Katy Perry Goes Back to Space With Her Met Gala Helmet

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

Katy Perry has never met a Met Gala theme she couldn't weaponize — and the 2026 edition, centered on "Fashion Is Art," was no exception. The singer arrived in a custom Stella McCartney gown: all white and silver, strapless with a square neckline, long skirt with deliberately burnt-off edges, and matching opera gloves. Maximalist restraint, if that's even a thing.

The real statement piece was the mirrored face covering — framed in white netting, designed to open like a visor — that made the whole look click into place. According to Harper's Bazaar, it was a deliberate callback to the helmet Perry wore in April 2025 when she joined Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Kerianne Flynn, and honorary Met Gala co-chair Lauren Sánchez Bezos aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket as part of the so-called "Taking Up Space Crew." When your real life involves literally leaving Earth's atmosphere, you might as well dress accordingly.

Solo Mission

Fans hoping for a red carpet debut with her boyfriend, former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, were left waiting — Perry made this one a solo flight. Which, honestly, tracks. The astronaut metaphor lands harder when you're not splitting the frame.

The 2026 Costume Institute fundraiser celebrated the new exhibit "Costume Art" and its exploration of the relationship between fashion and the body. Co-chairs Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams led the night, with a committee that read like a cultural roll call — Lisa of Blackpink, Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Debicki, Lena Dunham, and more. Perry's look, given the theme, was less costume and more thesis statement: fashion as artifact, as biography, as proof of where you've been.

The hamburger and chandelier moments from 2019 may still hold court in the Met Gala hall of fame, but a burnt-hem gown with a space helmet attachment is a strong argument that Perry remains one of the few celebrities who actually treats the Met as a creative brief — not a photo opportunity.

When your personal lore includes going to space, your dress code basically writes itself.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.