In a night of surprisingly lackluster fashion, Beyoncé has been one of the rare outliers.

The legendary singer — who is back as a co-chair after skipping the Met Gala for the last decade — made her entrance in a sheer, diamond-covered Olivier Rousteing dress designed to look like a skeleton.

Beyoncé paired the ensemble with a diamond headpiece, gloves, and a feathered cape.

She walked the red carpet with her 14-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, who made her Met Gala debut.

Kim Kardashian has gone to extreme lengths for the Met Gala, from taking breathing lessons to fit in a Thierry Mugler corset to shedding 16 pounds so she could wear Marilyn Monroe's dress.

So it's no surprise that Kardashian went with another Met ensemble that showed off her body, this time wearing a custom piece by Allen Jones and Whitaker Malem, who describe themselves as a "body-based designer/artisan duo." She paired the metallic orange bodysuit with blonde hair.

Kardashian posted pictures of Jones' 1970 artwork "Pour les Lèvres," which appeared to be the ensemble's inspiration.

So many people argue that the takeover of AI is inevitable, but Janelle Monáe's dress imagines a different world.

Monáe's custom Christian Sirano gown features recycled electric cables and wiring, threaded through real moss and succulents, and decorated with black-and-white butterflies.

During the E! red-carpet show, Siriano said the dress symbolized how Earth can fight through AI.

The "Heated Rivalry" star's appearance on the first Monday of May was highly anticipated, and he brought some much-needed color to a red carpet full of black and white designs.

Williams worked with Balenciaga for his very first Met Gala, sporting a baby-blue bolero jacket and matching pants decorated with black embroidery.

He went shirtless underneath the matador-inspired look, which also featured a flowing black train. Metallic eyeshadow, applied "Black Swan"-style, completed the look.

If April was all about Bieber fever, then May is Hailey's time to shine.

And the Rhode founder did so, literally, with a custom Saint Laurent dress featuring a solid 24-karat gold bodice.

The dress also featured a blue chiffon skirt with a flowing train, adding to the Greek goddess effect.

Sabrina Carpenter walked the red carpet in a halter dress made out of film strips.

The custom tulle gown, designed by Jonathan Anderson at Dior, featured strips from the iconic 1954 rom-com "Sabrina," starring Audrey Hepburn.

Carpenter paired her ensemble with a beaded headpiece and Old Hollywood curls.

The Olympic champion arrived at the Met Gala in a strapless dress covered in tiny translucent bubbles.

Her strapless minidress even released bubbles as she walked up the Met steps.

Gu revealed on the red carpet that the Iris van Herpen dress features 15,000 glass bubbles and took 2,550 hours to make.

The long-running love affair between Schiaparelli and the Kardashian-Jenner family continued as Kylie Jenner made her grand entrance.

Jenner walked the carpet sans boyfriend Timothée Chalamet — maybe he's busy watching the Knicks game? — in a strapless gown by the Italian fashion house.

Her dress featured a nude top with a corset back, a common design feature tonight, and a ball-gown cream skirt covered in sparkles.

The naked dress is no stranger to the Met Gala, first making its debut with the help of Cher and an iconic Bob Mackie gown in 1978.

And the trend showed no signs of slowing down on Monday night, as both Lisa and Gigi Hadid opted for sheer gowns.

Lisa wore a long-sleeved white gown covered in crystals, with a flowing train and a veil held over her head by 3D recreations of her own arms. Hadid sported a custom black Miu Miu dress decorated with flames and florals.

Klum, queen of Halloween, put her costume skills to good use at the Met Gala, walking the red carpet in an ensemble that made her look like a living sculpture.

Klum said on the red carpet that her outfit, made of latex and foam, was inspired by the Veiled Vestal.

Did it look more like a costume than a red carpet outfit? Sure, but we have to give Klum props for committing to the dress code.

The tennis star returned to the Met Gala in a custom Robert Wun ensemble that included an outfit change right on the red carpet.

Osaka first showed off an ivory coat and a matching floppy hat. The gown featured slits that gave a peek at what was hidden beneath, as did Osaka's red gloves.

Underneath was a form-fitting red gown with a high neck and open back. According to Vogue, Wun's creation featured 659,000 stitches and thousands of Swarovski crystals arranged in the form of the human anatomy.

The 2026 Met Gala broke its own fundraising record, easily surpassing the $31 million it raised in 2025.

A spokesperson for the Costume Institute confirmed the $42 million figure to Business Insider.

Helping add to the Costume Institute's coffers was a hike in individual ticket prices to $100,000, up from $ 75,000 last year.

The Costume Institute is the only department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is required to be self-funded, so the money will go a long way to keeping the department running for decades to come — no matter what happens to fashion's biggest night.

Perry left the chandelier and burger costumes at home for something more subdued on Monday night.

The singer returned to the Met Gala for the first time since 2022, wearing a strapless white dress with matching opera gloves.

But what everyone will surely be talking about was the main accessory: a netted face mask with a chrome plate, which seemed to mimic a fencer's mask.

The look was reminiscent of Kim Kardashian's 2021 Met Gala ensemble, which featured a Balenciaga bodysuit and mask that completely covered her head.

The Google cofounder and his girlfriend, a wellness influencer who featured in a season of "Vanderpump Rules," made their Met Gala debut together on Monday night.

Gilbert-Soto sported a white coat with sparkling blue figures dancing across the train, appearing to pay tribute to Henri Matisse's iconic "Dance" painting. She later shed the coat to reveal a strapless white gown with a feathered blue skirt and thigh-high slit.

Brin matched his girlfriend in a black tuxedo adorned with a sparkling blue design.

