The Met is putting serious star power in charge of fashion’s biggest night, with Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Nicole Kidman set to share co-chair duties for the 2026 Gala. A music icon, a Grand Slam champion and an Oscar winner all taking the reins together turns an already massive event into must-watch culture, per APNews.
For Williams, the role marks a milestone. She steps into the position seven years after younger sister Serena helped lead the gala, giving the family a rare double in fashion history. Beyoncé returns in a new lane after serving as an honorary chair in 2013, while Kidman resumes a job she last held in the mid-2000s. Together with Anna Wintour’s longtime stewardship, the trio will headline a fundraiser that recently brought in more than $31 million for the Costume Institute.
Star-studded committee backs the trio
The museum also rolled out a stacked host committee led by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz. Their group stretches across music, film, sports and fashion, with Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, LISA, Sam Smith, Yseult, Misty Copeland, Teyana Taylor, Elizabeth Debicki, Gwendoline Christie, Lena Dunham, A’ja Wilson, Alex Consani, Paloma Elsesser, Lauren Wasser, Vogue editor Chloe Malle and artist Anna Weyant all on board.
Beyoncé’s history on the Met steps already sets expectations sky high. Fans still remember the sheer, jeweled Givenchy look that helped fuel the naked dress era and the latex gown she followed up with a year later. She rarely arrives early, yet every entrance turns into a cultural reset.
Museum CEO Max Hollein recently spoke about how each exhibition can “live in fascinating” ways by drawing from painting, sculpture and drawings throughout the collection. That creative mindset matches Venus Williams’ current chapter, as she returned to competition at 45 after more than a year away and became the oldest singles player in decades at the U.S. Open. As Serena continues to shut down talk of her own tennis comeback, the 2026 Gala gives Venus a fresh stage to own.
