What started as a ravishing benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute — featuring New York City’s upper crust, the fashion industry’s top tier, starlets as style muses, and supermodels — has spiraled into a circus with Condé Nast’s Anna Wintour as ringmaster.
By now, you’re probably scrolling through your social media feed to see the utter clownery that walked its way into the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday evening.
The evening’s theme, “Fashion is Art,” played on the Costume Institute’s exhibit this year, titled “Costume Art,” which looks at the relationship between garments and artwork.
The event was chaired by a random hodge-podge of celebrities — Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and (of course) Anna Wintour. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos were named honorary chairs after reportedly dropping $10 million to sponsor the event, a move that buys them favor with Wintour and her coalition of loyalists, including Vogue‘s new editor Chloe Malle.
You may be asking yourself, what do any of these folks have to do with art, fashion as art, or even the skill of painting, sculpting, or drawing? That is, after all, the centerpiece of this year’s exhibit. Aside from Beyoncé, who one could argue has made a significant contribution to the arts through visuals that accompany her music, there is no reason for these other co-chairs — aside from being friends of Wintour’s.
To put this into perspective, 20 years ago at the Met Gala, the theme was “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion,” and the event’s co-chairs were Wintour, then-Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey, and Sienna Miller, Bailey’s close friend and sometimes muse.
The honorary chairs were Rose Marie Bravo, the former head of Burberry who transformed the British label into a global powerhouse, and Peregrine Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire.
See how that all makes sense?
Then there was the evening in 2006. High society, socialites, A-listers with deep ties to fashion houses, designers and their muses, as well as the day’s most sought-after models, were on the guest list.
Most memorable was Lee Alexander McQueen, who died in 2010, and his date, Sarah Jessica Parker, in red tartan ensembles, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in Badgley Mischka, — fitting as they starred in the label’s campaign that year — Victoria Beckham in a Roland Mouret dress that she bought herself at a sample sale, and Scarlett Johansson alongside Stella McCartney, to name a few.
The Met Gala that year was a glimpse into fashion at the time, a celebration of the best work by the best creatives in the world, far from the shameless public relations stunts that occur today.
The only thing Hollywood about the Met Gala in 2006 was a traditional red carpet for attendees and tons of photographers. Simple, yet everything served a purpose.
Designer Steven Stolman put it best in a 2018 piece for Town & Country when he wrote, “the Met Ball was so much better before all the celebrities showed up.”
NEW YORK – MAY 01: Actress Sarah Jessica Parker with designer Alexander McQueen attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Gala: Anglomania at the Metropolitan Museum of Art May 1, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
NEW YORK CITY, NY – MAY 1: (L-R) Anna Wintour, Duke of Devonshire, Christopher Bailey, Sienna Miller and Rose Marie Bravo attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Spring 2006 Benefit Gala celebrating the exhibition AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion sponsored by Burberry and Conde Nast at New York on May 1, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Mary-Kate Olsen, left, and Ashley Olsen attend the Costume Institute’s annual benefit gala in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2006. The gala, sponsored by Burberry and Conde Nast, celebrated the May 3 opening of the Met’s “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion” exhibit. (AP Photo/WWD) (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Victoria Beckham attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute gala. (Photo by Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Scarlett Johansson, left, and Stella McCartney attend the Costume Institute’s annual benefit gala in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2006. The gala, sponsored by Burberry and Conde Nast, celebrated the May 3 opening of the Met’s “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion” exhibit. (AP Photo/WWD) (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Fast-forward 20 years later. The red carpet is gone, replaced by a cheap enchanted forest set; the high society arrivals are no more, in favor of D-rated celebrities; and the focus on fashion, design, and beauty is instead a chance for said celebrities to promote their latest projects.
