Venus Williams Co-Chairs 2026 Met Gala Celebrating Fashion as Art in New Costume Institute Galleries

Venus Williams, co-chair of the 2026 Met Gala, spoke at the press preview for the exhibition "Costume Art," which explores how fashion and art depict the human body. The exhibition inaugurates the Costume Institute's new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries on the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, relocated from the basement. Williams recalled her mother sewing her first tennis skirt at age 14, linking fashion to identity and history. Max Hollein, the museum's director, stated the new galleries assert that fashion is art. Curator Andrew Bolton noted that the dressed body is central to art history, and clothing mediates between self and world. The press conference included designers Thom Browne, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and Anthony Vaccarello. "Costume Art" opens to the public on May 10, 2026.