Fashion
The 12 Best-Dressed Stars At The 2026 Met Gala
Fingers and ears dipped in paint lie ahead, plus an exceptionally golden Rihanna.
The stars have made their way into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and while the air of Beyoncé’s perfume still lingers on the red carpet, we’re ready to name the best-dressed stars of the 2026 Met Gala. The theme of this year’s exhibit is “Costume Art,” and the dress code is “Fashion is Art” — a phrase people have said time and time again, but with the major institution throwing their weight behind it, there is new meaning to adorning the body tonight. It was a year filled with people just happy to be there in perfectly fine dresses that had little to nothing to do with the theme (like any Met Gala year, mind you), but our favorite cohort of ladies took the art of it all and ran with it.
Two ladies on our list, Gracie Abrams and Hunter Schafer, took inspiration from Klimt paintings for their looks. Others, like Chase Infiniti and Yseult, leaned into the body as art, with bespoke looks that showed off the natural form as something to behold. Elsewhere, we saw creepy dolls, a hand freshly dipped in a blue lagoon, an ear covered in silver glitter, and of course, the force of nature that is Rihanna. See our final verdict on the crème de la crème of the night below.
Emma Chamberlain in Mugler
The host of the short viral clips you know and love from the carpet is always one of the first to arrive, and she set the standard impossibly high. This custom look was inspired by Impressionists like Monet and Edvard Munch’s The Scream, and the fringed hands take this to another level.
Yseult in Harris Reed
It was already legendary enough that Yseult’s custom Dior look from Cannes is in the “Costume Art” exhibit, but this sculpted bodice and wacky headpiece ensured she was the talk of the night. This is about form in all its richness, and props to her stylist for the simple and effective earring.
Gracie Abrams in Chanel
Abrams’ porcelain skin is a canvas we know and love, but with this gold Gustav Klimt-inspired Chanel gown, she went full Victorian lady. Her fresh face and hint of crushed-berry blush make this feel exceptionally timeless.
Paloma Elsesser in Bureau of Imagination
Elsesser always nails the theme, and this year was no exception. Her friend Francisco Risso, formerly of Marni, crafted this gown from scraps of vintage tapestries sourced on eBay, and her custom Bernard James jewels take this feel utterly contemporary. And a moment, please, for her silver ear.
Hunter Schafer in Prada
Schafer looks like the twins from The Shining in the best way possible. Where everyone else went heavy on the embellishment, she and her stylist took cues from Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi for a subdued look that is artful, imperfect, and utterly singular.
Chase Infiniti in Thom Browne
Body is tea, hair is tea, face is tea. This is exactly how a young star should be dressing for fashion’s biggest night, and she also gave the carpet the much-needed dose of color it needed.
Alex Consani in Gucci
The black swan of the evening delivered high glamour and the most tasteful nip slip we saw all night. If she stnds there too long, the black feathers will swallow her whole. It’s enchanting, a little scary, and the right amount of drama without being cheesy.
Louisa Jacobson in Dilara Findikoglu
We were waiting all night for someone to wear Findikoglu’s designs, and Jacobson pulls off this modern-day Joan of Arc look with the ease of someone equally at home on 5th Avenue as they are in Brooklyn.
María Zardoya in McQueen
Isla Johnston in Loewe
The simplicity of this look might not feel at home during such an artful evening, but the incredible makeup, styling, and modernist take on fashion earned her a spot here. We’ll be seeing a lot more of Johnston soon enough, as she’s set to star in Baz Luhrmann’s Joan of Arc biopic.
Tessa Thompson in Valentino
As soon as Thompson hit the carpet, my mind went to Botticelli’s Primavera. She looks like a siren washed up on shore in the best way possible. The color is sublime, as are the cutouts, and the wet-hair look actually works here in service of her story. Bonus points for her dipped-in-blue hand.
Rihanna in Maison Margiela Artisanal
She’s always late, but worth the wait. The Queen of the Met Gala wore a look designed by Glenn Martens. It feels like a 2026 take on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus done the billionaire way with gold dripping off her fingers, hair, lips, and ears. She looks capital-R rich.
