The 2026 Met Gala Theme Explained: "Costume Art"
Aiming to present embodied dress as a core thread in art history, “Costume Art” is more of a philosophical proposal for ‘fashion as art’ than an aesthetic category.
The Met Costume Institute has announced its 2026 exhibition and Met Gala theme, “Costume Art,” which is both a call to recognize fashion as a central expression in art and a celebration of the forthcoming opening of the museum’s Condé M. Nast Galleries.
With the 2026 Met Gala still months away on May 4, 2026, co-chairs and host committee members have not been announced; however, the gallery’s thematic intentions have been shared. The theme, which forgoes the traditional colon and subtitle, not only proposes that fashion is art but also that fashion, as a medium, has an innate connection to the human body.
The two-word theme of “Costume Art” also has a historical significance in the Costume Institute’s original history. The “Museum of Costume Art” was an independent institution established in 1937 before being absorbed and renamed by the Met in 1946. Though fashion has effectively gained inclusion in the Met since then, a mentality that fashion is a lower form of art compared to painting and sculpture still pervades in the art world.
The exhibition aims to elevate fashion to the same status without reducing the significance of the bodily experience. Curator Andrew Bolton shared, “ I wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the Museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied artform,” in an official statement.
To demonstrate that fashion and the body are indeed a central thread through the Met’s collections, the forthcoming exhibition will display roughly 200 existing Met artworks alongside garments and accessories, both modern-day and historical. Further, the exhibition will be divided into themes, including “Naked Body,” “Classical Body,” “Ageing Body,” “Anatomical Body” and “Pregnant Body,” to highlight the nuanced forms that fashion manifests in, reflecting both the cultural and individual experiences.
“Rather than prioritizing fashion’s visuality, which often comes at the expense of the corporeal, Costume Art privileges its materiality and the indivisible connection between our bodies and the clothes we wear,” Bolton added.
So what might one see on the gallery floor? The preview reveals an amorphous Comme des Garçons FW17–18 dress by Rei Kawakubo alongside “La Poupée,” by Hans Bellmer, circa 1936. Elsewhere, a Givenchy FW10 gown by Riccardo Tisci will be displayed alongside Meiji Period illustrations by Kawanabe Kyōsai.
In addition to the exhibition itself, the opening of the Condé M. Nast Galleries is a major milestone for the Met, as well as fashion’s growing role in defining culture and conserving history. Occupying roughly 11,500 sq ft, where the Great Hall’s former gift shop operated, the galleries will continue to highlight the essence of “Costume Art” long after the 2026 gala, with future shows focusing on the intersection of art and fashion.
Where other themes may have zeroed in on specific cultures or traditions—like 2015’s “China: Through the Looking Glass,” or 2018’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,”—the universal 2026 theme is much broader, though the Met noted that it will have a primary focus on “Western art from prehistory to the present.”
Last year, Bolton collaborated with guest curator Monica Miller (author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity) to organize Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Highlighting the impactful legacy of Black Dandyism in tailoring and menswear from the 18th century to the present, it was the first Met Gala theme centered on and around Black culture.
Over the years, much of the buzz around the Met Gala has become concentrated on how designers interpret the night’s theme through their star-studded guests. With a broader theme, designers will undoubtedly interpret the dress code in a myriad of ways. The omission of a subtitle, like the previous year’s, which highlighted tailoring, also encourages a wider range of concepts.
Furthermore, with a relatively unprecedented number of creative director appointments in the luxury world—from Jonathan Anderson at Dior to Matthieu Blazy at Chanel—the 2026 Met Gala will draw many eager eyes hoping to see designers’ Met Gala debuts under new maisons.
“Costume Art” could prompt plenty of creative art history references on the Met steps: Atlein‘s surreal drapery could evoke Greek marble figures, or perhaps Duran Lantink‘s anatomical trompe l’oeil for Jean Paul Gaultier could evoke the Naked Body. The focus on the concept of “art” itself also lends itself well to maximal craftsmanship and out-there silhouettes, which always add to the spectacle.
As May 4, 2026, approaches, more details, including the host committee, are expected to arrive in the coming months. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for updates on the 2026 Met Gala.
