NEW YORK – The brightest stars in Hollywood, music, sports and style – led by Beyonce, Madonna and Nicole Kidman – hit the red carpet on May 4 for the Met Gala, the Manhattan charity ball that doubles as fashion’s biggest night.

The A-listers were asked to dress for the theme Fashion Is Art, which dovetails with the exhibit Costume Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

And while not everyone followed the guidelines to the letter, the gala – traditionally held on the first Monday in May – certainly delivered as one of the world’s top red carpets, with blinding star power.

Beyonce, one of the event’s co-chairs who was making her first appearance in a decade, was one of the last to arrive. But she did not disappoint, stunning the crowd in a bejewelled skeleton gown topped with a dramatic feather coat and a headpiece.

Her rap mogul husband Jay-Z – in a tuxedo with tails – and daughter Blue Ivy Carter, in a white strapless gown and sparkling heels – joined her.

Earlier, the singer’s fellow co-chairs, tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidm...