5 Memorable Met Gala Looks To Whet Our Appetites for the Big Event

By Karen Dybis | May 04, 2026

In a year when color and maximalism seem to be emerging as the major trends, tonight’s 2026 Met Gala feels like an even more important moment of couture and culture on the fashion and accessories calendar.

The annual fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute has the dress code of Fashion Is Art, asking its celebrity attendees to Vogue icon Anna Wintour’s gala to ponder history, society, and the body through fashion. Let’s hope for big avant-garde swings, amazing mugs, and to-die-for jewelry.

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Wintour are this year’s Met Gala co-chairs. The secretive guest list tends to have about 450 attendees, including Hollywood elite, fashion icons, the best and brightest in politics, and sports giants.

Last year, the museum announced the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, “Costume Art,” which opens the Met’s new, nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries. It looks at how the body has told humanity’s story through clothing and art objects like jewelry over the past 5,000 years.

These models of Costume Art will include the Naked Body, Classical Body, Pregnant Body, and Aging Body—so expect some of tonight’s looks to be a bit risqué. Jewelry brands from the venerable Verdura to bold Bulgari to stunning Tiffany & Co.’s high jewelry are likely to grace at least one of these bodies, we hope.

The 2026 Met Gala livestream will be hosted exclusively by Vogue and broadcast live across its digital platforms, including on YouTube and TikTok. To tune in, you can head to this page at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

To prep for this evening’s festivities, we looked back on five of JCK’s favorite Met Gala looks from the past five years.

2025: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style

(Focus on Black dandyism, fashion history, and tailoring)

ASAP rocky Bulgari necklace — *Bulgari Polychroma high jewelry necklace in platinum with 12.29 ct. ruby, 9.3 cts. t.w. round diamonds, and pavé-set diamonds*

A$AP Rocky cohosted this gala, and he debuted a Bulgari masterpiece as part of his ensemble, wearing a diamond and ruby necklace from the Polychroma high jewelry collection. Polychroma is described as an ode to the values of color, plurality, polymorphism, and multidimensionality.

The platinum necklace held a 12.29 carat pear-shape ruby, 22 round diamonds, and pavé diamonds. He also wore a brooch in pink gold with a 15.43 ct. peridot, four round diamonds, four buff-top rubellites, 20 step-cut diamonds, and pavé diamonds.

2024: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion

(Focus on historical fashion, nature, and sensory experiences)

Sabyasachi headpiece — *Sabyasachi necklace in 18k gold with tourmalines, pearls, and diamonds*

Indian-born British actress Alia Bhatt, whose film appearances include the Oscar-winning RRR, wore a complete Sabyasachi ensemble—the sari, the headpiece, the cocktail rings, and the earrings (tourmaline, morganite, and old-mine diamonds). In a preshow interview with Gwendoline Christie and Ashley Graham, Bhatt revealed that it took 1,905 hours and 163 artisans to create all of this gorgeousness.

The brand sent JCK a detailed statement: “Sabyasachi interprets ‘The Garden of Time’ with a couture sari and an exaggerated train, hand-embroidered with silk floss, beads, sequins, and semiprecious stones and fringed with glass beads. The handcrafted blouse is studded with emeralds, Basra pearls, tourmalines, and multicolored sapphires. The sari is complemented with Sabyasachi High Jewellery’s Bengal Royal collection in tourmalines, sapphires, emeralds, and old mine–cut and brilliant-cut EF VVS diamonds.”

2023: Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty

(A tribute to the designer’s life and work)

Cartier Surnaturel high jewelry transformable diamond necklace — *Cartier [Sur]naturel high jewelry transformable necklace in platinum and diamonds*

Actress Michelle Yeoh’s chic tuxedo-ballgown hybrid—with modern details including a portrait collar and knee-length voluminous organza sleeves—was actually from the Karl Lagerfeld label. The actress kept the black-and-white theme going with her Cartier jewels (diamonds and onyx) and with her watch (Richard Mille, of course).

2022: In America: An Anthology of Fashion

(A look at the historical development of American fashion)

De Beers The Alchemist of Light Light Rays Fringe Earrings — *De Beers The Alchemist of Light Light Rays Crown ring*

The stunning Simone Ashley, who plays the very independent Kate Sharma in season 2 of the Netflix hit Bridgerton, took the “gilded glamour” dress code rather literally with a metallic bustier by Moschino (but kept it very modern by baring her midriff!). The jewels—from De Beers’ latest high jewelry collection, The Alchemist of Light—were edgy but supercool.

2021: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

(An exploration of modern American fashion and identity)

Lydia Courteille enamel caravan necklace — *Lydia Courteille* *Caravan necklace in 18k black rhodium gold with enamel, laguna agate, lapis, sapphires, and tsavorite*

If you don’t know couture-loving Broadway producer Jordan Roth by now, you should: His risk-taking, inimitable style has been a fixture on Broadway red carpets and events like the Met Gala for years. We knew his look would be major, and Roth—in a collaboration with fiber artist Michael Sylvan Robinson—did not disappoint. For jewels, he added an amethyst Boivin strand from A La Vieille Russie and two major pieces from Lydia Courteille’s Caravan collection, including a 37.5 ct. gobstopper of an aquamarine ring. Roth’s husband, producer and author Richie Jackson, also wore a Courteille brooch.

Top: A Verdura black and white Fulco 80th anniversary cuff with diamonds, pearls, and ivory enamel worn by Rihanna at the 2023 Met Gala