Williams has been a frequent Met Gala attendee in recent years. This time around, she went for drama, wearing a sparkling black gown with a train and a large jewelry piece around her neck and chest.

On the red carpet, she said the outfit was inspired by her own portrait commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.

She walked the steps of The Met with her husband, Andrea Preti.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos' involvement in the Met Gala has drawn protests from some groups around New York City, which may be why she decided to keep things (deceptively) simple on Monday night.

She walked the red carpet sans husband, although they are both honorary co-chairs, opting for an off-the-shoulder navy gown with jeweled straps by Schiaparelli, one of her favorite designers.

According to a post on her Instagram, Sánchez Bezos' outfit was inspired by John Singer Sargent's 1884 portrait of Madame X. The painting — which featured a well-known American socialite — was considered vulgar in Parisian society at the time, forcing Sargent to repaint one of her gown's shoulder straps.

Kidman arrived in a sparkly red gown with a feathered tutu around the waist. It's not immediately clear how her outfit relates to the dress code, but the look works for her. From the colorful dress to her icy blond hair, Kidman was styled to perfection.

She walked the carpet with her daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, who is making her Met Gala debut tonight.

Kidman said on the red carpet that her daughter "has to go to school tomorrow morning" at 8 a.m.

The first Monday in May coincides with the NBA playoffs, and Ben Stiller wasn't going to let the Met Gala dress code stop him from supporting his favorite basketball team.

Stiller and his wife, Christine Taylor, stepped out in coordinating outfits to match the Knicks' official colors, with the actor sporting a bright-orange tie and Taylor wearing a strapless cobalt-blue gown.

As the couple dances the night away at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Knicks will be playing the Philadelphia 76ers three miles away at Madison Square Garden.

The Met Gala has a strict no-phones policy, so TBD if Stiller — a die-hard Knicks fan — will be able to keep up with the score.

Emma Chamberlain is hosting Vogue's official livestream, so the pressure was on to wear something fabulous.

And the influencer delivered in her hand-painted Mugler gown. The custom ensemble was designed by Miguel Castro Freitas, the brand's creative director.

In a video from Vogue, Chamberlain said the dress made her feel like she was in a "Van Gogh painting."

We have to agree with her assessment: "It's so elegant, but so major."

We've got our first peek of the Met Gala's carpet, and it looks… sort of familiar.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's iconic steps have been covered with a design reminiscent of the 2024 carpet for the "Garden of Time" dress code.

Both predominantly featured green and white, though this year's carpet has also been designed to mimic stone. Framing the steps is a backdrop of flowers and drooping trees.

Few celebrities do the Met Gala quite like Beyoncé.

She's attended seven times since 2008, and she's made an iconic entrance every time. Designers like Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, and Armani have dressed her in an array of elegant and daring gowns.

Ty Hunter, who styled Beyoncé for each event, previously told Business Insider that many of her outfits were planned only a day or two in advance.

Despite her icon status, Beyoncé last attended the Met Gala in 2016 — marking her as one of the most highly anticipated stars expected to walk the red carpet this year.

We know that the Met Gala's host committee members will be in attendance. That includes Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of YSL, and Zoë Kravitz (no word yet on whether Kravitz will bring Harry Styles as her plus-one), as well as stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Teyana Taylor, and Lisa.

Others have indicated they'll be there by attending pre-Met Gala celebrations, such as Colman Domingo, who attended Wayman + Micah's party, and Kris and Kendall Jenner, who were spotted at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos' bash.

Of course, we'll be on the lookout for the stars who always make a splash, like Rihanna. Sometimes, though, it's first-time attendees who make the biggest impact, as Tyla did in 2024 when she arrived in a gown made of sand.

Though we won't be able to see what happens inside the famous gala, the red carpet will be filmed from start to finish.

Vogue will livestream Met Gala arrivals on YouTube, TikTok, and its other digital platforms beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

Model Ashley Graham, actor La La Anthony, and model Cara Delevigne will host, and influencer Emma Chamberlain will return as a Vogue red-carpet correspondent.

You can also watch the red carpet on E! starting at 6 p.m. ET.

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" begins with Meryl Streep in an opening scene clearly inspired by the Met Gala, but life won't be imitating art at this year's event.

A spokesperson for the Oscar-winning actor confirmed that Streep will not be attending fashion's biggest night on Monday, as per her tradition.

"Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended," the representative told People, adding that the star-studded event "has never quite been her scene."

The absence still comes as a surprise, given Streep's recent media blitz for "The Devil Wears Prada 2," which included posing on the cover of Vogue alongside Anna Wintour, who has chaired the Met Gala for three decades. Streep — who plays a fashion magazine editor in chief inspired by Wintour in the film — also sat next to the legendary Vogue editor at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show during Milan Fashion Week in September.

Anna Wintour, Vogue's former editor in chief, works with a set of famous Met Gala co-chairs each year to bring the event to life.

For 2026, Wintour tapped Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Beyoncé.

Kidman and Williams have been familiar faces at the Met Gala in recent years, but Beyoncé hasn't attended the event since 2016 for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" gala.

Unlike some A-list events, the Met Gala always has a theme. It coordinates with the Costume Institute's annual exhibit, which attendees can explore once they enter the gala.

For 2026, museum curator Andrew Bolton created a "Costume Art" exhibit, saying he "wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum."

The Met Gala's red carpet also has a dress code that dictates the eye-catching looks celebrities wear. This year, stars will dress to the "Fashion is Art" dress code, as Vogue announced in February, advising guests to "consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas."

That description leaves plenty of room for guests to interpret the theme as they see fit, particularly compared to stricter Met Gala dress codes of years past, so we'll likely see a variety of different takes on "Fashion is Art" attire.