This weekend, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, Costume Art, which will examine the “centrality of the dressed body, juxtaposing objects from across the Museum’s vast collection with historical and contemporary garments from The Costume Institute.”
Come the first Monday of May, The Met Gala® will see Hollywood’s biggest stars and fashion’s greatest figures show up in their own interpretation of the theme.
The exhibition and Benefit are made possible by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, aka they’re the biggest financial sponsor.
The exhibition will inaugurate major new Galleries adjacent to the Great Hall, which will display The Costume Institute’s annual spring exhibition. In recognition of a significant lead gift from Condé Nast, the nearly 12,000-square-foot space will be named for the company’s founder, the late Condé M. Nast.
Additional contributions toward the renovation are provided by Thom Browne, and Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere. Further support is provided by Met Trustee Aerin Lauder, Tory Burch LLC, Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers, as well as Met Trustee Amy Griffin and John Griffin.
Focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present, Costume Art will be organized into a series of thematic body types that reflect their ubiquity and endurance through time and space. These comparisons will highlight the inextricable relationship between clothing and the body and reveal that artistic representations of the body are shaped by the garments that clothe them and that the garments, in turn, are shaped by the bodies which they clothe.
The show will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from May 10, 2026, through January 10, 2027.
The event’s co-chairs and honorary chairs will be announced in the coming months, along with members of the Gala Host Committee.
Additional support is provided by Saint Laurent and Condé Nast. The catalogue is made possible by Saint Laurent.
