The 2026 Met Gala concluded on Monday night at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, with co-chair Beyoncé headlining the evening by arriving with daughter Blue Ivy Carter in a diamond-encrusted ribcage dress that marked her return to the event after a decade-long absence.
The “Fashion is Art” theme raised a record $42 million for the museum’s Costume Institute, surpassing last year’s record of $31 million.
This year’s event was co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sánchez serving as honorary chairs.
The Bezos appointment had drawn public boycott calls from Zendaya and Meryl Streep in the days before the event, though attendance was not visibly affected.
The fundraising figure confirmed the night as the most commercially successful Met Gala in the event’s history, as reported by CBS News.
The looks that dominated the 2026 red carpet
Kylie Jenner arrived in a Schiaparelli illusion dress featuring 10,000 hand-applied pearls that required 11,000 hours of embroidery work.
Rihanna wore shimmering Maison Margiela couture, while Gigi Hadid chose a sheer flame and floral motif gown from Miu Miu.
Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner both attended, with the Kardashian-Jenner family accounting for multiple talked-about moments across the carpet.
Madonna arrived accompanied by seven blindfolded female helpers, one of the more theatrical entrances of the night. Romeo Beckham, 23, made his Met Gala debut as an attendee in his own right rather than as a plus-one.
Cardi B disclosed on the carpet that she was attending while ill with a cold.
Beyoncé’s appearance with Blue Ivy marked a rare major public event for the pair together.
Other standout appearances included Teyana Taylor in Tom Ford, Naomi Osaka in Robert Wun and Sabrina Carpenter.
The wide-open “Fashion is Art” dress code gave designers and celebrities more creative latitude than many previous themes, producing a more varied carpet than the more prescriptive approaches of recent years.
The record numbers and what comes next
The $42 million fundraising total sets a new benchmark for the annual Costume Institute benefit. The 2025 event raised $31 million, meaning this year’s figure represents a 35% increase year on year.
The Met Gala 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art,” opens to the public at the Metropolitan Museum of Art following the private gala period and runs through the summer. Fashion and entertainment media will sustain coverage of the night’s best looks, biggest moments and inevitable controversies through the coming week.
Any formal response from the Met to the boycott calls, or from Zendaya and Meryl Streep regarding their decision to decline, will form the next chapter of the story.
