Tonight, the 2026 Met Gala kicks off “Costume Art,” the newest exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (the show officially opens on May 10). For artist Tschabalala Self, it’s a major milestone: She serves as a gala co-chair and will attend the fete for the first time. To celebrate one of the most important moments on the global fashion calendar, Self enlisted her friend, designer Brandon Blackwood, to create her gown and style her look for the evening. He worked with New York’s Atelier YQS on the dress, his first for the major event.
It’s a full-circle moment for the pair, who were both born and raised in New York City, Blackwood in Brooklyn and Self in Harlem, before attending Bard College together. Since then, Blackwood has earned acclaim for his statement anti-racism handbags and has expanded into shoes and ready-to-wear. He’s also designed custom gowns for Beyoncé, Serena Williams, and Megan Thee Stallion. Self, meanwhile, has become a rising name in the contemporary art world. Major exhibitions of her paintings, which employ fabric and mixed media to depict the exaggerated silhouettes of her dynamic Black subjects, have taken place at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Finland’s Espoo Museum of Art, and other galleries and institutions. She was also awarded London’s Fourth Plinth Prize in 2024 and featured in The Artsy Vanguard 2019. She recently installed a sculpture of an embracing couple, titled Art Lovers (2025), at the newly reopened New Museum in Lower Manhattan. In advance of their Met Gala moment, Blackwood and Self spoke to Artsy about their long friendship and the influences they drew on for the dress, from Degas’s ballerina sculptures to unconventional textiles.
Read their conversation with Artsy below (answers have been edited for length and clarity).
Alina Cohen: How did you two meet?
Brandon Blackwood: We met on the quad in 2009. She was sitting with future friends of mine, and we all ended up talking. We had the New York connection. When you go to a small liberal arts school upstate, in the middle of nowhere, and you meet someone who kind of looks like you in a space where that isn’t the norm, you bond very quickly. I’ve always wanted a sister, and Tschaba’s like a sister to me.
Tschabalala Self: We lived together for one year in this dorm called “Feitler.” It was a vegan co-op but also like a black fraternity house on campus.
A.C.: Did you connect over creative interests?
B.B.: We’d go to each other’s dorms or, when we were living together, meet in the kitchen and talk about our ideas, which ranged from movie scripts to designing. For a second, we wanted to launch a brand together and call it “Self Love.” So this is very full circle.
T.S.: We wanted to make gender-neutral clothing that was ready-to-wear, with an elevated street style vibe.
A.C.: Is this the first time you’re truly collaborating?
T.S.: I’d say the second. Brandon designed my wedding dress last year. That was a big milestone. Brandon was also essentially a bridesmaid. He was with me every step of the way.
That was the first time we collaborated on something that was out in the world, even in our shared community. But I’ve always been able to talk to Brandon about ideas.
B.B.: Tschaba has custom pieces of mine. I also have a custom piece of hers.
A.C.: That’s Tschaba’s painting behind you?
T.S.: Yes, it’s called Dancer (2026). Brandon just moved. It was a piece for his new home.
B.B.: I have a few pieces of Tschaba’s throughout the house. Two feature female figures, and one is a man and woman together. When you walk in my door, her art is the first thing you see. It’s very powerful; it makes me feel good; and it’s low-key a little sexy: the shapes, the colors. I’m very proud of it. When you surround yourself with things you love so much, you can’t help but incorporate that into your day.
A.C.: How did the Met Gala collaboration come about?
T.S.: I told Brandon that I was going to be on the host committee. I asked if he wanted to make my dress for the gala. He was really excited and just jumped in.
B.B.: It’s a huge milestone. We started brainstorming. The theme is “Fashion Is Art,” and I wanted the dress to border on costume but feel refined…like a period piece come to life.
T.S.: When Brandon was describing the silhouette, he’d say that it should look like an upside-down tulip: a form found in nature that is also regal, feminine, and timeless. The gown is super contemporary, with lots of different silhouettes. It makes me think of Degas’s ballerina sculpture, which is a fusion of this hard bronze sculpture with textile. This garment’s unique textile elements really speak to me, because textiles are such an important part of my practice. The dress is a perfect combination of both our aesthetics and formal concerns.
A.C.: What are the unique textile elements in the dress?
B.B.: We have a silk corseted gown with a draped-over skirt held up by this really beautiful, soft tulle underlay. I played around with volume in an unconventional way and tried to layer texture in a way that’s easy to read. We used a lot of satin, a lot of chiffon. The bodice is a matte chiffon, which is cool. It’s usually shinier, more exposed. We’re doing a corset-lace bodice, which will hug the body and help tell the overall story of the dress.
T.S.: When I put on the dress, I felt like I was embodying an artwork. And that fits the theme perfectly for the gala.
A.C.: Were there other visual references?
B.B.: I was looking a lot at Tschaba’s work. She loves to mix textures, loves a kooky mash-up of things. I wanted to translate that. You’ll see how the skirt drapes over the tulle, how what we're doing is unconventional, like her artwork.
T.S.: The dress also creates an emphasized silhouette to the body through construction and costume. This really elevated, feminine hourglass shape is also a throughline in my practice. That’s a peak symbol of beauty for us, for our background. We’re accentuating that. I’m almost becoming an embodiment of the subjects in my work. I love the shape.
B.B.: It’s really severe. Choosing a cinched lace corset, dropping where the skirt starts so that you get the hip. You get the bust. You get the waist. There’s a lot of body.
A.C.: Are there elements that feel very “New York?”
T.S.: Right now in the Hudson Valley, where Brandon and I met, there are tulips everywhere. Many of our memories are here. There’s a certain lightness and easy elegance that remind me of this region. There’s a throughline, the city to here, and back.
B.B.: The dress still has a severe moment that feels true to a native New Yorker. It’s Hudson-meets-Harlem.
T.S.: That’s my whole thing!
A.C.: Tell me about the color.
B.B.: We chose a really muted, sexy gray. This is the first gray piece I’ve ever made. It’s cool and impactful and looks beautiful on her skin tone. We’ll add jewelry, some diamond detailing. It’s gonna be a moment.
A.C.: Shoes?
T.S.: Gray Jimmy Choo. Very simple. Pointed-toe pump, something that complements the dress but doesn’t take any attention away.
A.C.: What does it mean to work together for the Met Gala?
T.S.: I feel blessed I’m working on this with a friend. And not just any friend. I’ve known him since I was 20, and Brandon was a teenager. Our brains weren’t finished growing! I’m excited and also nervous. It’s nice to have a friend who’s also family—to do it together. It’s fun and I feel more carefree, more myself. It’s another creative moment we can share. It’s really beautiful.
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