Tommy Hilfiger Teases "Big Surprises" at Met Gala 2026

He's so gorgeous, we can't say anything to Joe Alwyn's face.

After all, the Hamnet actor made his first Met Gala appearance in 10 years, hitting the red carpet for the 2026 event in honor of the “Costume Art” exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Joe looked dapper as he posed on the steps outside of the Met in a taupe tunic and black trousers, letting his gold cummerbund take center stage. He finished off his look for the “Fashion Is Art” dress code with some subtle rose-colored makeup around his eyes. (See all the stars at the Met Gala here.)

The 35-year-old had fans speculating that he would be making his Met Gala return this year after he was spotted leaving The Mark Hotel—where tons of celebrities get ready every year for fashion's biggest night—in the days ahead of the May 4 event.

As for the Met Gala’s significance to Joe? Well, while he last attended in 2016 alongside his Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk costar Garrett Hedlund, it was that evening where his six-year romance with Taylor Swift allegedly began. 

“As everyone knows, we together—both of us, mutually—decided to keep the more private details of our relationship private,” Joe told The Sunday Times in 2024. “It was never something to commodify and I see no reason to change that now.”

He emphasized, “There is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said. I have made my peace with that.”

For Taylor's part, while she has mostly addressed their six-year relationship through her songwriting, she did offer some rare comments on her 2023 splits from Joe and Matty Healy in the Eras Tour: End of an Era documentary series.

“There were points in this tour where the tour was really the only thing keeping me going in my life,” Taylor admitted in the doc. "But there were never points in the tour where I thought, ‘Oh I want to quit the tour because the tour is hard.’ No, my personal life was hard."