Lena Dunham has made her return to the Met Gala red carpet—her first since 2019.
In her new memoir, Famesick, Dunham recounts her experiences at previous Met Galas. In 2017, she suffered complications from endometriosis surgery during the evening and was hospitalized; the following year, Dunham attended the gala while in the midst of a rehab program. In the book, she recalls bringing her gold Elizabeth Kennedy gown back to the treatment center, where it was patted down for contraband. Later, one of her fellow patients—a teenager she calls Gaylen—tries on the dress, swanning around the living quarters.
Now, eight years later, Dunham is returning to the 2026 Met Gala on her own terms—and as a member of the host committee. Still, as someone who lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Dunham is cognizant of her body’s limits. “Someone asked me in another interview, ‘Well, why are you going if you don’t enjoy it?’ I never said that I don’t enjoy it. But I think anyone who’s being honest about it—even Anna or the other people who are in a position of authority there—would say it’s a rodeo,” she says. “I have always loved watching it as a fan, and I’ve always loved being here.”
Dunham has written about her experience with chronic pain for Vogue—including about her decision to have a hysterectomy at 31 years old. “Anna knew a lot of what I was going through physically, because I shared it in the magazine,” she says. “This year was a bit of a vote of confidence. I felt like they were saying, ‘We see you’re feeling better. You’re in your body. You can do this.’ It’s an honor to be invited, and I want to rise to the occasion when I can.”
And rise to the occasion she did in Valentino by Alessandro Michele. “I wrote him a long, elaborate fan letter about what his work means to me,” Dunham says. “I was lucky enough that he responded and said that he was up for the task.”
Dunham and Michele used one of her favorite artists, the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, as a jumping-off point. They zeroed in on the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes, which was painted circa 1620. “I shared that inspiration with Alessandro, but because his brain works in the most magical ways, rather than leaning into the Renaissance garments or the swords or any of it, he was attracted to a particular blood spatter on the neck of Holofernes,” she says.
While Michele initially offered a few straightforward interpretations of the painting, Dunham gravitated toward his more abstract interpretation: an asymmetrical red silk georgette dress embroidered with sequins and crow’s feathers that line the dress like a boa. “Obviously, that’s what I was going to choose,” she says. “I love how playful he is while also having this incredible amount of technical skill, and also having a sense of humor and also taking things very seriously. I feel this dress embodies all of it.”
While Dunham is a longtime fan—and wearer—of Michele’s work, the two had never collaborated until now. This isn’t the first time they’ve crossed paths, though; she recalls meeting the designer in an elevator at the 2019 Met Gala. “He was holding one of the 3D-printed Jared Leto heads. I asked to take a picture with the head, and he had absolutely no problem with that,” Dunham says. “So I knew that he was a fun-times guy, but it’s been a total dream working with him and all of the people who work in his atelier.”
Plus, she adds: “There’s nothing wrong with being dressed by a group of beautiful Roman men.”
Here, Lena Dunham brings Vogue along as she gets ready for the 2026 Met Gala.
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