For Emma Chamberlain, art imitates life.
The 24-year-old revealed the sweet connection between her 2026 Met Gala look, a custom hand-painted Mugler gown designed by Miguel Castro Freitas, and her upbringing.
When she was dreaming up her outfit for the “Fashion Is Art” dress code with stylist Jared Ellner, she wanted to pay homage to her dad Michael Chamberlain, sharing with 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.”
As a result, she asked Freitas to create a dress that felt like a painting, incorporating some of her favorite works from Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch as well as Mugler’s iconic butterfly dress from 1997. Indeed, Chamberlain achieved the look she was aiming for, as the fabric was hand-painted by Anna Deller-Yee. (See more of the best-dressed celebrities at fashion’s biggest night here.)
While the Chamberlain Coffee founder isn’t a traditional artist like her father, she has found her own way to creatively express herself through her clothes, saying, “I’m somebody who really believes that fashion is art.”
And moments like the Met Gala allow her to be the art, with the influencer adding, “I really am someone who enjoys fashion the most when I get to be a complete blank canvas.”
Elaborating on her thoughts about the dress on Vogue’s YouTube channel, Emma, who served as the magazine’s correspondent at the event, shared, “There's like a feeling I get when I look at a painting that really resonates with me. I feel intrigued.”
“There's a complex emotion here that I wanna uncover,” she added. “It's a subtle complexity, and I feel like this gown has that feeling to it where it is very beautiful, but then there are little elements—the hands, the bleeding sort of watercolor—that kind of gives it this edge.”
Read on to see some more fabulous looks from this year’s gala…
Beyoncé
in custom Olivier Rousteing and Chopard jewelry.
Rihanna
in Maison Margiela with Briony Raymond, Glenn Spiro, Dyne, Fred Leighton and Desert diamond jewelry.
Kim Kardashian
in custom Allen Jones breastplate, Whitaker Malem skirt and Christian Louboutin shoes.
Bad Bunny
in custom Zara.
Cardi B
in Marc Jacobs.
Hailey Bieber
in custom Saint Laurent and Belperron jewelry.
Blake Lively
in Atelier Versace, Christian Louboutin shoes and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.
Sabrina Carpenter
in Dior, Christian Louboutin shoes and Chopard jewelry.
Anne Hathaway
in Michael Kors.
Kylie Jenner
in custom Schiaparelli.
Katy Perry
in Stella McCartney.
Heidi Klum
in custom Mike Marino.
Connor Storrie
in Saint Laurent and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
Gigi Hadid
in custom Miu Miu and Jessica McCormack jewelry.
Tessa Thompson
in Valentino, Pandora jewelry and Chillhouse nail polish.
Lisa
in Robert Wun and Bvlgari jewelry.
Teyana Taylor
in Tom Ford.
Blue Ivy Carter
in Balenciaga and Henry & Henry jewelry.
Kendall Jenner
in Gap Studio by Zac Posen and Buccellati jewelry.
Doja Cat
in Saint Laurent.
Charli XCX
in Saint Laurent.
Carey Mulligan
in Prada and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
Margot Robbie
in Chanel.
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban & Nicole Kidman
in Dior (Kidman Urban) and Chanel (Kidman).
A$AP Rocky
in Chanel.
Emily Blunt
in Ashi Studio, Jimmy Choo shoes, Kurt Geiger bag and Mikimoto jewelry.
Cher
in Burberry.
Zoë Kravitz
in Saint Laurent.
Suki Waterhouse
in Michael Kors and Christian Louboutin shoes.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
in Thom Browne.