Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are here and ready to put fashion to work.

The red carpet mainstays, 38, and 37, arrived on the Met steps on May 4 in typical fashion — late!

For the 2026 Met Gala, where the theme is “Costume Art,” Rihanna ascended the stairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing a dramatic Maison Margiela gown that was so aesthetically pleasing that her unprompted arrival was worth every minute of waiting.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky attend the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky at the 2026 Met Gala.Mike Coppola/Getty

The dress was more like a sculpture with its impressive bodice that created a dress-within-a-dress illusion. The majority of the piece was made with a shiny fabric that looked like liquid metal, while the center appeared to be dripping in actual jewels. Her accessories — including her ear cuffs and rings — were also worthy of admiration and brought the ensemble to the next level.

Catch all the minute-by-minute fashion updates from the 2026 Met Gala red carpet right here!

She carried out the colorway with her glam, which consisted of makeup with frosty eyeshadow and a hairstyle adorned with custom gold hardware by Jennifer Behr.

Meanwhile, Rocky appeared to pay tribute to his new role as girl dad, decked out in a baby pink coat adorned with a feathered brooch. He paired the statement outerwear with a bow tie and loafers.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky attend the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 04, 2026 in New York City.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky at the 2026 Met Gala.Mike Coppola/Getty

This year’s Met Gala theme reflects the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring 2026 exhibition titled “Costume Art.” The coinciding dress code, Fashion Is Art, ties into the “centrality of the dressed body,” per Vogue. The costume exhibit at the Met is built around bodies of all shapes and sizes, highlighting the human form. These include pregnant bodies, aging bodies and more — and will be displayed in a variety of mannequins that are new for this year.

At the 2025 Met Gala, Rihanna, 38, flaunted her baby bump for the first time after revealing her pregnancy just hours before the event. Photographer Miles Diggs revealed the news on Instagram ahead of the red carpet, posting a photo of the pregnant singer in the rain with her baby bump on full display.

The “Umbrella” singer and partner A$AP Rocky, 37, who was a co-chair at the function, posed together in their coordinating tailored looks once she arrived on the Met steps.

Rocky arrived early in the evening and wore a custom all-black AWGE (his label) look. Rihanna arrived well after the carpet ended (as is her go-to routine) and debuted her bump in a gray bustier with a black floor-length skirt and cropped black jacket — all Marc Jacobs, who also designed her heels, tie and hat (with milliner Stephen Jones).

Rihanna and Met Gala Co-Chair A$AP Rocky attend the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky at 2025 Met Gala.Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty

The couple has been known as major figures at the Met Gala, and the mom-of-three has made more than a dozen appearances at the fashion event since her red carpet debut in 2009, when she wore an ethereal white Georges Chakra halter gown embellished with crystals.

Many of Rihanna’s most popular and well-received looks have become iconic in the history of the gala, especially her papal-inspired Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano look for 2018’s “Heavenly Bodies” theme.