Devyn Garcia’s 2026 Met Gala Debut Is Rooted in Family History

Devyn Garcia had a case of the first-time jitters before hitting the Met Gala red carpet—and, really, who wouldn’t? “Before the fitting, I was just thinking about all these celebrities that will be there, what happens in there,” the model told Vogue in the lead up to the 2026 Met Gala. “Plus, I’m still a little frazzled by the stairs.”

Luckily, Garcia put her nerves to rest with help from one Michael Kors. “He made it sound easy and relaxed—not this hyped-up thing in my head,” she says.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

It certainly helps that Garcia and Kors go way back: the model appeared in several of the designer’s shows—as has her mother, Jennie Pickens. “My mom walked in his show back in the ’90s,” she says. “They pulled up videos of it!” The significance isn’t lost on Kors, either, who considers Garcia’s first Met “a full circle moment.” He adds: “It’s a privilege to dress different generations of women and to continue the evolution of timeless style.”

Inspired by the nude body subsection of the “Costume Art” exhibition, Kors designed a dress meant to mimic Garcia’s own form. “To highlight her fabulous curves and her confident strength, I designed a trompe l’oeil viscose jacquard crystal-embellished column that allows one to leave the house naked yet fully dressed,” Kors says. Or, as Garcia said with a laugh: “Everything is placed pretty much where my bits are.”

Courtesy of Michael Kors

The fitting process was breezy, thanks to Garcia’s longstanding relationship with Kors. But that didn’t mean it was without surprises: The model was initially supposed to wear an entirely different dress, but Kors arrived with a full-length version of the trompe l’oeil dress—originally her intended after-party dress—in tow. As soon as she tried it on, “everyone’s faces lit up,” she says. “I was astonished.”

“It fit like a glove. That is always a very nice feeling, especially when you’re not sample-sized,” Garcia says. “Like, wow, these people really took their time and measurements and heart and made a sketch of my body, and it fit perfectly. That’s a really, really good feeling.”

Here, Devyn Garcia brings Vogue along as she gets ready for the 2026 Met Gala.