In my honest opinion, the only Met Gala attendee who nailed it last night was Anne Hathaway in a Michael Kors Collection gown that was hand-painted by American artist Peter McGough in a tribute to John Keats’s poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
The gown is regal, timeless, on par with the Met Gala theme without being kitschy, obvious, tacky, or preposterous. Like Met Galas of the past, the gown is an insight into today’s leading fashion aesthetics with its black and white motif, structural shape, asymmetry, and plunging neckline.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: (L-R) Anne Hathaway and Michael Kors attend the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Anne Hathaway attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/FilmMagic)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: (L-R) Anne Hathaway and Michael Kors attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Julian Hamilton/Getty Images)
Then, there’s the rest, a barrage of performative self-promoters using the Met Gala, with approval from Wintour, to further their clickability online. In short, nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with fashion, art, or today’s top creatives and what they’ve presented on their runways as of late.
Late in the evening, I got a text from my aunt. “This is THE worst,” she wrote, accompanied by a photo of Lena Dunham in Valentino (poor Mr. Valentino, rolling in his grave, no doubt). As if this dress wasn’t bad enough, turns out Dunham and Valentino’s Alessandro Michele were inspired by, get ready for it… blood splatter.
One particular photo of the evening stands out the most to me. It’s of Kidman, Sánchez Bezos, and Wintour standing beside each other as a performance of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody occurs (don’t ask) and Chloe Malle, Wintour’s hand-picked successor, stands behind them.
The image is indicative of everything the Met Gala has become. An aimless assortment of celebrities with no cohesion. If you looked at these photos, for instance, would you ever be able to tell that the night is supposed to be a tribute to art and its influence on fashion?
For Malle, it was a huge night, almost like a debut of sorts as Vogue‘s new editor. For that debut, she had New York designer Colleen Allen make her a dress embodying Sir Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June (1895). I couldn’t help but compare it to Michelle Williams’ 2006 Academy Awards gown by Vera Wang, considered one of the best Oscar gowns of all time, and so famous that it has its own Wikipedia page.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Lena Dunham attends the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: (L-R) Nicole Kidman, Lauren Sanchez and Anna Wintour attend the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/Getty Images)
Chloe Malle at the 2026 Met Gala (L) and Michelle Williams at the 2006 Academy Awards (R). (Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images/SGranitz/WireImage)
There were big stars at this year’s Met Gala who do have longstanding relationships with the fashion industry’s biggest designers. But even their presence seemed off.
Naomi Watts in Dior went from stunning in a blooming floral gown to cartoonish as a result of flowers growing out of her updo.
Rihanna, called the queen of the Met Gala, seemed to combine two looks from Maison Margiela’s Artisanal 2025 collection, which just didn’t land right.
And while Beyoncé looked beautiful in a look from Olivier Rousteing, who recently stepped down at Balmain after 14 years, the headpiece and feathers took this skeletal dress straight to costume.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Naomi Watts attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Rihanna attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Beyoncé attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
Absurd, literal interpretations of the theme, as well as literally promoting their latest projects, were all over the Met Gala this year.
Madonna showed up in a fully theatrical piece, designed by Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello, depicting Leonora Carrington’s The Temptation of St. Anthony. Fragment II (1945), while Heidi Klum came dressed as Raffaele Monti’s Veiled Vestal (1847).
Janelle Monáe came covered in moss, wires, animatronic butterflies, and phone chargers, revealing herself as the artwork, and Katy Perry arrived in a fencing mask by Miodrag Guberinic and a Stella McCartney dress. Perry’s entire look is meant to poke fun at artificial intelligence, with one of her gloves featuring a sixth finger.
Kylie Jenner, in Schiaparelli, purposefully looked as though her dress was falling off (gosh, I’m so sick of this family), Bad Bunny showed up in prosthetics to portray him as elderly — no clue why — and Rachel Zegler, making the strangest facial expressions, dressed as Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833).
Sara Paulson, maybe the most cringe of the night, wore a dress from Matières Fécales’s “The One Percent” collection with a dollar bill covering her eyes to evoke “Blinded by Money” as a “reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power,” the designer wrote on Instagram.
Oh, the irony.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Madonna attends the 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Heidi Klum attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Janelle Monae at The 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Katy Perry attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Kylie Jenner at The 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Bad Bunny at The 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Rachel Zegler attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 04: Sarah Paulson attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.