The Real VIPs at the 2026 Met Gala? The Train Handlers

There are approximately 450 guests at the Met Gala each year—and almost as many people working behind the scenes. Included in that group? The handlers who escort all the night’s starry attendees from the tunnel to the red carpet—and are charged with straightening, carrying, and otherwise looking after the night’s many, many trains.

Blake Lively, the unofficial queen of the Met Gala, made a triumphant return to the carpet with a 13-foot train that required a team of four to help her exit her Sprinter van. Elsewhere, Madonna’s Saint Laurent look came with a set of seven ladies in waiting who trailed the singer from the car to the top of the Met steps.

In fact, people ljke Condé Nast’s SVP of Talent, Alison Ward Frank, the team at Karla Otto, and Vogue staffers were on standby at the entrance to the tunnel and under the tent for just this purpose: that is, to avoid any trainwrecks.

Below, a roundup of our favorite behind-the-scenes fashion moments.