The annual Met Gala, an annual event hosted by Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, reared its head this week. The event Monday coincides with the Costume Institute’s newest presentation, curated by Andrew Bolton.
This year, the exhibition is titled “Costume Art,” which pairs artworks already in the museum with corresponding garments. It chooses to cover the way that fashion is seen both on the body and in artwork. Costume Art serves only as the theme surrounding the exhibition, the dress code is what guests at the Met Gala are supposed to follow. For 2026, they landed on “Fashion is Art,” which attempts to answer a question that has been long debated in art spaces.
Certain designers do not believe they make art because fashion is something that people can wear, not something that is displayed in a museum. The fashion industry as a whole seems to focus on the money making rather than the art making. However, designers and guests were tasked with the dilemma of showcasing how fashion can be intertwined with artwork.
Overall, the designs at this event were more lackluster than what was shown last year, proving yet again that a broad theme makes for some weak interpretations. When a dress code can be thought of in so many different ways, it dilutes the actual attempts from those doing their research.
Considering I personally define art within fashion as the garment itself and wearable beauty, everyone followed the theme this year, by wearing something.
Noticeably, this year, most of the people attending fell within two categories: followed the theme of the exhibition or followed the dress code.
My best dressed of the night goes specifically to Emma Chamberlain in Mugler, Madonna in Saint Laurent, Beyonce in Olivier Rousteing, Paloma Elsesser in Francesco Rizzo and Chase Infiniti in Thom Browne. While each has different looks, I think their inspiration of artwork as a jumping off point was extremely interesting and produced a lot of art-worthy fashion moments. Chamberlain, Infiniti and Madonna all pulled directly from artwork and the aspects of painting, Chamberlain especially whose look was actually hand painted by an artist.
Beyonce, while inspired by a Louisiana artist, also referenced the exhibition with her beaded skeleton down, interpreting the body in its most inner state. Bad Bunny in Zara took the idea of the aging body into consideration with his ensemble. He showed up in prosthetic makeup making him appear 50 years older than he is. In an age where plastic surgery seems to reign supreme, it’s nice to take the time to appreciate the beauty that comes with age.
Robert Wun, along with his whole team, deserved a medal for the amount of custom looks they created, notably on LISA of BLACKPINK and Naomi Osaka. I personally preferred Osaka’s look more as it connected both the exhibit and the dress code as her jacket came off to reveal a gown that was designed like the muscle underneath the skin.
However, not everything in the night was perfect. Saint Laurent as a whole gave weak designs and even weaker interpretations. In terms of how founder Yves Saint Laurent enjoyed art when he was designing, it feels disappointing that a brand with that much history misses the mark that poorly.
Dior, designed by Jonathan Anderson and Schiaparelli, designed by Daniel Roseberry, are two brands that I was excited for but I felt as though they did not give their best work to their clients. Sabrina Carpenter went in a gown that was entirely made with a roll of film for the movie “Sabrina,” but I think the design itself left much to be desired.
Roseberry only dressed two clients: Kylie Jenner and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos (who being there is an entirely different article), but both looks were not as good as I was expecting. Bezos ended up looking boring and her interpretation was barely understood, and while Jenner’s was actually better than some of her previous looks, it was weak compared to everyone else.
Some of the details are what made the looks more exciting. Anok Yai’s makeup and hair was reminiscent of a statue that has been rusted with age and Sabrina Getty’s bodice was her own body plastered on the dress she wore. I think these are really solid views on the theme, but it becomes lackluster when the whole look is considered.
The Met Gala is hard to nail each time for everyone, but I think all this year proved is that the narrower the theme, the better for the results.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major and editor-in-chief of the Campus Times She can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
