Phil Oh Captures the Best Arrivals (and Exits) at the 2026 Met Gala

Reported by Vogue.

The Met Gala is many things — a fundraiser, a fashion spectacle, a masterclass in calculated risk — but its most honest moments happen before anyone reaches the top of those steps. Street-level is where it gets real. Sprinter vans pulling up, gowns being gathered, faces composing themselves for the cameras: this is the unscripted version of fashion's biggest night.

According to Vogue, photographer Phil Oh positions himself at the foot of the stairs from the 4:30 p.m. arrivals onward, catching everyone from red carpet royalty to unexpected cameos. His lens has captured it all — Maya Hawke mid-wait, Jennie and Lorde slipping out hours after the fanfare fades, and, in one of the more charming side plots of recent memory, North West pulling up to drop her mother off like the world's most stylish school run.

The Exit Is Just as Good

We talk endlessly about the entrance, but the exits tell a different story. Hair slightly undone, heels in hand, the night's verdict written across everyone's faces — leaving the Met carries its own particular energy. Oh shoots those moments too, and they're frequently more revealing than anything that happened on the formal carpet. A great gown at 5 p.m. hits differently at midnight.

The 2026 Gala continues what has become a full-day fashion event, one that the internet now consumes in real time and dissects for days after. Phil Oh's documentation — candid, quick, unposed — has become as anticipated as the looks themselves. He's not shooting editorials; he's shooting fashion as it actually moves through the world, which is arguably the harder and more interesting job.

The red carpet will always have its place, but the real fashion conversation happens six feet lower, at street level, where Phil Oh is already waiting.

Read the original at Vogue.