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From surreal couture selfies to viral ‘Pet Gala’ looks, AI is blurring the line between fashion fantasy and artistic authenticity—and not everyone is celebrating the illusion

All eyes will always be on the First Monday of May every year. The Met Gala has always been a gaudy spectacle, but there’s an insurgent new guest on the red carpet this year that has raised the stakes for authenticity for all: AI. Within minutes of arrivals, social feeds flooded with AI-generated Met Gala portraits: people reimagining themselves in exaggerated Thom Browne tailoring, surreal crystal-veiled gowns, futuristic dandyism, and couture silhouettes.

Everyone’s At The Met Gala

The explosion of AI-generated Met Gala imagery says less about technology itself and more about what fashion culture has become online. “Social media has fundamentally changed the relationship people have with events like the Met Gala,” says clinical psychologist Dr Aanya Mehra. “People no longer feel like spectators. There is now an expectation of participation. AI tools allow users to symbolically enter spaces they could never physically access.”

Every year, timelines pause for celebrity reveals, outfit dissections, meme cycles, and discourse about who understood the theme and who missed it entirely. Not participating can almost feel like missing a global inside joke. For many users, however, these AI-generated Met Gala portraits are not necessarily about deception, but about playful self-expression and imaginative participation. The trend has allowed people to creatively insert themselves into one of fashion’s most exclusive cultural moments, even if only digitally.