We just got done with the 2026 Met Gala, and OMG what was that. Almost everyone understood the assignment… and then there were a few who really, really didn’t. Like Cardi B—no hate at all, but what was that outfit, girl?
Anyways, moving on. Let’s start with what the Met Gala actually is. It’s basically fashion’s biggest night out. Officially, it’s a fundraiser for the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, held every year on the first Monday of May. But what that really means is a very exclusive, invite-only red carpet where celebrities and designers go all out in over-the-top, themed couture.
This year’s Met Gala theme was Costume Art, all about the dressed body as art, pulling from pieces at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and turning fashion into something you’d literally see in a gallery. The dress code, “Fashion is Art,” basically told everyone to go full wearable masterpiece, with a focus on structure, sculpture, and expression. And some celebrities reallyyyyy took that seriously. I saw a few looks and just froze for a solid 20 seconds, because obviously. Then, I immediately started trying to figure out which artwork I was looking at, and oh boy, there were some interesting references in there.
Here are 22 art references and interpretations we spotted on the Met Gala red carpet this year that I’m still not able to wrap my head around.
And while the first thing I noticed was how shredded the look was, not going to lie, it took me a second to clock that it was actually inspired by Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi.
Here’s Schafer and the painting, side by side:
2.
While it took me a solid two minutes to get the reference behind Hunter Schafer’s look, that was not the case with Rachel Zegler.
The Snow White actress showed up on the carpet wearing Prabal Gurung with a blindfold on, and it was pretty clear her look was referencing Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.
Here’s Zegler and the painting, side by side:
3.
Everybody’s favorite, Angela Bassett, walked in wearing a custom Prabal Gurung blush pink gown.
And this one was pretty easy to catch: her look was basically a nod to Harlem Renaissance artist Laura Wheeler Waring’s Girl in a Pink Dress.
4.
Luke Evans, aka the The Hobbit actor, showed up in a full leather look, complete with a very noticeable button-studded back, designed by Alejandro Gómez Palomo.
And the inspiration was prettyyy clear. The whole vibe leaned into the bold, graphic sensuality of Tom of Finland.
Here’s Evans and the drawing, side by side:
5.
Kim Kardashian’s ensemble tonight pulled straight from the world of British Pop artist Allen Jones.
Her metallic breastplate was actually repurposed from one of Jones’s late-’60s molds, and it closely mirrors his glittery Body Armour, which Kate Moss famously wore.
Here’s Kardashian and the art piece, side by side:
6.
Singer and actor Ben Platt wore a custom Tanner Fletcher suit.
It was covered in scenes from Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
Here’s Platt and the painting, side by side:
7.
Indian filmmaker Karan Johar just made his Met Gala debut, and honestly, it could not have gone better.
He wore a custom Manish Malhotra look, drawing from the works of Raja Ravi Varma, including Hamsa Damayanti, Kadambari, and Arjuna and Subhadra.
Here’s Johar and the paintings, side by side:
8.
Hailey Bieber stepped onto the red carpet in a custom Saint Laurent dress featuring a sculpted bodice made entirely of 24-karat gold.
The look goes back to Yves Saint Laurent’s Fall 1969 couture collection, where he worked with French artist and sculptor Claude Lalanne to create those sculpted bodices.
Here’s Bieber and the inspiration, side by side:
9.
Madonna wore a custom Saint Laurent look designed by Anthony Vaccarello.
It directly referenced British-Mexican Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, specifically her artwork The Temptation of St. Anthony.
Here’s Madonna and the painting, side by side:
10.
Tennis player Venus Williams wore a Swarovski crystal mesh gown.
Her look draws from Robert Pruitt’s Venus Williams, Double Portrait. The work is a portrait of Williams commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.
Here’s Williams and the painting, side by side:
11.
Entrepreneur Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo wore a custom Jean Paul Gaultier look.
And she pulled inspiration from the Greek sculpture, Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Here’s Kuo and the art piece, side by side:
12.
But Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo wasn’t the only one taking inspiration from the infamous Greek sculpture. Kendall Jenner, who wore a custom draped cream gown by Zac Posen, also drew from it.
Here’s Jenner and the art piece, side by side:
13.
Gwendoline Christie’s 2026 Met Gala look was a red tulle Giles Deacon gown with a sculpted mask.
It drew from the surrealism of photographer Madame Yevonde, with the mask loosely inspired by her 1938 photo Mask.
Here’s Christie and the photograph, side by side:
14.
Lena Dunham, creator of the series Girls, wore a vivid Valentino red dress made out of feathers and sequins.
Her dress pulled from Artemisia Gentileschi’s Renaissance-era painting Judith Slaying Holofernes, specifically that very intense moment with the blood spraying from the Assyrian general’s neck.
Here’s Dunham and the painting, side by side:
15.
Jordan Roth wore a custom slate gray velvet dress by London-based couturier Robert Wun, complete with a sculptural hanger-on attached to his back.
The look references one of Roth’s favourite works at the Met, Pygmalion and Galatea by Jean-Léon Gérôme.
Here’s Roth and the painting, side by side:
16.
Gracie Abrams’ outfit was a custom gold Chanel gown designed by Matthieu Blazy, directly referencing the “Golden Age” paintings of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.
The look, described as a living painting, specifically draws inspiration from Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, often called “Woman in Gold”.
Here’s Abram and the painting, side by side:
17.
Audrey Nuna wore a custom Robert Wun white coat dress.
It featured dramatic black paint splatters, giving full Jackson Pollock action painting energy.
Here’s Nuna and the painting, side by side:
18.
Amy Sherald, the artist behind Michelle Obama’s official portrait, stepped onto the red carpet referencing her own work.
That work, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), won the 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.
Here’s Sherald and the painting, side by side:
19.
Claire Foy wore a custom Erdem black gown paired with a black waxed cotton opera jacket.
The bespoke look was inspired by Portrait of Madame X, a painting by John Singer Sargent.
Here’s Foy and the painting, side by side:
20.
But Claire Foy wasn’t the only one channeling her inner Madame X. Lauren Sánchez also showed up in an outfit inspired by the same iconic painting.
Here’s Sánchez and the painting, side by side:
21.
Chloé Malle, the new editor of Vogue, made her first solo Met Gala appearance in a marigold gown.
And this one was honestly a no-brainer because it very clearly drew from Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June.
Here’s Malle and the painting, side by side:
22.
And of course, I HAD to end on a high note, which means ending with Heidi Klum, the mother of taking themes and dress codes seriously.
The look pulls from lighter, more uplifting artworks, including Giuseppe Sanmartino’s Veiled Christ and Raffaele Monti’s Veiled Vestal.
Here’s Klum and the art pieces, side by side:
I don’t think I’ll be getting over these looks anytime soon. Tell me, which one did you like? Which one did you not like? And which look from the 2026 Met Gala deserved to be on this list but didn’t make the cut? I’m waiting!
