Kendall Jenner has earned her wings at the 2026 Met Gala, “Costume Art.”
On the occasion of her 12th Met Gala, the model turned to designer, EVP, and Creative Director of GAP INC., Zac Posen, to fashion her a GapStudio look inspired by Winged Victory of Samothrace – otherwise known as Nike of Samothrace—the second-century Greek statue of the goddess of victory that welcomes visitors to the Louvre.
Though they’d never worked together, Jenner and Posen held each other in high regard. She cites Christina Ricci’s 2011 Met Gala dress – which Jenner calls the “spider dress” – as the Posen look that lives rent-free in her mind. “I’ve had this dress on my mood board for so fucking long!” she says. “It’s so perfect, and she looks so gorgeous and hot.”
Posen, who has a long-standing relationship with Jenner’s sister, Kim Kardashian, always longed to collaborate with the model. So, when it came time for the 2026 Met Gala, Posen wrote Jenner a letter. “I said that it would be a dream to collaborate with her for this theme,” he says. “I thought she was the perfect person.”
“I’ve always really admired Zac from afar,” Jenner says. But recently, she adds, “I just kept thinking about him.” When it came time for the Met, Posen crossed her mind. “I thought of him, but didn’t put any action into it at the time,” she says. “And very cosmically, I got an email from him.” Jenner views the entire endeavor as fated. “I believe in the universe guiding you in a certain direction. It came together so perfectly.”
Posen brought a modern sensibility to the ancient statue, using the classic white T-shirt – a Gap staple – as a jumping-off point. “I took a Gap white T-shirt off of my back in my studio and started pulling it and tweaking it and figuring out how – in a contemporary way, in a glamorous way – to interpret the sculpture that influenced humanity and our modern culture,” he says. (Also on the mood board were masters of jersey and drapery: Madame Grès, Azzedine Alaïa, Roy Halston Frowick, Madeleine Vionnet, Geoffrey Beene, and Claire McCardell.)
Jenner, who was “super, super, super involved” in the process, was keen to capture the rippling, windswept tunic with an ultra-thin fabric, which led Posen to a lightweight cotton-viscose blend that created a wet drapery look. “It’s been really cool to see him work. I can see his wheels turning, which is such a treat for me,” Jenner says. “I love being a part of every step of the process.” The designer added some dimension by layering the tea-dyed liquid jersey with satin-faced chiffon and organza to mimic the statue’s fluid drapery.
Posen also commissioned Abel Cepeda Ljoka and Will Kowall of the New York brand Seks to create the base of the dress, a leather corset to worn beneath. “We 3D-printed her body and made a mannequin and a bust of it that is the corset underneath this,” he explains. Posen draped the fabric to show off the corset like an exposed breast.
A longtime Met Gala attendee, Jenner has her routine down to a science. “I sit there in glam before I get there and I watch that red carpet on the live[stream],” she says. “And then to be able to get inside and run into people, I feel like every year it’s like my yearly high school reunion.” Still, even on her 12th turn, Jenner admits that she still gets some pre-Met jitters. “I’ll probably need a shot before the carpet,” she says.
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This article was originally published on Vogue US.
