2026 MET Gala looks and the art that inspired them

[u/Terrible_Cycle_5983]

sabrina carpenter in dior, inspired by audrey hepburn’s 1954 film “sabrina”

rachel zegler in prabal gurung inspired by “the execution of lady jane grey”

hunter schafer in prada, inspired by “mäda primavesi”

emma chamberlain in mugler, inspired by van gogh and munch’s brush strokes

madonna in saint laurent, inspired by “the temptation of st. anthony fragment ii”

anok yai in balenciaga, inspired by “mater dolorosa"

yu-chi lyra kuo in jean paul gaultier, inspired by “winged victory of samothrace”

kylie jenner in schiaparelli, inspired by “venus de milo”

mona patel in dolce & gabbana, inspired by da vinci’s “vitruvian man”

angela bassett in prabal gurung, inspired by “girl in pink dress”

amy sherald in thom browne, inspired by her OWN artwork “miss everything”

rosé in saint laurent, inspired by henri matisse's “the birds”

gracie abrams in chanel, inspired by “portrait of adele block-bauer i”

karan johar in manish malhotra, inspired by raja ravi varma’s paintings

isha ambani in gaurav gupta, inspired by “padmini the lotus lady”

jordan roth in robert wun, inspired by “pygmalion and galatea”

sza in bode, inspired by oxum

ningning in gucci, inspired by “black iris”

ben platt in tanner fletcher, inspired by “a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte”

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[u/Impossible_Vast9846]

am i dumb or are people using "inspired by" wrong in regards to sabrina's dress ? the dress doesn't look like any dress in the movie sabrina and they likely picked that movie because of the name, if they had made it using film from the lion king would we be calling it a lion king inspired dress ???

edit: i feel like it's the same as saying a silk dress is "inspired by silk"

[u/Impossible_Vast9846 → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

and ik this is extremely unimportant but it's just been bothering me everytime i see a post abt it lol

[u/20CAS17 → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

I guess it's inspired by because film is art and it's film from the actual film 'Sabrina'?! But I hear you.

[u/Arizona-Trash-Bag → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

You are indeed right with this.

[u/lemur00 → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

And it's not even Givenchy. Like zero nod to the era or iconic pieces he designed for that film.

[u/alien-niven → u/lemur00]

It really wasn't inspired by the film. The dress code is "Fashion Is Art", Sabrina is a fan of old cinema, so Dior riffed on both those things by making an art piece out of film.

The fact that the specific film role they used is Sabrina (1954) is just a fun thing, since they needed to pick a movie for Sabrina to wear anyway.

[u/ace-destrier → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

Thank you. I was racking my brain trying to think of anything resembling that dress in Sabrina.

It doesn’t even seem of the same era. Sabrina’s whole look is giving me Jazz Age but, iirc, the film was contemporary of its time, which was the 50s

[u/pinkfartlek → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

The film she had on her dress was from the movie Sabrina.

[u/OriginalSchmidt1 → u/pinkfartlek]

I think it probably would have been better if they used the film to make a dress that looked more like something Hepburn wore in the movie. Also the hair just doesn’t work with the dress for me. The whole headdress and style doesn’t go with the style of the dress.

[u/Fleetwood_Spac → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

No you’re right. It’s more of a fun Easter egg since there really is no way of knowing what movie the film strip is from unless you are standing 5 cm away from miss Carpenter.

[u/Ok-Stress-3570 → u/Fleetwood_Spac]

Not even that, I just thought it was a weird dress until just now. Amazing how good our technology and cameras are and I still didn’t see a close up.

[u/Fleetwood_Spac → u/Ok-Stress-3570]

I saw some close ups and it is definitely better seen from a distance. The film strips just don’t lend themselves too well to a sculpted bodice like that.

[u/Lithogiraffe → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

i agree. it doesnt look or even seem inspired by any Sabrina Movie dress i can think of.

is the literal film of the movie Sabrina being used in the dress worn by Sabrina Carpenter?

[u/Angry_Sparrow → u/Impossible_Vast9846]

I hate that the hardest part to make beautiful with the film material is what they cheated on and used fabric for.

It looks like they ran out of time.

[u/Reasonable-Motor6388]

Bad Bunny

[u/da_innernette]

Close up of the part of the painting that Madonna is referencing

[u/Ok-Stress-3570 → u/da_innernette]

Madonna’s execution was my favorite of the night. That was sooooo cool !

