Given how essential celebrity wrangling is to the Met Gala, enlisting Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams to be among the co-chairs should help to up the star wattage at the May 4 event.
Along with helping Anna Wintour attract fellow big spenders to what is the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Knowles-Carter and Kidman, along with the other members of the host committee, have a true understanding of this year’s exhibition theme, “Costume Art.”
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In fact, nearly every one of them has donned a costume (keeping that definition loose depending on their specialty), performed on a stage or walked a runway. One of the exceptions is the host committee’s co-chair Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of Saint Laurent, which is a sponsor for this year’s gala. He will be joined by actress Zoë Kravitz, who has appeared in ads for the luxury house and served as a global ambassador for YSL Beauty.
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Grammy winners Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat and Sam Smith also are on this year’s host committee, as is Blackpink’s Lisa and the musician Yseult. Others include actresses Gwendoline Christie, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham and Teyana Taylor; models Alex Consani, Lauren Wasser and Paloma Elsesser; WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, and the Gagosian-represented artist Anna Weyant. Another member, Misty Copeland, who became the American Ballet Theatre’s first African American female principal dancer in 2015, spoke of the importance of costumes in her ballet career during last month’s media event announcing the theme of next spring’s exhibition at the Upper East Side museum.
Next year’s red-carpet event will celebrate the debut of “Costume Art” in The Met’s new nearly 12,000-square-foot galleries on the main floor. Last year’s Met Gala was a record breaker for the Costume Institute, which raised $31 million, compared to $26 million in 2024. The celebrity-studded event is also a bonanza for media outlets, brands and designers, including many that have alliances or endorsement deals with celebrity guests. This year’s Met Gala generated $1.3 billion in MIV, according to Launchmetrics.
The Met Gala is a serious investment, with individual tickets starting at $75,000 and tables running upward of $350,000. That is a far cry from the first fundraiser for the Costume Institute, which was held in November 1948 with approximately 700 guests each paying $50 to attend. Touted as the “Party of the Year,” the inaugural event was held at the Rainbow Room.
The leading support for the 2026 Met Gala is being provided by Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos.