A trailblazing gala, the 2025 Met Gala will spotlight the evolution of Black dandyism and its contributions to the history of fashion. The event’s theme was unveiled on October 9 this year: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” inspired by Monica L. Miller‘s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. This spring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute will be “Looking for the Sartorial Legacy of Black Men”.The theme will examine dandyism as a prismatic lens to understand the shifting intersections of fashion, identity, and politics from the 18th century to today.
Dandyism, once a term used to refer to meticulous men who attended to their clothing, has been synonymous with black men since its term originated in the 1780s. Miller describes dandyism as “liberating slavery, freeing bondage”: a means of self-fashioning often imposed upon and adopted by Black people living with the constraints of politics and society. This show will critically discuss how Black dandyism has always shaped identity, representation, and even the wider discourse around race, class, gender, and sexuality.
From 18th-century clothing on enslaved people to modern garments exploring Black dandyism, which becomes a means of expression, this year’s exhibit will host all kinds of different historical and contemporary clothing, moving between history and current, owing to exhibits that elaborate on further concepts like ownership, juke, and cosmopolitanism. For example, the “Ownership” section will showcase an 18th century purple and gold-trimmed coat belonging to an enslaved man, exemplifying both freedom and subjection. It will chronicle the exuberance of the Zoot Suit, a sharp, exaggerated silhouette worn during the 1940s that challenged conceptions of masculinity and sexuality, referencing Malcolm X alongside other figures. Black dandyism as part of a sophisticated, interconnected Black diasporic world will heighten cultural richness and global influence in the form of Black fashion.
The show will also present important work by influencer Black designers such as Pharrell Williams, who became Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Creative Director, and Virgil Abloh, who founded Off-White; as well as other iconic style-makers who are giving modern menswear its form. The exhibition will use the participation of Black designers as a major element in its storytelling, putting Black style at the heart of menswear style innovations.
Pharrell Williams and extraordinary basketball player LeBron James join Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, and A$AP Rocky as co-chairs for the 2025 Met Gala. For Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton, these co-chairs evoke men embracing bold, risk-taking fashion choices that reimagine some of the classics, representing a pivotal moment within menswear’s current renaissance.
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The event will take place on May 5, 2025, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City at the opening of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” and will be on view from May 10 through October 26, 2025. This will be the first time since “Men in Skirts” in 2003 that the Costume Institute is devoting an entire show to menswear and chronicling how Black style has profoundly influenced fashion history.
Only time can tell of the upcoming 2025 Met Gala. We can only wait with bated breath for the announcements surrounding the dress code and the sartorial splendor that will adorn the event. We can only wait in anticipation of more announcements on how the theme will inspire the people coming to the gala to express themselves differently and more groundbreaking ways through fashion.