Fashion is Art
Custom Altuzarra for Angel Reese for the 2026 Met Gala
WNBA All-Star Angel Reese wore a custom Altuzarra gown crafted from lightweight taffeta woven in Italy, with carefully selected yarn colors that create a subtle iridescence. The dress draws inspiration from the work of 18th-century painter Thomas Gainsborough, reinterpreting the codes of a classic trench coat into an opulent, off-the-shoulder gown. It reflects the voluminous, feminine silhouettes seen in Gainsborough’s paintings while being designed to appear as though it is coming “undone,” artfully revealing the body beneath.
"I wanted to approach the theme through the idea that the body is both the origin of fashion and its canvas. The exhibition’s focus on the dialogue between garment, body, and art felt like a natural starting point. Angel Reese's look explores an artistic relationship to the body: inspired by Jean-Honoré Fragonard and the romance of déshabillé, where clothing feels undone and alive."
— Joseph Altuzarra
Custom Altuzarra for Yumi Shin and Joseph Altuzarra for the 2026 Met Gala
Inspired by the relationship between clothing and the human form, the design centers on a painted-body motif—created by applying pigment directly onto the form to produce an abstract, anatomical imprint. Layered sequin embroidery further enhances the body's shapes and movement. The silhouette of the dress is otherwise very refined and linear, with a focus on the body as central to artistic expression.
"Yumi’s look reflects a different artistic relationship to the body: drawing on Yves Klein, in which the body becomes a gesture, pressed into fabric like paint on paper. My look turns inward, drawing on Surrealism—emotion, organs, and poetry rendered in an instinctive, almost automatic way. Together, the three Altuzarra looks for the 2026 Met Gala form a dialogue between presence and trace, structure and release— where fashion becomes a living form of art"
— Joseph Altuzarra