At the 2026 Met Gala, the red carpet became a living gallery of textile and transformation, echoing the intimate craftsmanship that has defined lingerie for centuries. This year’s theme, “Costume Art,” invited guests to explore the line between garment and sculpture—a boundary that foundation garments have blurred since the 19th century, when corsets were hand-painted and embroidered like canvas.
Anok Yai’s gilded, tear-streaked ensemble recalled the metallic-threaded bodices of 1920s flapper lingerie, where gold lamé was used to catch light in darkened speakeasies. Meanwhile, Heidi Klum’s prosthetic sculpture paid homage to the theatrical corsetry of the 18th century, when whalebone and silk created living statues for court masques.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s voluminous coils, styled with her own Cécred line, echoed the unbound hair of 1940s pin-up culture—a rebellion against the restrictive hairnets and caps that had dominated earlier lingerie advertising. Her curls, defined but free, mirrored the evolution from structured girdles to the flexible, body-positive shapewear of today.
Even subtle details carried history. Kylie Jenner’s barely-there brows evoked the plucked arches of 1930s Hollywood starlets, whose sheer negligees and bias-cut slips were designed to suggest vulnerability and strength. And Kim Kardashian’s shift from jet-black to caramel honey blond mirrored the transition from Victorian mourning corsets—black, rigid, hidden—to the warm, exposed lace of modern luxury lingerie.
At its core, this year’s Met Gala reminded us that fashion is always undressing history, layer by layer.
Originally reported by WWD