Stars Shine At Met Gala, Fashion’s Biggest Night

The brightest stars in Hollywood, music, sports and style -- led by Beyonce, Madonna and Nicole Kidman -- hit the red carpet Monday for the Met Gala, the Manhattan charity ball that doubles as fashion's biggest night.

The A-listers were asked to dress for the theme "Fashion is Art," which dovetails with the exhibit "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

And while not everyone followed the guidelines to the letter, the gala -- traditionally held on the first Monday in May -- certainly delivered as one of the world's top red carpets, with blinding star power.

Beyonce, one of the event's co-chairs who was making her first appearance in a decade, was one of the last to arrive, but she did not disappoint, stunning the crowd in a bejeweled skeleton gown topped with a dramatic feather coat and a headpiece.

Her rap mogul husband Jay-Z -- in a tuxedo with tails -- and daughter Blue Ivy Carter, in a white strapless gown and sparkling heels -- joined her.

Earlier, the singer's fellow co-chairs, tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, kicked off the proceedings.

Kidman stunned in a shimmering red long-sleeved Chanel column dress with wide feather cuffs, while Williams glistened in a black crystal Swarovski gown with an elaborate neck plate.

From there, the stars kept on coming. Rock royalty Madonna, Cher and Stevie Nicks joined music's new generation of stars in Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat and Tyla.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were hours late, as per usual, making a grand entrance.

Bad Bunny, who is having a blockbuster 2026 with major Grammy wins and the Super Bowl halftime show under his belt, wore prosthetics and a white wig to explore how he would look as an old man, according to Vogue.

Rapper Doja Cat, one of several members of a gala "host committee," wore a draped latex Saint Laurent gown with a demure neckline -- but slit up to her waist.

Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Anthony Vaccarello and Haider Ackermann were among the many fashion designers on hand for the evening.

Olympic gold medalists Alysa Liu and Eileen Gu -- whose dress had a built-in bubble maker -- led a strong contingent of athletes to the red carpet, along with NFL superstar Russell Wilson and several men's and women's basketball stars.

And actress Blake Lively made a surprise appearance at the gala, just hours after she settled a major court case over her film "It Ends with Us" with her co-star and director Justin Baldoni.

Of course, the entire evening is overseen by Vogue's global editorial director Anna Wintour -- the ultimate tastemaker in US fashion who has helmed the event for 30 years.

The gala is a fundraiser for the Met's Costume Institute, and this year has raised a record $42 million (after $31 million in 2025), the museum's CEO Max Hollein told reporters early Monday.

This year's exhibit juxtaposes elegant fashion looks with paintings and sculpture: think a Saint Laurent design next to Van Gogh's "Irises", or a John Galliano gown for Maison Margiela paired with an antique statue.

"When I think about the show, if there's one word to describe it, I suppose it would be equitability or equivalency, equivalency between artworks," the Costume Institute's curator Andrew Bolton told AFP.

"So there's no hierarchy between sculpture, painting, fashion, photography and no hierarchy between bodies, between the classical body or the disabled body."

- 'Genuinely care' -
This year's function has drawn some controversy after Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos were announced as the lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the gala.

In the run-up to Monday, a campaign opposing the billionaire couple's involvement cropped up in New York's streets and subways, with some calling for a boycott of the event some see as a gross display of immense wealth.

At the gala, one person attempted to enter the secure area but was quickly handled by police and event security. Bezos did not walk the carpet.

Wintour said Monday that the couple had "shown with this event that they genuinely, genuinely care about giving back."

The Met Gala was first organized in 1948 and for decades was reserved for New York high society -- until Wintour transformed the party into a high-profile catwalk for the rich and famous in the 1990s.

The "Costume Art" exhibit, which opens on May 10 at the venerable museum in Manhattan, will seek to explore the "dressed body" in artworks across the centuries.
-AFP