In 2007, event designer Raul Ávila, the man in charge of transforming the Met Gala interiors, was getting ready to take on fashion’s biggest night.
“It was my first year, and I wanted to do something completely different,” Ávila previously said. That year, the theme was “Poiret: King of Fashion.” For the Great Hall installation, Ávila built a Poiret-inspired gilded birdcage that was about 20 feet high, with two live peacocks inside.
In 2019, for “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” he created a 25-foot-tall flamingo centrepiece comprised of 30,000 flowers. In 2018, he built a recreation of a papal crown, made out of roses, for “Heavenly Bodies.”
The theme for the 2026 Met Gala is “Costume Art,” and the event will take place on Monday, May 4.
A Standard of Excellence
“It was my first year, and I wanted to do something completely different,” Ávila previously said. That year, the theme was “Poiret: King of Fashion.” For the Great Hall installation, Ávila built a Poiret-inspired gilded birdcage that was about 20 feet high, with two live peacocks inside.
Raising the Bar
In 2019, for “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” he created a 25-foot-tall flamingo centrepiece comprised of 30,000 flowers. In 2018, he built a recreation of a papal crown, made out of roses, for “Heavenly Bodies.”
The 2026 Outlook
The theme for the 2026 Met Gala is “Costume Art,” and the event will take place on Monday, May 4.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designs the Met Gala interiors?
Raul Ávila has been the lead event designer for the Met Gala since 2007.
What was the 2019 Met Gala centrepiece?
For 'Camp: Notes on Fashion', Ávila created a 25-foot-tall flamingo made of 30,000 flowers.