“Fashion is Art” was the dress code of the Met Gala 2026. And exactly like this, like the artistic expression of the most spectacular fashion, the looks brought on stage by the protagonists of the empyrean of the star system should be looked at. Brought on stage, yes, not just worn, because to parade on the red carpet rolled out every year on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum in New York you don’t have to just dress up, put on a vaguely original little thing and walk away convinced that you have achieved the objective. But not at all.

Here you have to dare, to slip into the meshes of an exaggeration made of fabrics and sequins, of hats, of sheaths. And whoever has more inventiveness, the more they put into this hyperbolic show, because the objective is to remain in the memory of those who watch, of spectators who have become increasingly demanding in considering something truly never seen as a wonder.

Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Heidi Klum, Venus Williams. And then Margot Robbie, Kim Kardashian, Anne Hathaway, Katy Perry: the divas present at the event, born in 1948 as a fundraiser that inaugurated the annual exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art every first Monday of May and which has become a ceremony with enormous media coverage, were many and all aware of being magnificent pieces of a mosaic expertly managed by Anna Wintour, former director of Vogue USA, discreet director of an evening with stratospheric numbers: around 500 guests carefully selected by the ever-powerful organizer, 100 thousand dollars to be paid for a single seat, over 300 thousand for a table. Prices which, as always, included the preview of the spring exhibition ‘Costume Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the cocktail, the dinner and access to the most elite party of the year.

Below is our podium of the most spectacular looks, drawn up in the consideration that never more than in this case do the parameters of taste have to be mitigated by the exceptional nature of the occasion where excess is an indispensable condition for a formidable result.

The top podium

Nicole Kidman. The Chanel haute couture dress covered in red sequins managed to keep her, incredibly, on the threshold of refinement, one step away from the exaggeration that the feathers of an indefinable bird only threatened. Given the rigidity of the sequins, the thought is that the actress was never able to sit down during the evening, but the dazzling caryatid effect was worth the possible posthumous back pain. Vote 10.

Beyoncé. Anyone who chooses a mermaid dress with thousands of crystals to define the shape of a skeleton, wears it together with a diamond headdress, a cape with invasive plumage and even hoop earrings under puffy curly hair can only do so if she is recognized as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. It seems that the look was designed to be a celebration of what God has given us. Amen, then, Queen Bey. Rating 8.

Anna Wintour. Who are we not to consider the woman who has become a vestal of glossy fashion worthy of the top podium? In another context the black-teal contrast would have produced at least some perplexity, but at the Met Gala (which is her home) this combo of shades is a considerable touch of extravagance. To be appreciated for having made everything vaguely pleasant and therefore to be honored with a 7, as an act of blind faith in everything he wears.

The podium of flops

Heidi Klum. She didn’t dress, she transformed into something that left no one to imagine who could be under a dress that recalled the Veiled Christ. The effect created by the make-up genius Mike Marino was astonishing, but here you had to choose whether to interpret the art or cancel yourself out to enhance it. And in this case it is clear which path was followed. Rating 4.

Madonna. Scenographic par excellence, theatrical by definition, icon for the story that thus transmits it to posterity, the black-dressed singer brought with her a dose of triumphant restlessness. To mitigate her only the pastel colors of the dresses of her bridesmaids, called to hold her cloak with a cheerful expression like that of an owl suddenly woken up by the horn of a car. Rating 3.

Serena Williams. The silver dress with golden details seemed too much even on an occasion where everything must be too much to exist. The Harper Bazar website says that this look was a tribute to her sister Venus who debuted as co-president at the Met Gala event, but the opinion is that it went too far with the outburst of affection. The detail of the watch on the wrist further increased the difficulty of appreciating the whole thing. Rating 3.