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With the 2026 Met Gala just around the corner, trend forecaster and content creator Mandy Lee is ready to see the 'Costume Art' theme come to life.
"You can interpret that theme in a million, billion different ways," Lee said. "There's so much to work with."
Article continues belowOne of the exhibition themes that Lee is the most excited to see on the red carpet is pregnancy.
"I'm so thrilled that there's going to be a spotlight on that," Lee said.
For the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Lee shares her Met Gala predictions, how she made the jump from working in-house as a trend forecaster to amassing a following of over 600,000 on TikTok alone, and more.
For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.
For anybody listening who hasn't heard about that, I would love if you could just give a little bit of a glimpse into how you started your career as an analyst and then now you are one of the internet's favorite fashion commentators?
I started my career working in planning and forecasting at sort of like a tech company in Boston and eventually moved into beauty.
I did the planning and forecasting for an in-house hair company here in Brooklyn.
I got laid off during the pandemic and it ended up being kind of the best thing that happened to me, because that very day, I downloaded TikTok.
I essentially just wasn't seeing the content that I wanted to see and talk about.
To be honest, I really missed analyzing trends. I really, really love that about my corporate job, so it felt like I was losing my identity when I got laid off.
I've been able to ride the wave all the way to now. I've been freelance for four years, which is something I'm so, so proud of.
I'm now signed with IMG as currently their only the fashion commentator.
I would just love to hear your takeaways from the last season in terms of what are some things that really stayed with you that kind of got you really excited from last fashion month?
For me, the overall theme of fall winter '26 was movement. With fabrics, with silhouettes.
The whole quiet luxury thing, I always hated it.
I feel like it was sort of the first instinct into recession core, but that doesn't work.
Just because you make basic clothes does not mean they're going to sell.
Unfortunately, I think Sabato's [De Sarno] Gucci was a good example of that.
Just because you're making more simple clothes does not give people an incentive just to buy them.
I think movement and texture were the huge takeaways for fall '26 and just kind of leaning more into what makes a brand stand out and really honing on different house codes and what makes a brand actually special—not just making the same white t-shirt with the logo on it.
That's not gonna fly.
What are some of your Met Gala things that you're predicting or looking forward to?
This year is costume art and I believe the dress code is art is fashion.
You can interpret that theme in a million, billion different ways. There's so much to work with.
Oh my god, I'm so excited.
A lot of the exhibition will focus on different bodies. Classical, reclaimed, pregnant, anatomical and abstract, where it's sort of the main pillars that they talked about for the exhibition, specifically.
As we know, the theme is always a little bit different than the exhibition.
To me, the exhibition leads the theme more often than not and when I get into my trend predictions, more often than not, I'll pick a few that actually end up in the exhibition.
We only get to see five ahead of time.
The one I'm most excited about I think is the pregnancy one. I'm so thrilled that there's going to be a spotlight on that.
I mean, Rihanna she went to the Met Gala. What? I think twice pregnant.
Comme [des Garçons] I hope to see a lot. I actually wore a Commes coat, because I knew bodies would be a thing and I was like, "Whoa, there's got to be some lumps and bumps here."
I think the anatomical body will be the most obvious for people. Like the Schiaparelli lung dress Bella [Hadid] wore.
Thom Browne and Schiaparelli, I think, own the carpet like almost every Met Gala. So I think we'll always have that to look forward to. Also Marc Jacobs last year? I think Marc Jacobs won the Met Gala last year. I was floored and blown away. Also Teyana Taylor will own. And I think another prediction is Olandria (Carthen) will make her debut.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.