The Best Men’s Makeup In The History of the Met Gala
Much like it has in popular culture, men’s makeup has gained momentum on the Met Gala red carpet through the years. Here are all the standout moments.
Reported by Vogue.
The Met Gala steps have long functioned as fashion's most theatrical stage — and increasingly, the face is part of the costume. Men's makeup at the annual Costume Institute benefit has gone from a quiet undercurrent to one of the evening's most anticipated expressions, evolving in lockstep with a broader cultural shift that says beauty has no gender ceiling.
The early signals were deliberate but restrained. Pharrell Williams traced kohl along his waterlines for the 2013 "Punk: Chaos to Couture" theme — a small gesture that read loud. By 2018, Troye Sivan arrived for "Heavenly Bodies" with gilded lids and luminous skin, going full celestial where Pharrell went sharp-edged. Then 2019's "Camp: Notes on Fashion" blew the door open entirely, according to Vogue. Harry Styles showed up alongside Alessandro Michele sporting a dark raven manicure shot through with teal. Jared Leto carried a prosthetic replica of his own head — a literal nod to Gucci's viral fall 2018 runway. Darren Criss and Marc Jacobs delivered graphic liner moments; Michael Urie applied his only to one eye, in deliberate symmetry with his half-gown, half-suit look. Camp, it turned out, was the permission slip everyone had been waiting for.
From Gilded Wings to Full Prosthetics
The momentum didn't stall. In 2022, Lil Nas X wore gilded wing decals that his makeup artist Grace Pae described with precision: "We wanted him to radiate." He did. That same year, Jordan Roth conjured full New Romantic drama — bleached complexion, abstract color, deep red lip — and Alton Mason swept silver pigment across his inner corners for something quieter but equally intentional. The 2025 theme, "Tailored for You," brought lacquered nails and rouged cheeks into the mix, while 2026's "Costume Art" framing pushed things further still — painterly shadow, sculpted cheeks, and Bad Bunny arriving in complete prosthetic transformation.
What's shifted isn't just aesthetic daring — it's the architecture of who gets to play. The Met Gala has become the clearest evidence that men's beauty isn't a trend with an expiration date; it's a permanent fixture in fashion's vocabulary. Each year the range expands: from a smudge of liner to full facial sculpture, from one painted nail to a complete character study. The red carpet, it turns out, has always been a canvas — it just took a while for everyone to pick up the brush.
The best Met Gala beauty moments don't belong to any one gender — they belong to anyone willing to treat their face like the final piece of the look.
Read the original at Vogue.