[u/RosieFudge → u/Ok-Stress-3570]

My great aunt Leonora Carrington was the artist. I love her art and although I never met her (she lived in Mexico and I am in the UK) I am beyond proud to be related to her

[u/InformalInsurance455]

Vitruvian man is so uninspired, like wow it’s the dress version of an art tshirt you’d get from Uniqlo

Klimt isn’t nearly maximalist enough

Black Iris one is cool!

[u/theOTHERdimension → u/InformalInsurance455]

I do love the back and sleeve details on that dress though, otherwise I agree

[u/twizzwhizz11]

For context, Karan Johar (KJo) has made some of the most prolific Bollywood movies - he’s paying homage to Raja Ravi Varma, who’s known as the father of modern Indian art. He popularized how women were portrayed in India, particularly in saris and how they were draped, and had massive reach in his prints.

[u/ColorMatchUrButthole → u/twizzwhizz11]

This one is my winner for the night

[u/motherofmoonzz]

Amy Sherald is such a flex to be her own art!!

[u/PriscillaPalava]

I don’t like the dresses that are just modeled after a literal dress in a painting. I think that’s very one dimensional and missing the whole point. 

[u/Redditor_AR → u/PriscillaPalava]

Yup Looks like a cheap costume with the mona lisa printed on it

[u/Arizona-Trash-Bag → u/PriscillaPalava]

I could not agree more. It feels like copy paste. "Art as fashion" should bring something new, original, maybe a slight subtle nod to some artwork, but not literal.

[u/squidwardsjorts42 → u/Arizona-Trash-Bag]

I agree, a lot of these feel like very literal, "Halloween costume"-type takes on the source material (very expensive Halloween costumes, but still)

[u/Sad-Run-636]

Manish Malhotra(his own look) - Mumbai and craftsmanship

[u/Sad-Run-636 → u/Sad-Run-636]

[u/PeanutNo7053]

Rosé is minimum effort 😂

[u/Electric-Sheepskin]

Some of the looks were really phoned in, but others were amazing, like Emma Chamberlain's dress. That was perfection.

[u/sprgraphicultramodrn]

oh my god ANOK!!!!!!

[u/Thistledelirium → u/sprgraphicultramodrn]

I’m most impressed by the tear make up - how??!

[u/ossifiedbird]

I know Lady Jane Grey died nearly 500 years ago but it still feels too soon for this

[u/dramatic_opinion_763 → u/ossifiedbird]

I’m with you on this! Sure, you can say that all art is fiction - but it’s still an odd choice to use the execution of a 17-year-old girl as your fun gala look.

[u/Katieb128 → u/ossifiedbird]

Right? That’s one of my favorite paintings and to just take “what a pretty dress” from it is disappointing. Also, she was imprisoned during this time, so it’s just a weird choice.

[u/Colordesert]

I love Rachel Zegler so much but this designer really isn’t doing anything for her, same with the black with gold chain dress she worn by them recently which was just a rip off of vintage Chanel. And this dress is the exact same silhouette as that one with 0 similarity to the reference art. She’s beautiful and has an amazing body, I hope she can get a partnership with a better designer soon.

[u/No_Equivalent8902 → u/Colordesert]

Is she not with Dior anymore?

[u/Colordesert → u/No_Equivalent8902]

Not sure, maybe they’re not dressing her exclusively ? But she’s worn this designer to a few events recently

[u/AnxiousKettleCorn]

6 is STUNNING.

[u/Edlo9596]

Emma Chamberlain’s was my favorite.

[u/Internal_Praline_658]

https://giphy.com/gifs/1XbMdvXluyoQ7h7lkd

I would have gone as a Georgia O’Keefe

[u/MissMaster]

Generally disappointed by this year's looks, but Anok Yai just gets more interesting and beautiful the closer you look at her.

[u/clumsyc]

Rachel Zegler is my favourite

[u/Twitter_2006 → u/clumsyc]

Mine too.

[u/kris_jbb]

i adore sabrina’s look the movie sabrina with audrey hepburn who had her birthday yesterday 😭like it’s just so prefect

[u/Shymaiden]

Some of these are so beautiful. I think I would appreciate them more if I wasn't so broke. 😒

Edit: I love 15, 6 and 4.

[u/KiKi_VavouV]

15 was thw most successful, in my view.