Heidi Klum and More Celebs Who Understood the Met Gala 2026 Theme

Watch: Met Gala 2026 Dress Code Revealed

The art of fashion was on full display at the 2026 Met Gala.

Ahead of Anna Wintour’s annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the museum announced the “Costume Art” exhibit would feature a “Fashion is Art” dress code where celebrities and their stylists could view the body as a blank canvas.

And while some stars opted for more classic formal wear, others really understood the assignment.

Take, for example, Emma Chamberlain’s custom Mugler dress. The colorful look, inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Garden at Arles” and featuring long fringe sleeves, took artist Anna Deller Yee 40 hours to hand paint and took four days to dry.

“There is sort of this watercolor feel, and I love watercolor painting,” Emma told Vogue in an interview published May 5. “But then also there’s a creepy, sort of ominous undertone to the gown, like the way that it moves. And that is very much my taste in art.”

For her part, Heidi Klumstole the show after tapping makeup artist Mike Marino—her longtime collaborator for many of her viral Halloween costumes—to transform her into a real-life version of Raffaelle Monti’s “Veiled Vestal” sculpture.

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Met Gala 2026 “Costume Art” Theme and “Fashion Is Art” Dress Code Explained

The Project Runway host told Vogue at the event that her outfit was designed using foam and latex and, though it was “a little warm” under the layers of material, she emphasized she was dedicated to transforming into the statue. As she put, “I was like, ‘I want to become her.’”

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue (2)

As for another sculpture-inspired outfit, Kylie Jenner donned a custom Schiaparelli outfit complete with a structured bodice and deconstructed gown that resembled the “Venus de Milo” sculpture by Alexandros of Antioch.

And like her sister, Kim Kardashian wore a sculpted body suit, but hers was not designed by a fashion house. Instead, her look was an actual piece of art designed by one of her favorite artists Allen Jones.

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“We took his body plates that he started making in the ‘60s,” Kim told Vogue, “and this is actually a mold from a model from the ‘60s.”

Meanwhile, host committee member Sabrina Carpenter—who performed alongside Stevie Nicks once inside the Met Gala reception—focused on a different medium of art with her custom Dior look. In fact, she draped film strips from Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 movie Sabrina around her bodice and waist.

“It’s all made of film,” Sabrina told Vogue on the Met steps, “which is my dream.”

Matt Winkelmeyer/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Theo Wargo/FilmMagic

Of course, there were plenty of stars who edged their way onto the night’s best dressed list. Keep reading to see who else E! News put at the top.

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Sabrina CarpenterThe “Manchild” singer adhere to the “Fashion Is Art” dress code by donning a Dior dress covered celluloid film strips of the Aubrey Hapburn movie Sabrina. She complete the look with Christian Louboutin heels.