The Metropolitan Museum of Art once again turned into the venue for fashion's biggest night, welcoming celebrities decked out in a unique dress code.
The Met Gala 2026 celebrated the Costume Institute's latest exhibit, 'Costume Art,' with attendees turning out in themes of 'Fashion in Art' draped over themselves.
The event, which was recently attended by several sporting personalities, was chaired by 14-time Grand Slam doubles champion Venus Williams, along with Beyoncé, Anna Wintour, and Nicole Kidman. Several sporting stars from a diverse selection of sports made an appearance at the event.
Team USA had some major stars making their debut on the steps. Alysa Liu, fresh off her Milano Cortina double gold, wore a Louis Vuitton strapless gown with layers of deep red-hued ruffles. She complemented her look with eye-catching Pasquale Bruni jewels. On the surface, it's simple, but the creative details spark all around.
Louis Vuitton took the skater's charm and her role as a figure at the intersection of athleticism and art to create a dress that stood out perfectly, aligned with the night's theme. Katie Qian, Liu's stylist, in an interview with Vogue, described that the dress was inspired by the graceful elegance of Liu on ice and how ice behaves when a figure skater performs their routine. Qian said:
We wanted Louis Vuitton to help us elegantly reference vascularity, cell structure, and muscle tissue, which are reflected in the red hue as well as the detailed ruffles. It also happens to emulate how ice is carved when figure skating.
Liu was over the moon with how comfortable and beautiful the dress looked. She highlighted the voluminous skirt, the unique shape, and the deep red hue as her favorite things about the outfit. She noted that she loved wearing deep red dresses as they are symbolic of good luck in Chinese customs.
On the steps, Liu had a particularly terrifying moment when an activist protested the presence of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, as honorary co-chairs of the event. The said activist jumped the fence before he was brought to ground by the security officials.
Bezos has been accused of worker exploitation and criticized for flaunting his billionaire status amid heightened awareness about wealth inequalities. His highly lavish super wedding in Venice generated a huge amount of disdain towards the billionaire, while the Metropolitan Museum of Art was questioned for choosing him as a co-chair, an act considered 'tone-deaf.'
Alpine Skier Lindsey Vonn, Los Angeles Aces star and two-time gold-winning basketball star A'ja Wilson, and Miles Chamley-Watson were also seen at the prestigious event. Naomi Osaka, Eileen Gu, and Steph Curry also graced the event.
Lindsey Vonn, who had a nasty injury at the Italian Dolomites, made her first public appearance since the injury. She was sported in a custom Thom Browne marble-inspired gown and a fashion statement cane.
The sparkling dress had more than 50,000 glass cuts and bugle beads in different shades. She accentuated her one-shoulder dress with Sidney Garber jewelry and long-wing brogue heels. Vonn had previously attended the event in 2013, joined by her then-boyfriend, Tiger Woods. The pair split up in 2015, and Woods is currently dating Vanessa Trump.
A'ja Wilson, 29, channeled her golden energy to a lustrous dress that has fans describing her channeling 'queen energy.' The Aces center made her debut on the steps in a textured, metallic gown with flared, loud sleeves and matching gloves by Prabal Gurung. She admitted, via Essence, that it is hectic for her with the season starting in a few days, but she tried to enjoy the evening.
The London-born Team USA foil fencer, Miles Chamley-Watson, also graced the event. The three-time Olympian and 2016 bronze medalist in the team event, who's a regular at fashion shows, put on a dazzling display of a KidSuper creation. The dress, which first appeared in the 2026 fall collection, featured the creator's paintings in jacquard fabric, repurposed from a suit into a rug and finally a jacket.
The most iconic feature would be a hand-painted fencing mask, which was also the one in which he won an Olympic medal.
Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and Justin Jefferson were some of the other sporting world celebrities to attend the event.
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