Beyoncé Returns to Met Gala as Co-Chair for Fashion-Art Celebration

The Met Gala machinery has kicked into overdrive. Seamstresses are finishing final stitches, jewelers are giving pieces one last polish, and New York’s beauty professionals have booked solid through early May. The fashion world’s most selective gathering arrives on May 5, with approximately 450 A-list attendees converging on the Metropolitan Museum of Art to raise money for its Costume Institute.

Beyoncé is making her triumphant return to the event after a decade-long absence. Last seen here in 2016 sporting a futuristic ensemble, the superstar now co-chairs alongside Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. The trio joins a host committee that includes Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Lisa from Blackpink, Elizabeth Debicki, and others. Zoë Kravitz and Anthony Vaccarello head the host committee.

This year’s theme, “Fashion Is Art,” ties directly to the Costume Institute’s new exhibition of the same name, which will display 400 garments and objects spanning five millennia. Guests are encouraged to interpret fashion as embodied art, potentially referencing everything from Baroque grandeur to Impressionist sensibilities to Renaissance opulence. The breadth of the theme guarantees the customary visual chaos the event delivers each year.

Anna Wintour, who’s chaired the gala since 1995, maintains her iron grip over invitations. Every single guest requires her personal sign-off, regardless of who’s footing the bill. Speaking of bills, tables run upwards of $350,000, individual seats around $75,000. Most celebrities don’t pay themselves; fashion houses subsidize them in exchange for brand visibility and front-row positioning.

The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. EST with the red carpet spectacle. Vogue handles the livestream again, with Ashley Graham, Cara Delevigne, and La La Anthony providing commentary while Emma Chamberlain covers the carpet. The stream appears across Vogue’s platforms, YouTube, and TikTok, with countless news outlets running parallel coverage.

One scheduling note: The Devil Wears Prada 2 dropped this past weekend, a film that affectionately skewers the fashion industry Wintour herself helped shape as Vogue editor. The timing feels deliberately orchestrated.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sanchez serve as co-chairs and sponsors, a detail that’s prompted boycott posters near the museum raising worker-rights concerns. The exhibition runs through January 2027, serving as the Costume Institute’s primary funding source.