The 2026 Met Gala is hours away. Here's what to know ahead of fashion's biggest night.

Unlike some A-list events, the Met Gala always has a theme. It coordinates with the Costume Institute's annual exhibit, which attendees can explore once they enter the gala.

For 2026, museum curator Andrew Bolton created a "Costume Art" exhibit, saying he "wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum, connecting artistic representations of the body with fashion as an embodied art form."

The Met Gala's red carpet also has a dress code to complement the theme, dictating the eye-catching looks celebrities wear to ascend the famous Met steps. This year, stars will dress to the "Fashion is Art" dress code, as Vogue announced in February, advising guests to "consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas."

That description leaves plenty of room for guests to interpret the theme as they see fit, particularly compared to stricter Met Gala dress codes of years past, so we'll likely see a variety of different takes on "Fashion is Art" attire.

It's time to roll out the fancy carpet because fashion's biggest night is just hours away.

Held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Met Gala raises funds for the museum's Costume Institute and is the place to be for celebrities on the first Monday in May.

A night of glamour doesn't come cheap, though.

This year, individual tickets cost $100,000. More often than not, fashion houses and other corporate sponsors buy tables and bring guests to fill them (though Anna Wintour is said to have final say on who gets in). Tables cost $350,000 for 2026.

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