The Theme Was the Dressed Body, But the Artificial Body Took Center Stage Camille FreestoneTue, May 5, 2026 at 3:17 AM UTC 0 Why Artificial Body Parts Were at the Met Gala RedGetty Images “Who is that?” we all whispered from the Harper’s Bazaar offices, staring blankly at the Met Gala live stream as a seemingly elderly gentleman took to the red carpet. The mystery man wore a simple black suit and walked onto the carpet with a cane. But there was something familiar about the shape of his face and the expression in his eyes—there was certainly laughter in them.
The Theme Was the Dressed Body, But the Artificial Body Took Center Stage
Camille FreestoneTue, May 5, 2026 at 3:17 AM UTC
0
Why Artificial Body Parts Were at the Met Gala RedGetty Images
“Who is that?” we all whispered from the Harper’s Bazaar offices, staring blankly at the Met Gala live stream as a seemingly elderly gentleman took to the red carpet. The mystery man wore a simple black suit and walked onto the carpet with a cane. But there was something familiar about the shape of his face and the expression in his eyes—there was certainly laughter in them. He opened his mouth to speak to an interviewer—it was Bad Bunny in full facial prosthetics.
Bad Bunny at the 2026 Met GalaGetty Images
Not everyone went so far as to disguise themselves—aside from Heidi Klum coated in a layer of alabaster—but some semblance of the artificial body was present across a range of attendees’ looks. Kylie Jenner arrived in a sculpted corset with two layers, one nude and sculpted like the body, the other white brocade appearing to be in the midst of peeling off. Her under layer featured sculpted nipples and a carved belly button. Then, Kendall Jenner turned up in a custom Gap Studio by Zac Posen gown that looked like a wet sculpted T-shirt, one shoulder slipped down to reveal a strapless bra also featuring a molded nipple. The body, whether or not it belonged to the wearer, was on full display.
Kylie Jenner in SchiaparelliGetty Images
The Met Gala christens the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, titled “Costume Art.” The format of the exhibition centers around the dressed body. It’s sectioned around the pregnant, naked, classical, mortal, abstract, anatomical, disabled, aging, and corpulent bodies. Each sets out to deconstruct the rigid beauty ideals in place around bodies today. Ironically, this was the Met Gala where we expected to see all the naked dresses. The barely there ensembles dominated the red carpets of 2025, revealing a lot about the social-media-fueled, image-obsessed, GLP-1 era in which we currently reside. In fact, naked dresses became so ubiquitous that they have perhaps begun to lose their shock factor. For the 2026 Met Gala, the dressed body was dressed as a body, for sure, but often an artificial one.
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Kim Kardashian in custom Allen Jones and Patrick WhitakerJohn Shearer - Getty Images
Kim Kardashian, the founder of the body-centric brand Skims, wore a custom look from British pop-artisan duo Allen Jones and Patrick Whitaker. The dress featured a sculpted gold breastplate with cone-shaped breasts and a molded stomach. The breast plate trend with sculpted chests and stomachs continued with Hailey Bieber in Saint Laurent and Yseult in Harris Reed, with anatomical details depicted down to the belly button. Donatella Versace showed up in a corseted gown that bloomed into exaggerated hips.
The motif of faux body parts spanned past the chest into extra, extraneous arms and hands. The French social media personality Lena Mahfouf appeared in an ensemble by Burc Akyol that consisted of a draped skirt and sculpted hands clutching her breasts. The Thai fashion editor Nichapat Suphap wore a black Robert Wun gown decorated with silver robotic hands.
Nichapat Suphap in Robert WunGetty Images
Right inside the doors, a portion of the celebrated exhibition likens sculpted breastplates, particularly those that allowed Greek and Roman warriors to adopt an idealized human form that, centuries later, has changed very little, to contemporary sculpted runway garments. It displays the padded shoulders and hips of Christian Dior’s New Look and Daniel Roseberry’s backward bust, bedecked with a crystal-embellished beating heart, from the fall 2025 Schiaparelli couture show. Fashion is fascinated with the human body, but sometimes there’s a statement to be made by wearing someone else’s. No matter the form, whether it exists on the red carpet or sits in a glass enclosure, these structures look and feel like armor. They create a perfect, impenetrable facade. And under all of today’s scrutiny, I might want to suit up, as well—or add a helping hand to my look.
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Published: May 5, 2026 at 06:46AM on Source: RED MAG
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