Your complete guide to the 2026 Met Gala

Culture & TrendsYour complete guide to the 2026 Met GalaThe first Monday in May is here.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00 Diana Ross attending the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Gala 2025 in New York, in 2025. Matt Crossick / PA Images via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 4, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTBy Amina KilpatrickThe biggest stars are ready to strike their best poses on the steps of the Met for fashion’s biggest night.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The 2026 Met Gala is here — which means it’s time for daring looks, possible baby bump debuts and some meme-worthy moments.Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s affair.This year’s theme: ‘Costume Art’ Since 1948, the gala has raised money to fund the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s operations and exhibitions. Last year, the event brought in a record $31 million dollars, the New York Times reported. The event is traditionally held on the first Monday in May and is considered to be the highest-profile fashion event of the year. The theme is derived from the institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art.” Max Hollein, CEO and director of the Met, previously told the Associated Press last year that the goal of the exhibit is to take visitors on a journey through art history, where they will see connections throughout.“It’s a show that can really live in fascinating ways at the museum and can pull from all different areas of our collection — paintings, sculpture, drawings,” Hollein told the publication.The show is “organized thematically by different body types,” Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, told the AP. Some of the sections include: the “Naked Body,” the “Classical Body,” the “Pregnant Body” and the “Aging Body.”The Met Gala dress code is “Fashion is Art,” with guests being asked to “celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throug...