The Metropolitan Museum of Art has revealed new details for its spring 2026 Costume Institute exhibition, Costume Art, along with plans for the annual Met Gala fundraiser set for Monday, May 4, 2026. The exhibition will open to the public on May 10 and remain on view at The Met Fifth Avenue through January 10, 2027.
Bringing together nearly 400 objects from across the Museum’s vast holdings, Costume Art will examine the central role of the dressed body in art and culture. Garments from The Costume Institute will be juxtaposed with works spanning more than 5,000 years of art history, illuminating the connection between clothing, corporeality, and artistic representation.
The exhibition will inaugurate the Museum’s newly renovated, nearly 12,000-square-foot galleries adjacent to the Great Hall. In recognition of a significant lead gift, the space will be named the Condé M. Nast Galleries, honoring the late founder of the publishing company. The new galleries are designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO).
A Gala Celebration
The 2026 Met Gala, formally known as The Costume Institute Benefit, will be co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour. Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz will serve as co-chairs of the Gala Host Committee, which includes an international roster of artists, performers, and creatives such as Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Misty Copeland, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Amy Sherald, and many others.
As lead sponsors of both the exhibition and the Gala, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will serve as Honorary Chairs for the evening.
The 2026 dress code, “Fashion is Art,” invites attendees to interpret fashion as an embodied art form, reflecting the exhibition’s focus on the dressed body as both subject and medium. Held annually on the first Monday in May, the Gala provides The Costume Institute’s primary source of funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and operations, while also supporting broader Museum initiatives.
Fashion in Dialogue with Art
Curated by Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, Costume Art will be organized into thematic “body types” that explore enduring representations of the human form. Categories will include the “Naked Body,” the “Classical Body,” the “Anatomical Body,” and the “Mortal Body,” alongside often-overlooked perspectives such as the “Pregnant Body” and the “Aging Body.”
Objects will be displayed on pedestals and platforms to emphasize equivalency between fashion and other artistic disciplines. Mannequins will feature polished steel heads designed by artist Samar Hejazi, encouraging visitors to see themselves reflected in the garments and archetypes presented.
Among the featured pairings:
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A 2022–23 suit by Glenn Martens for Y/Project in collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier shown alongside a 1st–2nd century CE marble statue of Diadoumenos.
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An 1883 walking dress juxtaposed with Georges Seurat’s 1884 study for A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.
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A 1997–98 ensemble by Comme des Garçons displayed with Max Weber’s 1917 Figure in Rotation.
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A 2023 design by Dilara Findikoglu paired with an 1868 mourning brooch by Tiffany & Co.
Max Hollein, the Museum’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, described the exhibition as a dynamic conversation between fashion and art history, underscoring The Met’s ongoing commitment to presenting fashion within a broader artistic context.
An illustrated catalogue written by Bolton will accompany the exhibition, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed internationally by Yale University Press. A limited-edition deluxe version will be available exclusively through The Met Store.
With Costume Art, The Met positions fashion not simply as adornment, but as an essential, embodied art form—one that has shaped and reflected human experience across centuries.
