The 2025 Met Gala is tonight! A star-studded list of guests will arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, decked out in luxurious designs that are often viewed as works of art themselves.

Referred to as fashion’s biggest night, the Met Gala has a storied history of hosting a slew of celebrities, with past attendees including Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Zendaya, as well as Kim Kardashian.

The Met staircase has also been the site for a number of fashion moments. Who could forget Abracadabra hitmaker Lady Gaga’s fuchsia Brandon Maxwell gown at the 2019 Met Gala, which she eventually shed layer by layer? What about when Rihanna put her spin on saintly style at the 2018 Met Gala in her Conclave-coded, beaded corset dress and bishop’s hat by Margiela?

A nod to the Costume Institute’s 2025 spring exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring of Black Style,” this year’s dress code, “Tailored For You,” will see celebrities taking creative liberties to curate looks inspired by menswear and suiting.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of fashion’s biggest night.

What is the Met Gala?

The Met Gala is a charity fundraiser and event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The benefit has traditionally been timed to mark the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual exhibition. Each year, a lineup of attendees ranging from celebrities and designers to athletes and philanthropists will ascend up the venue’s famous staircase, where they’ll show off their designer looks for crowds of photographers.

Attendees are encouraged to dress according to the theme chosen by the Costume Institute.

Blake Lively attends the 2022 Met Gala. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

When is the Met Gala? Where is it held?

The 2025 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 5, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York City’s Upper East Side. Vogue’s editor in chief Anna Wintour, who has been in charge of the guest list since 1995, carefully selects who attends the benefit. The Met Gala is by invitation only, and guests typically attend with a brand, but individual tickets can reportedly be purchased for $75,000 apiece.

Guests who’ve nabbed a coveted ticket to the benefit typically stay at hotels nearby, like celebrity favorites, the Mark and Carlyle Hotels.

Anna Wintour attends the 2024 Met Gala. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

What’s the theme of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition?

The theme of this year’s spring exhibition is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and will focus on the significance of “sartorial style to the formation of Black identities,” per Vogue. The exhibition was inspired by guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.

The dandy, a man recognized for being well-dressed and groomed, emerged in Britain in the late 18th century. Dandyism, at this time, was also imposed on Black men by their enslavers as a means of flaunting their status. Black dandyism is a movement that sprang from this and is steeped in rebellion and liberation.

“By the 1920s, Black men reinterpreted Eurocentric fashion through their own lens, blending respectability with rebellion, a dynamic that continues to shape Black menswear today,” Darnell-Jamal Lisby, a fashion historian and assistant curator of the Cleveland Museum of Art, told CFDA.

Late menswear designer Waraire Boswell is recognized for revolutionizing Black style. This year’s Met Gala theme, per his wife, “reflects the essence of who he was.”

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will be on view from May 10 through Oct. 26 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What’s the Met Gala dress code?

The dress code for this year’s Met Gala is “Tailored for You,” a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and suiting.

Previous Met Gala themes include: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” “Karl Lagerfield: A Line of Beauty,” “China: Through the Looking Glass” and “Punk: Chaos to Couture.”

Who are the Met Gala cochairs? What do they do?

The cochairs of this year’s benefit are Sing Sing actor Colman Domingo, British race car driver Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$AP Rocky, music producer Pharrell Williams and Wintour. LeBron James will serve as an honorary chair.

Wintour has never formally confirmed what exactly the cochairs do, but it’s rumored that they provide input on the benefit’s dress code and help plan the dinner and performances.

The Met Gala will also have a host committee that supports the event. This year’s committee is made up of André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Tyla, Usher and Kara Walker.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky attend the 2023 Met Gala. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Have celebrities confirmed their attendance?

Met Gala attendees are ultimately confirmed the day of the event, when they walk the red carpet. But sometimes, celebrities set the record straight beforehand. Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, a 12-time Met Gala attendee, confirmed that she won’t be attending this year because she has to work. Rachel Zegler will also miss this year’s gala. The Snow White star will reportedly be busy amid rehearsals for the musical Evita in London’s West End. Also skipping this year’s Met Gala? Former cochairs Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, per People.

Rumored attendees for this year’s Met Gala include Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Amelia Gray, Ashley Graham and WNBA star Paige Bueckers.

While Swifties are hoping that this year will mark Taylor Swift’s Met Gala return, the pop star has neither confirmed nor denied whether she’ll attend.

Taylor Swift at the 2016 Met Gala. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com)

Can I watch the Met Gala?

Audiences won’t be able to watch what happens inside the gala itself — guests must even abide by a no-phone policy — but they will be able to watch exclusive red carpet coverage on the official Met Gala livestream starting at 6 p.m. ET.

Singer-actress Teyana Taylor, actress-producer La La Anthony and actress-comedian Ego Nwodim are set to host this year’s livestream, which will also be available across all of Vogue’s digital platforms, as well as on Vogue’s official YouTube channel.

Teyana Taylor attends the 2023 Met Gala. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Met Gala by the numbers

The 2024 Met Gala raised $26 million, a record sum for the star-studded event.

While there’s often speculation surrounding which celebrities will attend fashion’s biggest night, the actual guest list is kept secret until attendees arrive on the red carpet. Attending the benefit is typically by invitation only, though an individual ticket reportedly costs $75,000. Meanwhile, purchasing a table of 10, which companies and luxury design houses often do, reportedly starts at $350,000.

Jordan Roth attends the 2024 Met Gala. (Arturo Holmes/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)