Every year the Met Gala asks celebrities to dress according to a theme. Most of the time, “dressing according to a theme” means a mood board and a willing designer. But this year’s “Fashion Is Art” dress code is all about the Mets costume art The exhibition – demanded something more literal: a real artistic context, executed with enough intention to stand up to scrutiny. Luckily, many of them delivered.
From Harlem Renaissance paintings to 17th-century Baroque masters, the 2026 period becomes a crash course in art history. We’ve collected the looks that really got their context, explained what they’re actually pointing to, and let the art speak for itself.
mother of jesus
Wearing a custom Saint Laurent look inspired by Leonora Carrington’s painting The Temptation of St. Anthony, Fragment II (1945).Photo: Courtesy Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Gracie Abrams
Wearing custom Chanel by Mathieu Blazey inspired by Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer I” (1907).Photo: Courtesy Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
hunter schaffer
In a custom Prada look inspired by Gustav Klimt’s 1912 painting “Mada Primavesi.”Photo: Courtesy Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
venus williams
A custom Swarovski gown directly references Robert Pruitt’s “Venus Williams, Double Portrait” (2022), commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.Photo: Courtesy of Michael Locicano/Getty Images
Mona Patel
Wearing a custom Dolce & Gabbana alta moda design inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” (1490) and the Renaissance philosophy of combining art and science.Photo: Courtesy Mona Patel/Instagram
angela bassett
Harlem Renaissance artist, Laura Wheeler wears a custom Prabal Gurung gown inspired by Waring’s “Girl in Pink Dress” (1927).Photo: Courtesy Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Rachel Ziegler
Wearing custom Prabal Gurung referencing “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” (1833).Photo: Courtesy Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Anne Hathaway
In the custom Michael Kors collection, hand-painted by artist Peter McGough and inspired by ancient Greek pottery with John Keats “Ode on a Grecian Vase” (1819) as a starting point.Photo: Courtesy Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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