailored trousers. The star of his look, though, was undoubtedly the 18-carat gold Omega watch the actor donned, which is worth a startling £49,500. Let’s hope that the watch was fastened tightly and securely.

Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter has been riding high since headlining Coachella last month in two critically acclaimed performances, so it’s no wonder the singer seemed in good spirits on Monday evening’s red carpet. Paying homage to Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film, Sabrina, the musician wore a custom Dior gown designed by Jonathan Anderson. With a hip-high slit, sheer tulle skirt, and halter-neck design, the gown evoked a classic Hollywood silhouette.

Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid tapped into the everlasting naked dress trend by donning a sheer Miu Miu gown that boasted an open back and a mermaid train, as well as floral and flame-like embellishments. Photographs from inside the event showed Hadid walking inside the Met with her boyfriend, actor Bradley Cooper, though the couple chose not to pose together on the red carpet.

Ashley Graham

Ashley Graham opted for a sheer nude gown by Di Petsa for the occasion, marking the first time that the Greek designer has had one of her gowns on the Met Gala red carpet, an honour for any fashion designer that can catapult their career into another sphere. “I have always admired Ashley for her intellect and her beauty, and it has been a dream to dress her for such an important moment,” Petsa told Vogue.

Kim Kardashian

Few people know how to make a Met Gala statement quite like Kim Kardashian. People are still talking about her controversial Marilyn Monroe moment from 2022’s event – the reality star-turned-bodywear mogul famously wore a vintage Bob Mackie dress once owned by Monroe. This year, she channelled an armour-inspired look by wearing a burnt orange breastplate with pointed breasts, collaborating with British pop artist Allen Jones for the design. He used a repurposed cast from the 1960s for the look: “I wanted something original, I didn’t want to cast my own body,” Kardashian told Vogue.

Heidi Klum

Nobody loves a dress code more than Heidi Klum. The model is renowned for her extravagant costumes – her Halloween worm outfit in 2023 remains one of pop culture’s most iconic moments – and so it should come as no surprise that for this year’s Met Gala, Klum took the art theme very seriously indeed. Channelling classical Greek sculptures, Klum went all out in a look that enveloped her entire body and face, grey contact lenses, fake teeth and all. “I look hard, but I’m soft,” Klum told Vogue of her foam and latex look, which allowed her to move and walk freely and comfortably. “It’s a little warm,” she added, noting that there was a zipper fitted in the back to help her go to the toilet. Now, that’s commitment to the cause.

Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner is a Met Gala aficionado just like the rest of her family, and this year wore a look that complemented her older sister (Kendall also wore a nipple-baring look), wearing a nude bodice with a cream satin skirt by Schiaparelli that featured nipple-baring details. The gown channelled an undone look, featuring a corset that hung off Jenner’s hips as if it had just been taken off,

Katy Perry

In one of the more unusual looks of the night, Katy Perry made a return to the Met Gala (the last time she attended was in 2022) in a bizarre headpiece by Miodrag Gubernic that covered her entire face and had been designed to match her custom Stella McCartney gown. There seemed to be several playful moments in the singer’s look, with her gloves featuring a sixth finger to reference a common mistake in AI-rendered photographs that occasionally adds an additional finger to people’s hands. The mask, meanwhile, was “designed to be a literal and symbolic reflection that invites the observer to consider that their perception of others can mirror their own internal world, and conversely mask truth,” according to a press release announcing Perry’s look. Well, it’s certainly memorable.

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