-
Advertisement
Fashion
LifestyleFashion & Beauty

Met Gala 2026: Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams among co-chairs

Zoe Kravitz and Anthony Vaccarello, meanwhile, chair a ‘host committee’, as the dress code – ‘Fashion is Art’ – is also announced

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
(From left) Beyonce, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams have been announced as among the top co-chairs of the Met Gala 2026. Photo: AP
Associated Press

You certainly do not have to tell Beyonce this: fashion, when deployed properly, is nothing less than art.

Now, the fashion-forward superstar will have another chance to make the point. When she co-chairs the Met Gala in May, all eyeballs will be glued to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see how one of the most watched women on the planet, in her eighth gala appearance, interprets the dress code: “Fashion is Art”.

The museum announced the dress code on February 23, along with some gala-related details, including new guest names. Joining the top co-chairs – Beyonce, Nicole Kidman, tennis champ Venus Williams and ex-Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour – is a “host committee” chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz.
Advertisement

They, and everyone else attending, will be figuring out what to wear come May 4. The code seems to have been chosen for maximum flexibility. And, says Andrew Bolton, curator of the Met’s Costume Institute: “Hopefully, it will put an end to the rather obsolete ‘is fashion art?’ debate once and for all.”

Anna Wintour is among the Met Gala 2026’s top co-chairs. Photo: Reuters
Anna Wintour is among the Met Gala 2026’s top co-chairs. Photo: Reuters
For Bolton, though, the show’s the thing, to paraphrase Hamlet. As gala-watchers know, the big party is not only a fundraiser for the institute – a self-funding department – but a launch pad for the annual spring fashion exhibit. Curated by Bolton and his team, this year’s show, “Costume Art”, seeks to present fashion as a through-line in the entire history of art.
Advertisement

The exhibition will be the biggest, in terms of objects, that the institute has ever done: nearly 400 in total, or 200 garments and 200 artworks from around the museum, placed in pairs.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x