Miranda Priestly would have had notes on the Met's "Red" Carpet

“Beyonce’s Met Gala red carpet outfit slayed”, “Isha Ambani ate at the Met Gala red carpet”, Met Gala red this…Met Gala red that. But where is the “red” carpet? Don’t get us wrong. Imagining a garden landscape for the 2026 “Costume Art” theme is absolutely groundbreaking, it's just not very “Met”.

Over the years, the Met has built a reputation for being an ultra-luxury reimagination of fashion that exudes power, art, history, dominance, emotion, and much more. Everything else has always been secondary. First Mondays of May are always fixed for fashion trendsetting and A-listers. The Met has established itself as “the brand” of everything art and fashion.

Why then did the Met trade its iconic red for the colour wheel? The carpet, once fashion’s altar of arrival, now looks like it's been through a man’s Pinterest cleanse – toned down, replying in “hmms” and well emotionally unavailable. We are going to reposition our take once again – we love the idea of making the carpet a part of the experience, we just don’t agree with losing iconicity in the name of moving forward.

Red isn’t just a color; it’s a power stance. It’s lipstick prints on martini glasses, the bottom of a Louboutin heel, the kind of energy that gets itself recognised in the name of the Unexpected Red Theory. When a carpet forgets its red, it forgets what makes people show up in the first place.

The “red” carpet is not just nostalgia, it's symbolism. Our argument is to bridge the gap between the legendary and the progression; It's to make the carpet depict its theme without losing its origin.

So maybe the Met doesn’t need a new colour theory every year, maybe it just needs reinvention of the icon, because even the devil’s stilettoes are red, but the Met’s red bottoms look a little beige for judgment day. (All sharp inhales and withering glances over the rim of her espresso cup from Miranda Priestly).

Project Epilogue reimagines the Met Gala carpet and set-up, standing with the exemplary art team on the idea of making the carpet feel like a landscape. We just decided to do it differently. Something that screams “Met” from a distance and blankets the viewers in the theme with every step. We took the theme to the roof, letting the bold red breathe. The roof becomes a living, breathing display of the theme – crafting Van Gogh’s “Red Vineyards” in luscious planting that, under the right play of light and shadow, intangibly touches the red carpet along the edges, making the attendees feel like they are walking through a garden - the Met’s Garden. Not only does this maintain a global stance for the Met, but it also acts as the perfect backdrop for the silhouettes and bling to pop out of instead of blending in. As a landscape-led practice, our take on the Met Gala set-up stands tall on identity, progression, and a moving, living, specially curated landscape.