Where, how and when to watch the 2026 Met Gala
But is it art?
By 
EVERY YEAR, on the first Monday in May, the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art become the most photographed stretch of concrete on earth. A $100,000-a-ticket fundraiser for a museum, fronted by celebrities in looks that range from the genuinely transcendent to the deeply baffling, watched by millions who will never be invited – it has always been spectacle wearing the costume of culture.
But spectacle is the goal, given that it highlights the heights of fashion as costume. And it’s also why we keep watching. This year, it has arrived with more baggage than a Hermès trunk show.
The 2026 edition takes place on Monday, 4 May , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For Australians, that means Tuesday morning: the red carpet rolls from around 8am AEST. Vogue’s YouTube channel carries the live stream; E!’s coverage airs on 7Bravo and 7plus. If neither works, just open Instagram – the event will be impossible to avoid regardless.
And, of course, Esquire and Harper’s Bazaar will be covering the best fashion of the night.
This year’s theme is “Costume Art.” Curator Andrew Bolton has framed it as an exploration of fashion’s relationship with the human body, pairing garments with Western art spanning 5,000 years to examine how clothing and artistic representations of the body have always been in conversation. The guest dress code is “Fashion Is Art”. A wide enough brief to accommodate almost anything. Expect Grecian draping, classical sculpture references and hopefully some actual living art.
Co-chairing are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour. Then there is the matter of Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sánchez.
The couple are the evening’s lead financial sponsors, having reportedly contributed upwards of $10 million – the first time a private individual, rather than a fashion house, has held that position. The fashion world has not been entirely welcoming. “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” posters appeared across New York City, with critics citing Amazon’s labour practices, its alleged ties to ICE, and Bezos’s political adjacency to the Trump administration. Several A-listers, including Met Gala icon Zendaya, are reportedly sitting this one out.
Wintour has called Sánchez “a wonderful asset.” Whether the evening agrees remains to be seen. Tune in from 8am, Tuesday 5 May AEST.
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