Stars like Beyoncé, Kidman gear up for Met Gala fashion showcase

The Met Gala on Monday explored the theme “Fashion is art,” as celebrities including Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams joined other high-profile guests at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The annual fundraising event for the museum’s Costume Institute saw attendees interpret a dress code that asked them to express their relationship to fashion as an embodied form of art.
The theme generated anticipation over whether guests would choose archival fashion pieces or custom-designed outfits. Many opted for archival looks, a growing red-carpet trend in which celebrities wear rare historical garments from major fashion houses.
The evening showcased a blend of vintage inspirations and contemporary artistic collaborations.
Fashion’s links to art were highlighted through historical references.
Designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, who collaborated with Salvador Dalí, and Yves Saint Laurent, known for Mondrian-inspired dresses, were cited as early examples of this crossover.
More recent collaborations, including Marc Jacobs’ work with Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton, reflected the continuing fusion of fashion and visual art.
The Met Gala also echoed earlier performance-driven fashion moments, such as Alexander McQueen’s 1999 runway show, where live spray-painting transformed a dress into a moving artwork.
This year’s dress code aligned with the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, “Costume Art,” which examined how the dressed body functions as a form of artistic expression.
The museum’s growing embrace of fashion marked a shift from earlier skepticism, when fashion was often dismissed as frivolous compared to traditional art forms.
Curator Andrew Bolton and Vogue editor Anna Wintour oversaw the gala’s theme, reinforcing its cultural positioning.
Fashion historian Nancy Hall-Duncan noted that this recognition reflected a significant change in perception, elevating fashion within the art world.
For global audiences, the red carpet was livestreamed by Vogue, with Ashley Graham, La La Anthony, and Cara Delevingne hosting, while Emma Chamberlain conducted interviews with arriving guests throughout the evening. (AP)