The 2026 Met Gala took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Monday 4 May, opening the Costume Institute's spring exhibition, Costume Art. Guests were asked to follow the dress code “Fashion Is Art,” and red carpet reports from InsideHook, VMAN and Harper's Bazaar described a men's side of the carpet built on tailcoats, tuxedos and suits reworked in unusual colors and materials.
The exhibition and the hosts
Costume Art is curated by Andrew Bolton and is the first exhibition in the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a new permanent space of nearly 12,000 square feet near the museum's Great Hall. It runs from 10 May 2026 to 10 January 2027. The Met said the show examines the dressed body by setting garments from the Costume Institute beside objects from across the museum's collection.
“I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the Museum”
Andrew Bolton, curator, The Costume Institute, as reported by CBS News
The co-chairs, announced on 10 December 2025, were Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, and the actor Zoë Kravitz co-chaired the host committee. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos made the exhibition and benefit possible, according to CBS News. The “Fashion Is Art” dress code was released in February 2026.
Tailoring on the red carpet
- Paul Anthony Kelly wore a burgundy velvet and silk shawl-collar tailcoat by Dior, designed by Jonathan Anderson, with a pleated shirt (InsideHook, VMAN).
- A$AP Rocky wore Chanel by Matthieu Blazy: a soft pink wool tuxedo coat with black satin detailing, a tuxedo shirt and dark pleated trousers (InsideHook, VMAN).
- Colman Domingo wore custom Valentino by Alessandro Michele, which VMAN described as a pleated chiffon jacket with wool trousers trimmed with beaded side bands.
- Joe Alwyn wore a custom layered taupe suit by Valentino (InsideHook).
- Bad Bunny wore a black Zara tuxedo with an oversized bow (InsideHook, VMAN).
- Hudson Williams wore custom Balenciaga by Pierpaolo Piccioli in light blue (InsideHook, VMAN).
- Jeremy Pope wore an archival beaded, corseted Vivienne Westwood dinner jacket from the fall 1996 collection (InsideHook).
- Romeo Beckham wore a Burberry double-breasted tuxedo with leather lapels (VMAN).
- Maluma wore a shimmering black suit by Tom Ford, designed by Haider Ackermann (VMAN).
- Russell Westbrook wore a cobalt-blue cavalry twill jacket and trousers by GapStudio, designed by Zac Posen (VMAN).
Thom Browne dressed several men in variations on its own tailoring, VMAN reported: Bill Skarsgård in a patchwork tuxedo with an oversized peacoat, Marcello Hernández in a black herringbone double-breasted suit, Finn Wolfhard in a deconstructed wool-and-silk jacket, and Skepta in a white wool tailored jumpsuit. Prada dressed Nicholas Hoult, whose look combined leather with mohair trousers, as well as Damson Idris and Troye Sivan. Dior dressed Adrien Brody in a wool and silk tuxedo jacket worn with leather trousers.
What it means for tailoring
Where the 2025 gala was built around a menswear exhibition, the 2026 theme was open to every kind of dress. Even so, the men's looks reported by the three outlets were mostly recognizable tailoring: a tailcoat, a double-breasted tuxedo, a shawl collar. The changes came in fabric and color, such as burgundy velvet, pink wool, cavalry twill in cobalt and herringbone in black.
For readers, the useful takeaway is that classic eveningwear shapes, including the shawl and peak lapels explained in our guides, remain the base that designers vary on the most formal occasions. A tuxedo in an unexpected fabric still follows the rules of the dinner jacket.
What happens next
Costume Art opened to the public on 10 May 2026 and is scheduled to run until 10 January 2027.
