NEW YORK — The fashion world is abuzz with anticipation ahead of Monday’s Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art that serves primarily as an opportunity for celebrities to wear things in front of cameras while trying to look like they understand what they are wearing.
This year’s theme, “Costume Art,” draws from the museum’s spring exhibition and requires guests to interpret a dress code officially described as “Fashion is Art” — a phrase that, when read to a focus group of regular Americans, produced responses ranging from “sure, okay” to “I guess?” to a 47-year-old from Omaha who simply stared into the middle distance for eleven seconds.
“The theme is incredibly rich and offers tremendous scope for interpretation,” said Met Costume Institute curator Blanche Vanthorpe-Higgins, in a statement that also applied to a Rorschach test she may or may not have been administering simultaneously. “We expect looks that challenge, provoke, and transcend the boundary between garment and concept.” Several celebrities reportedly read this statement and immediately cancelled their RSVPs.
Among the confirmed absences is Zendaya, who will not be attending the 2026 Met Gala, and whose publicist released a statement citing “a scheduling conflict” that the fashion press has interpreted variously as “she already wore the perfect look last year and didn’t want the comparison,” “she read the dress code and said no,” and simply “she’s Zendaya,” which is considered a complete and sufficient explanation for any decision she makes.
Additional celebrities confirmed to be skipping the event include a growing roster of names whose publicists have issued statements ranging from “prior commitments” to “creative differences” to one refreshingly candid rep who stated that their client “just really didn’t want to figure out what Costume Art means in gown form at 11 p.m. on a Monday.”
Those who are attending have been spotted in various stages of preparation, with stylists reportedly working around the clock to ensure their clients arrive in outfits that will be described by fashion critics as either “a masterclass in conceptual dressing” or “a cry for help,” two assessments that at the Met Gala are functionally identical and often filed by the same critic within the same hour.
The event, hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, raises millions of dollars for the Costume Institute annually. Tables reportedly cost upward of $300,000, though organizers note this fee includes an open bar, a factor that fashion historians say significantly improves the quality of art appreciation after approximately 10:30 p.m.
In related entertainment news, North West dropped her debut EP “N0rth4evr” this week, which her mother Kim Kardashian promoted enthusiastically in an Instagram Story that the public received with the warm ambivalence reserved for the cultural projects of famous children. Also, David Beckham turned 51 on Saturday, and the internet celebrated as though he had done something unexpected.
The Met Gala red carpet opens Monday evening. Fashion historians note that the event has, over time, become so culturally dominant that it is now unclear whether fashion informs culture or culture has become a fashion show that everyone is contractually required to attend — which is, coincidentally, also a valid interpretation of the theme “Fashion Is Art.”
*Globe News Daily will be covering the Met Gala from our desk, wearing pajamas, which we believe is a valid interpretation of “Costume Art.” We are, technically, also art.*
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