Sam Smith has confirmed their engagement to fashion designer Christian Cowan after approximately three years together.
The 34-year-old singer referred to Cowan as their fiancé in a July 28 interview with The New York Times, providing the couple’s first direct confirmation after engagement reports emerged around the 2026 Met Gala.
Smith also revealed that their forthcoming fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, takes its title from Cowan’s eye color. Its opening song, “Everlasting Love,” began the night before their first date and became the first song Smith had written about love being returned.
The couple has not revealed how the proposal happened or announced any wedding plans.
Smith Confirmed the Engagement After Months of Reports
Reports that Smith and Cowan were engaged first appeared on May 5, one day after they attended the 2026 Met Gala together. Page Six reported that the couple had been overheard discussing their engagement at the Mark Hotel before leaving for the event. Cowan also wore a large square-cut yellow diamond ring on his left hand, further fueling speculation.
Smith’s new interview provides the first direct confirmation from either of them, with People subsequently reporting that the couple is officially engaged. Smith and Cowan now live in New York. Although both grew up near Cambridge, England, and lived approximately 10 minutes apart, they did not meet until connecting online years later.
‘Everlasting Love’ Began Before Their First Date
Hazel Eyes is scheduled for release on August 21 through Capitol Records UK. Smith’s official store describes the 12-track album as a celebration of emotional vulnerability, self-reflection and artistic freedom, with New York serving as an important part of its setting.
The album opens with “Everlasting Love,” which Smith began writing on the evening before their first date with Cowan. Smith said the song represented a significant departure from the heartbreak that has shaped much of their previous work because it was the first time they had written about “requited love.”
The title track was named for Cowan’s hazel eyes. The album also includes “Moondance,” featuring Feist, as well as “My Guy,” “When He’s Gone,” “Thief,” “Sugar Rush,” “Constant Companion” and “Oh Mother,” featuring The TwoCityChorus.
Previously released songs “To Be Free” and “Love Is a Stillness” also appear on the final track list. Smith created the album with longtime collaborator Simon Aldred, while Feist and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily contributed to the project.
The Couple’s Relationship Developed Around Music and Fashion
Smith and Cowan were first seen publicly together in December 2022 at the White House celebration marking the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. Cowan later created costumes for Smith’s 2023 music video for “I’m Not Here to Make Friends.”
They made their red-carpet debut as a couple at the 2024 Met Gala, arriving in coordinated black-and-white tuxedos designed by Cowan. Smith had said they intended to keep future romances private after finding that public attention could interfere with something personal.
“I think being loved by someone is such a gift for yourself,” Smith told GQ UK in 2022. “And I think my job can get in the way of that the purity of that love sometimes.”
Cowan Has Hidden Personal Details in Smith’s Met Gala Looks
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The designer used real English roses dipped in sterling silver and solid 24-karat gold as closures on their tuxedos. He told Vogue that the detail referenced a metal-plated rose he had given Smith early in their relationship.
“I always feel beautiful whenever I wear Christian’s clothes, both inside and out,” Smith said while discussing their first Met Gala appearance together. Cowan created an even more elaborate look for Smith at the 2026 Met Gala.
Inspired by fashion illustrator Erté and the opulence of the 1920s, the black ensemble contained 255,000 individual crystals and beads and required approximately 2,000 hours of hand sewing. The completed outfit weighed 52 pounds and featured a fur-trimmed silhouette with a dramatic feathered headpiece. Cowan described the design as a love letter to both Erté and Smith.