On Monday, May 4th, celebrities and designers will gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the evening to showcase their sense of style at one of the most iconic and costly events in fashion: the Met Gala.
Between the after-parties, exclusive tables, and the pink carpet strut, this evening has become a true avant-garde spectacle. Every year, one question arises: how much do the Hailey Biebers and Kylie Jenners of the world actually pay to attend? Unsurprisingly, unless they receive a fully paid invitation, the bill is staggering – with an increase of about 19,000 francs per year. So, who foots the bill? A breakdown of one of the most famous fashion events in numbers.
How much does a ticket for the Met Gala cost?
Attending the Met Gala was not always so pricey. The event originated around 1948, and for several decades, ticket prices were around 800 francs – a trifling sum compared to current rates.
Everything changed in 1995 when Anna Wintour, then editor-in-chief of Vogue and now the true mastermind behind the event, transformed this modest charity gala for New York’s high society into a grand celebration of fashion and celebrities. Since then, the prices of invitations – only available by selection – have soared.
In 2018, the New York Times revealed that a ticket cost around 25,000 francs per person, while a table reached 220,000 francs. By 2023, ticket prices had already risen to about 40,000 francs. Today, in 2026, a new threshold has been crossed: according to the BBC, an individual ticket would now cost 80,000 francs, with tables starting at around 275,000 francs. An astronomical sum, reflecting the growing cultural aura of the event – and, obviously, American inflation.
The revenue generated by ticket sales, combined with sponsor donations, goes towards funding the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which collected a record amount of 24 million francs last year. But since celebrities are the true stars of the evening, do they really pay out of pocket?
Do celebrities have to pay to attend the Met Gala?
Stars like Zendaya or Rihanna are among the most anticipated guests at the Met Gala. Each year, their looks generate thousands of searches on Google and social media. So why should they pay? In reality, most of the time, they don’t. Leading celebrities generally attend the event as guests of major fashion houses, dressed in custom creations from Chanel, Dior, or Louis Vuitton. In these cases, the cost of the ticket and the outfit is covered by the brand. However, this is not always the case.
With fortunes estimated in the hundreds of millions, these celebrities can also finance their presence without much concern over a six-figure ticket.
Historically, it is the designers or sponsors who purchase tables and select the guests who will accompany them. But each name must be approved by Anna Wintour, and Vogue entirely controls the seating plan. In the documentary “First Monday in May” (2016) dedicated to the 2016 Met Gala, Sylvana Ward Durrett, former head of special projects at Vogue, even mentioned a specific rule when planning the seating: “Never seat spouses side by side. The goal of these events is to meet new people and be interested in what others are doing. What sense is there in coming here to spend the evening with your husband?”
It is also for this reason that we often see co-stars, family members, or friends sitting at different tables, alongside designers, actors, musicians, models, and now influencers.
Who pays for the celebrities’ outfits?
Even though these creations are almost never “purchased” in the classical sense, their design and production generally cost between 54,000 and 400,000 francs. And some looks reach even greater heights. In 2015, the striking yellow Guo Pei dress worn by Rihanna – nicknamed “the omelette dress” online – was estimated to cost nearly 3 million francs to produce.
In most cases, it is the couture houses that absorb these costs, considering that the media visibility and the chance to enter the pantheon of the best Met Gala looks outweigh the investment. Some celebrities also fund their own hair and makeup team, while others – contracted with beauty brands – also benefit from these services for free.
