THE UNSEEN's Met Gala Recap: "Fashion Is Art"
It is time again. The night of glamour and fame: The Met Gala.
On the first Monday of May, The Metropolitan Museum hosts its annual fundraising event for its Costume Institute, marking the opening of the spring exhibition, this year's theme: “Costume Art”. An exhibition that explores the depiction of the dressed body through pairings between fashion and artwork.
The Met Gala red carpet is one of the most anticipated nights for fashion and pop culture lovers. Stars and designers showcase their best (or worst) looks on the red carpet in New York. In 2026, the dress code “Fashion is Art” invited guests to treat clothing as an embodied art form. And just like art, this theme appears to be subjective and open for interpretation. As always, the Met Gala did not disappoint with its vast range of different looks.
This is THE UNSEEN’s Recap of the Met Gala’s red carpet looks in 2026.
Starting Off Strong – Best Dressed
Youtuber Emma Chamberlain once again interviewed guests on one of Hollywood’s most important red carpets, and she was among the first to arrive. By wearing a hand-painted, custom-made Mugler Dress, inspired by expressionist paintings such as Van Gogh and Munch, she set the tone for the night. Not only was this look breathtaking, but it was also perfectly aligned with the theme by commemorating their art and transforming the garment into a canvas. No notes.
Cute but Not On Theme
Zoe Kravitz wore a delicate black lace Saint Laurent gown by Anthony Vaccarello. While undeniably elegant, the look felt underwhelming in the context of the night. Compared to other looks, this just does not stand out enough, nor does it seem special. What stands out, however, is her hand remaining in her pocket—perhaps to hide a recently rumoured engagement ring?
What the Hell, Sure!
There is no better way than to describe this category. While watching the different looks and researching them, this sentence came to mind and stuck.
Heidi Klum, known for her Halloween parties, brought her love for dressing up to the Met. Paying homage to the Italian sculptor Raffaelle Monti, she arrived dressed as a hyper-realistic marble statue. The illusion of the costume was so convincing that some people (me) did not recognise that it was actually the German supermodel. A look that fits the exhibition’s theme perfectly, is the most creative and stands out among all the other guests.
You may ask, "Why is Amy Sherald on the list?" Her outfit is nothing out of the ordinary. Let me tell you. Her dress is inspired by her own painting “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)”. She heard the theme “Fashion is Art” and went on to reference herself, and I applaud and respect that.
Best on Theme
For this year's theme, it was hard to narrow it down to one person. That’s why I chose multiple. With the theme “Fashion is Art,” the Met invited its guests “to express their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history”. Each of the celebrities interpreted this year’s theme in a different way, which resulted in stunning outfits.
Madonna was wearing a Saint Laurent Slip Dress with a grey train, which was held by seven women. It is not because she is difficult and needs seven assistants, but because she references a painting by the surrealist painter Leona Carrington, “The Temptation of St. Anthony.” She does not stop there and adds another layer of art to it. She has referenced that work in the past in her “Bedtime Story” music video, thereby referencing herself. Her outfit embodies Art in every way.
Another actress who took her fashion inspiration straight from a painting is Rachel Zegler. Wearing a Prabal Gurung white corset dress with a blindfold, she references Paul Delaroche’s “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.”
Pop-star Sabrina Carpenter paid homage to a different form of art: films. She stepped onto the carpet in a custom Dior dress. The bodice is made of film strips from the 1954 film Sabrina. The movie won the Oscar for Best Costume Design back in 1955. The dress is an art piece itself, but a clever reference to art.
Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo wore a white Jean Paul Gaultier gown. It is inspired by the "Winged Victory of Samothrace" with its symbol of feminine strength in mind. To create the wings, the dress appears to be folded like paper, which touches on the art of Japanese Origami.
Many celebrities referenced famous artworks to show their take on the theme. But Isha Ambani stuns at the Gala in a Sari woven with pure gold threads. It is decorated with hand embroidery and over 200 old-cut diamonds. This breathtaking piece shows that fashion carries history and culture and is art itself.
Newcomers
Heated Rivalry Star Hudson Williams had his Met Gala debut this year. He wore a light blue Balenciaga Suit with black rhinestone embroidery and a black cape, giving a high-fashion Spanish matador moment. The Canadian actor also references art in his look: he wears eye makeup that is inspired by the movie Black Swan. Not a bad debut.
Actress Chase Infiniti also had her debut on fashion's biggest red carpet. She wears a trompe-l’œil dress by Thome Brown, which is inspired by the famous Venus de Milo. With 1,5 million stacked multicolored sequins, it creates the optical illusion of brush strokes.
Unexpected Slay
It’s not that it is unexpected that Grammy Winner Bad Bunny makes it on the list. What was unexpected was how he did it. He wore an all-black tuxedo. Nothing out of the ordinary, there. The unexpected turn is that he appears fifty years older. With prosthetics, he created a look that explores the “aging bodies”, which is a part of the Met’s spring 2026 exhibition. Very unexpected, very on theme.
Olympic Freestyle Skier Eileen Gu walks the Met carpet in a dress that is an art installation. The dress is a “tech-couture” by Iris van Herpen. 15,000 individual glass bubbles and actual floating bubbles emerging from it make it a real art piece, showing that fashion IS art.
Unexpected Nay
Blake Lively has returned to the Met Gala. Having been a regular guest, she has delivered iconic looks over the years. However, this archival Atelier Versace gown from 2006 is not one of them. It is not bad, and the idea of wearing an archival piece for this theme makes sense, but it does not compare to her previous looks.
Worst Dressed
While there can’t really be someone declared the “worst” dressed because, as mentioned many times, art is subjective, there were outfits that are simply not exciting, not well-executed, and comparatively bland compared to others. The next two, I give an A for effort, but nothing more.
To mark Sombr’s Met debut, the custom Valentino look by Alessandro Michele aimed for something conceptual, but it ultimately didn’t come together. While Sombr described himself as a “canvas with a point of view,” the execution felt disconnected, as if the idea never fully translated into the look itself, missing the impact it was clearly aiming for.
Lily-Rose Depp wore a custom Chanel dress to the 2026 Met Gala. A gray silk crepe de chine piece that, according to Women’s Wear Daily, took around 597 hours and roughly 2,000 embroidery elements to complete. The craftsmanship is clearly there, but despite that, the look feels completely detached from the theme. Paired with the slingbacks, it comes across as underwhelming overall, less a question of taste and more a matter of execution that just doesn’t land in the context it was meant for.
Final Thoughts
In the end, the range this year was kind of the takeaway. Some looks really leaned into the idea of fashion as art, others felt like they could’ve been worn anywhere else. Not everything landed, but that contrast is what made the carpet interesting in the first place and what makes the Met worth coming back to every year.
WRITTEN BY
Meggi
Everything around pop & fan culture has been an integral part of my life for over 10 years and I have the urge to tell everyone about it.
COLLABORATED BY
Ilayda
I keep coming back to the same things: music, books, people, and the way certain moments stay longer than they should. Most of what I write starts there and then turns into something I understand a little better.
