By Chavie Lieber
Among all the fashion labels worn by stars on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night, two brands seemed out of place: Gap and Zara.
Kendall Jenner wore a flowing, Greek-inspired cotton gown by GapStudio, a premium line the company debuted last year. Bad Bunny wore a black custom tuxedo from Zara (and prosthetics that made him look elderly, seemingly a nod to the "aging bodies" section of the "Costume Art" exhibit the gala feted). Stevie Nicks wore a blue Zara gown with jewelry from Tiffany & Co.
These pieces didn't come off the rack. Gap's creations were by Zac Posen, a veteran red-carpet designer who joined the company in 2024. The Zara gown worn by Nicks was from John Galliano, the French fashion legend who signed a two-year creative partnership with the Spanish fast-fashion giant in March.
Still, that two mass mall brands found prime placement on A-listers during fashion's biggest night signals a power shift at the Met Gala, and within fashion at large, highlighting which companies have the funds to pay for the spotlight right now.
"Budgets have been slashed -- that is the reality," said Todd Shemarya, chief executive and founder of a commercial talent agency that represents celebrities for brand endorsements.
Fashion labels typically foot the bill for creating the Met's costly red-carpet looks, but some are scaling back because they can't afford every major occasion. "They are trying to figure out where their payoffs are. Is it the Oscars, the Met, Cannes?" said Shemarya.
Saint Laurent, a Kering-owned sponsor of this year's event, dressed over a dozen celebrities. Some other luxury brands were noticeably sparse on this year's red carpet. Gucci, which has been hit with a multiyear sales slump, dressed two stars -- the same number as fast-fashion giant Zara.
Inditex, Zara's Spanish parent company, in March reported 21.8 billion pounds in sales in 2025. Along with investing in a couturier like Galliano, it is showing it can also dress stars like Nicks and Bad Bunny, who wore Zara for his Super Bowl halftime show as well.
"Zara's got deep pockets," said Shemarya. He said such an investment pays off because when fashion from accessible brands shows up on the red carpet, it "becomes much more exciting for everyone else, and not just the small percentage of people who can afford the fashion houses." A spokeswoman for Zara declined to comment.
Gap also has newly generated profits. In 2023 it sought a brand revival by hiring former Mattel executive Richard Dickson, who tapped Posen as executive vice president and creative director. New celebrity collaborations helped lift Gap sales 8% in the fourth quarter of 2025. A shirt dress Posen designed for Anne Hathaway last year eventually went on sale for $158 and sold out.
Posen said the Gap's presence on a buzzy red carpet like the Met Gala was to make the retailer "top of mind."
"Couture houses that made perfumes? That was a stretch. You look at it now and it's not surprising. Brands need to have range," the designer said in an interview. Gap has a history of red-carpet appearances, dating back to 1996, when Sharon Stone wore a black Gap shirt to the Oscars. Posen said the strategy is part of Gap's comeback plan. "It's about the infinite possibilities" of the garment, he said. "A Gap T-shirt can be taken to elevations."
Posen said Gap wouldn't recreate Jenner's exact Met Gala dress, but said he could see the company making some variation of the dress into "an amazing top."
It's not the first time shopping-mall brands have dressed stars for the Met Gala. Gap created a dress for the actress Laura Harrier last year. H&M dressed several stars in 2024 as well; a decade ago, Topshop was dressing models too. A spot on the Met Gala red carpet can "shift their reputation," said Wenny Milzfort, co-creator of the Brazil-based fashion Instagram archive Check The Tag.
To get a better sense of who has power at the Met Gala, you can also look at who bought tables. Tickets to the gala cost $100,000 a seat and tables started at $350,000. As the luxury market is squeezed, players outside the high-end fashion industry have stepped in to fill a party that was once populated with more elite brands. Amazon, which Jeff Bezos worked hard to solidify as a fashion industry partner, bought a table at the Met Gala. The tech company sponsored the event in 2012. Other tables this year went to OpenAI and Meta, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg attended with his wife, Priscilla Chan.
ShopMy, a tech affiliate company used by fashion influencers, also bought a table at this year's gala. The shopping platform boasts a $1.5 billion valuation and over 350,000 monthly users.
Alexa Chung, the British TV and fashion personality, was among ShopMy's guests. Chung wore Dior and shared images of her green gown with her 6.2 million Instagram followers. The link in her digital bio directs her fans to her ShopMy page.
Write to Chavie Lieber at Chavie.Lieber@WSJ.com
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Spain's Inditex reported 28.1 billion euros in net sales at its flagship Zara brand for fiscal-year 2025. "How Mall Brands Won Big at the Met Gala," published at 9 p.m. ET, incorrectly said the parent company, Inditex, reported 21.8 billion pounds in sales for 2025.
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John Galliano is British. "How Mall Brands Won Big at the Met Gala," at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, incorrectly said he was French.
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May 06, 2026 12:58 ET (16:58 GMT)
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