4 Years Later, Iconic 'California Gurls' Singer Returned to the Met Gala in a Striking Mirrored Mask
She's back.
After four years off the steps, Katy Perry returned to the Met Gala on Monday night for the first time since 2022, walking the "Fashion Is Art" carpet in a custom Stella McCartney look that doubled as a full art piece.
The 41-year-old "California Gurls" singer wore a clean white gown with matching opera gloves. The showstopper was the accessory: a silver mirrored face mask trimmed with white mesh, fully covering her face and shaped like a futuristic fencer's helmet.
A Return 4 Years in the Making
Perry last walked the Met Gala carpet in 2022, wearing a black-and-white Oscar de la Renta gown for the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" theme. She skipped the next three years, including 2025, when a fake AI-generated photo of her at the Met Gala went viral and she had to clarify on Instagram that she wasn't actually there.
Her absence in 2023 sparked similar questions, with the singer responding through Instagram posts at the time.
About the Stella McCartney Look
The 2026 Met Gala dress code, "Fashion Is Art," asked guests to treat the body as canvas and reference art history through dressing. Perry's mirrored mask, which fully hides her face, turns her into a moving sculpture instead of a celebrity in a gown.
It's a sharp turn from her past Met Gala swings, like the giant Moschino chandelier she wore in 2019 (and the hamburger costume she famously switched into for the after-party), or the towering Versace angel wings she walked in for 2018's "Heavenly Bodies" theme. Perry has long treated the Met Gala as performance art. Monday's silver mask is the first time she's picked total anonymity over spectacle.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 4:16 PM.