The 2025 Met Gala Theme—Superfine: Tailoring Black Style
By Aya Dlaku
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the Costume Institute’s exhibition theme for 2025 as “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”. Seeing as the men’s Met Gala looks have been mostly disappointing, this theme could not have come at a more perfect time.
The theme was inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. It will emphasise black men’s style with regard to dandyism from the 1800s until present day. Alongside Anna Wintour, the co-chairs for this Met Gala are fashionable black men in pop culture, including A$AP Rocky, Colam Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, and Pharrell Williams, with the honourary chair given to LeBron James.
The dandy is a man that uses their outward appearance to define themselves in the world of art and literature through personal grooming, style, and elegant behaviour. Miller’s book talks about the history and cultural significance of the black dandy. It explores how the black dandies, having emerged from Enlightenment England, used dandyism to refine themselves to challenge societal expectations and limitations of black men at the time by cultivating an identity and presence in the artistic spheres. This theme is one of the most significant Met Gala themes as it challenges societal expectations and ideas of masculinity and race.
The co-chairs of this Met Gala could not have been more perfectly picked. Each man shows qualities of the black dandy and challenges society’s expectations in their own ways through their involvement in the fashion industry. Pharrell and A$AP have been two of the most credited men in the music industry for their decades-long influences in fashion through personal style and involvement in the industry. Colman Domingo’s red-carpet looks have been nothing short of bold and magnificent, making him one of Hollywood’s best dressed men. When he is not dominating the F1 tracks, Lewis Hamilton graces the streets and fashion shows with tastefully curated style. LeBron’s influence in the male-dominated sphere of basketball allows him to sway the sports world into the fashion world. This makes him the perfect honorary chair, as he can build the bridge for challenging society’s ideas of what it means to be masculine.
This theme might bring about avant-garde pieces and looks inspired by period and historical aesthetics and silhouettes, such as tailored coats, corsets, and vintage fabrics, but modernised. I hope to also see pop culture references to modern day black dandies who influenced men’s fashion today such as Andre 3000, Fela Kuti, Dennis Rodman, and Dapper Dan. Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton 2021 Fall Menswear is also a fitting collection to pay homage to. The standards for men will be set high as now they have no excuse to not show up (in the fashionable sense).