Amy Sherald, the artist known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, co-chaired the 2026 Met Gala and wore a custom dress by Thom Browne directly inspired by her 2013 painting *Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)*. The black-and-white dress with starry polka dots and a tilted red hat replicated the outfit in the painting, which was itself inspired by *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*. Sherald, attending her second Met Gala but first as a committee member, described Browne as uniquely able to translate her work into a garment that gives the painting another life.
The appearance matters because it highlights the growing crossover between visual art and fashion, with Sherald treating the Met Gala theme 'Fashion Is Art' literally. It also draws attention to her upcoming traveling exhibition *American Sublime*, which opens at Atlanta's High Museum of Art in May 2026 and has already been shown at SF MoMA, the Whitney Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Additionally, a theatrical exploration of her paintings will debut at New York's Public Theater in June, underscoring Sherald's expanding influence beyond the canvas.