Here’s How to Watch This Year’s Met Gala
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Harper's Bazaar StaffSun, May 3, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC
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How to Watch the 2026 Met GalaJamie McCarthy - Getty Images
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Every first Monday in May, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art becomes the epicenter of the fashion world, and the 2026 Met Gala promises to be a particularly exciting edition.
This year’s event, set for May 4, is centered around the theme “Costume Art,” exploring the relationship between fashion and the body. Its accompanying dress code, “Fashion Is Art,” serves as a broad yet thought-provoking jumping-off point for designers and their celebrity guests to dream up red-carpet creations.
Ahead of the event, celebrities are checking into New York City, parading the streets in one inspiring look after the next, showing us that we’re in for quite the glamorous treat.
From the hosts to the dress code, read on for everything you about this year’s festivities.
How can I watch the 2026 Met Gala red carpet? What time does it start?
There are several ways to tune in to fashion’s biggest night, and thankfully, you don’t need cable to access the red carpet.
Vogue will stream the Met Gala across all of its social channels, so whether you favor YouTube or Instagram, you’ll be covered. Elsewhere, E! will be streaming directly to DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, and Peacock with their “Live From E!: Met Gala 2026” segment, where hosts Ciara Miller, Bronwyn Newport, Renee Montgomery, Christian Siriano, and Chris Appleton will take viewers through celebrity arrivals.
Streaming will kick off at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST and run approximately three hours.
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What is the Met Gala 2026 theme?
The theme for this year coincides with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s spring exhibit, “Costume Art.”
Examining the relationship and “indivisible connection” between fashion and the body, the exhibit pulls from the museum’s rich and expansive collection of garments and art alike—pairing contemporary and vintage fashion with paintings and sculptures dating back to the 1st century CE. Split into subsections such as “Pregnant Body,” “Aging Body,” and “Naked Body,” it sets out to spark a conversation on the “complex interplay between artistic representations of the body and fashion as an embodied artform.”
Speaking on the theme, lead curator Andrew Bolton explains, “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 art form. 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.”
Who is hosting the Met Gala 2026?
Guiding the evening are co-chairsBeyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams.
Karwai Tang - Getty Images
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are sponsoring the gala this year alongside Saint Laurent, while Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz are serving as co-chairs of the Met Gala Host Committee. Other committee members include Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Gwendoline Christie, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, LISA, Chloe Malle, Sam Smith, Teyana Taylor, Lauren Wasser, Anna Weyant, A’ja Wilson, and Yseult, alongside newly-announced members Adut Akech, Angela Bassett, Sinéad Burke, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Mullins, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald, and Chase Sui Wonders.
What is the dress code?
The Met Gala 2026 dress code is “Fashion Is Art,” and attendees are invited to interpret the theme through their personal lens—expressing their own relationship to fashion as an “embodied art form.” Some guests may arrive in looks that reference how the dressed body has been explored throughout art history, while others may lean into contemporary runway collections that fit the bill.
Who is attending the Met Gala?
Each year, viewers wait eagerly to see which celebrities will ascend the steps of the Met. While there is no public guest list, the event typically hosts about 450 attendees. This includes a mix of rising stars, creatives, and A-listers, as well as high-profile individuals in sports and politics.
Marleen Moise - Getty Images
Of course, the Met Gala has its share of longtime attendees, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Zendaya, and Rihanna.
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