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The first Monday in May is fast approaching, which can mean only one thing: It’s Met Gala season once more. In less than a month, Vogue will roll a giant carpet down the steps of the Met, and we will watch actors, musicians, athletes, fashion designers, and the remnants of Tyla’s sand dress pose for paparazzi. Celebrity couples will make their red-carpet debuts, designers will clink Champagne glasses with their celebrity muses, and at least one overserved attendee will say something offensive at the top of the steps. Can’t wait.
This year, guests have been asked to abide by the dress code “Tailored for You” in support of the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The corresponding show at the Met Costume Institute was guest-curated by Monica Miller, a Barnard professor and chair of Africana Studies and the author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. While some have expressed doubts about how some of the event’s guests might interpret the theme, others have lauded the Costume Institute for placing a Black female scholar at the helm of its exhibition. As for whether the celebs get the memo, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Speaking of guests, as always, there’s still plenty of mystery shrouding Anna Wintour’s handpicked invite list. Here’s what we know so far.
Who will definitely be at the Met Gala?
This year’s co-chairs are Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and, as always, Anna Wintour. LeBron James is set to serve as honorary co-chair, marking his first ever Met Gala appearance.
The co-chair role often means you get a plus-one on the notoriously hard-to-crack guest list, so hopefully we’ll get to see Domingo’s husband, Raúl (they adorably met on Craigslist in the early aughts), and Williams’s wife, fashion designer Helen Lasichanh. It’s less obvious whom Hamilton might bring — over the years, tabloids have linked the Ferrari driver to the likes of Shakira and Sofia Vergara. Maybe Wintour will let him bring his bulldog, Roscoe, in lieu of a situationship.
Vogue has also revived its tradition of appointing a host committee for the first time since 2019. This sprawling list includes athletes (Simone Biles and her husband, Jonathan Owens; WNBA star Angel Reese; and Olympic sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson), actors (Ayo Edebiri, Audra McDonald, and Jeremy Pope), musicians (Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Monáe, and André 3000), and fashion personalities (Grace Wales Bonner, Edward Enninful, and Olivier Rousteing). Also on the committee: tailoring legend Dapper Dan; Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee; Regina King; author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Jordan Casteel; Rashid Johnson; artist Kara Walker; and playwrights Jeremy O. Harris and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. We’ll assume for now that most of these celebrities are planning to show face on the Met’s carpeted steps.
Who will probably be at the Met Gala?
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Rocky’s probable plus-one and Met Gala mainstay, Rihanna. While the singer loves arriving fashionably late — i.e., after the carpet has closed — she actually skipped last year’s gala altogether after coming down with the flu. She hasn’t yet confirmed her attendance, but I can’t imagine Rocky showing up to co-chair the whole thing without his muse and the mother of his children. After all, the couple seems to be in a celebratory mood these days.
Sources tell “Page Six” that Shakira, Lizzo, Mary J. Blige, and models Amelia Gray and Ashley Graham are likely headed to Wintour’s prom for fashion people. The tabloid indicated the 2025 invite list is “heavy on athletes” with college-basketball star Paige Bueckers set to attend.
It’s also safe to assume a few members of the Kardashian clan will make an appearance. Kim Kardashian hasn’t missed a Met Gala since 2012, so chances are she’s digging through a 1960s star’s archive as we speak. Between Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, and Kris Jenner, it’s a toss-up, but I hope for the sake of couture we get a sighting of all three. Their attendance opens up a world of possibility for their potential dates: Will Kylie and Timmy arrive together? Will Zuck attend as Kim’s plus-one?
Who might be at the Met Gala?
We could get repeat appearances from last year’s co-chairs: Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth, Bad Bunny, and Zendaya. Last year, Zendaya made her grand return to the Met Gala after a five-year drought with two Law Roach–styled looks, but so far she hasn’t confirmed her plans.
Who is not going?
“Page Six” reports that Snow White star Rachel Zegler, who attended in 2021 and 2024, was invited to this year’s event. She really deserves to go to a big fancy party after surviving the Snow White press tour, but a rep told the tabloid Zegler will be busy rehearsing in London for her upcoming role in the musical Evita.
Another glaring absence: Wintour favorites Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, who last attended when they co-chaired the event in 2022. According to TMZ, the couple is unable to come this year, but sources say that has nothing to do with the ongoing It Ends With Us legal saga. Okay!
Sadly, it sounds as though we’ll also have to wait a little longer for Gisele Bündchen and Joaquim Valente’s red-carpet debut. Per TMZ, the supermodel is skipping the gala to be with her jujitsu-instructor boyfriend and their baby, who was born in February. That is a perfectly acceptable reason not to rub shoulders with Wintour’s inner circle, though I will pray for an appearance next year. Bündchen hasn’t attended since 2023, when she was fresh off her divorce from Tom Brady and seemed to be having a blast. Personally, I would love to see a few more postdivorce Met Gala looks from her, but not this year.
What about Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift has not attended the Met Gala since 2016, when she was a co-chair. A lot has happened in the nine years since — namely, Swift got herself a football boyfriend, who a lot of tabloids think is about to propose to her. Relatively speaking, things are quieting down for the singer: She wrapped her 150-show Eras Tour, watched Travis Kelce play (and lose) this year’s Super Bowl, and now seems to be laying low. Just saying, the Met Gala may be the perfect place to pop up and debut a new rock.
