The best personal style at the Met Gala 2026 has to go to Emma Chamberlain. Now there’s something to be said about being a blank canvas, but there’s something even more exciting about being a paint-covered canvas, proof that art is being made. For this year’s look, Emma wore a custom Mugler gown by Miguel Castro Freitas, styled by Jared Ellner.
When creating her look tonight, Emma took inspiration from her family and love for art. She told Vogue, “My dad is an oil painter and a watercolor painter, and I grew up in a very creative household with art all over my house.”
The look featured a high neck with long sleeves that draped down, almost melting into her dress. It split between strokes of yellow and blue, swirling down her body until it reached the bottom of the gown, turning into a full-blown abstract art colorwash.
To create this moment, both Emma and Jared pulled artwork from Van Gogh and Munch and a 1997 Mugler look for Castro Freitas and the Mugler team to use.
The dress was also hand-painted by artist Anna Deller-Yee, turning Emma’s body into a literal canvas. Everything used to create the look comes from traditional fine art materials. Anna Deller-Yee worked with approximately 30 base colors, expanded through custom mixing, across roughly 40 hours of painting time, followed by approximately four days of drying with ventilation. All proof that fashion is art. And making a vision like Emma’s come true takes quite some time. She paired the dress with Stuart Weitzman platform heels in custom-dyed navy satin.
And while her red carpet look stole the show, seeing that Emma also wore a midi-length version of her carpet look while inside the gala is just too brilliant. We’ve heard the stories about all our faves who can’t sit or eat in their looks, so coming prepared is a very Emma thing to do.
Emma has been a staple at the Met Gala, making her debut in 2021 in custom Louis Vuitton. She most notably has served as one of Vogue’s red carpet livestream hosts, giving us some iconic interview moments, like when she said “I love you,” to Jack Harlow.
Emma, as we know, is the queen of YouTube. Her entire career is built off of personality and connection, which is why her look feels perfectly aligned with her personal style and image.
Aiyana Ishmael is the style editor at Cosmopolitan magazine. In her work, Aiyana focuses on the culture of fashion and how it intertwines and shapes the zeitgeist. She is an award-winning journalist from Miami, Florida, and a graduate of the historically Black university, Florida A&M. She is a 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30: Media honoree, and her debut romance novella PASSING GAME is set to release March of 2027 (831 Stories/Simon & Schuster).
