For the fashion fraternity, very few Mondays are as significant as the first one in May. That is when the ‘Met Gala’ this held. The Gala is not just a grand event with celebrities walking down the red carpet in maximalist ensembles but a celebration of fashion history, and an attempt to preserve and honor the legacy of art and fashion on a global scale.
The Met Gala traditionally marks the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit hosted on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and is a high-brow charity event and fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year, the event will take place on May 5.
What’s the theme?
In October 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” to be on display from May 10 to October 26, 2025.
Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibit will present a cultural and historical examination of the Black dandy, from the figure’s emergence in Enlightenment Europe during the 18th century to today’s incarnations in cities around the world.
The official website of the MET further sheds light on the theme: “Historically, the term dandy was used to describe someone—often a man—who is extremely devoted to style and approaches it as a discipline. Dandyism was initially imposed on Black men in 18th-century Europe as the Atlantic slave trade and an emerging culture of consumerism created a trend of fashionably dressed, or dandified, servants. Dandyism offered Black people an opportunity to use clothing, gesture, irony, and wit to transform their given identities and imagine new ways of embodying political and social possibilities.”
In line with the theme, this year’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” is a nod to Dandyism – a stereotype-bending menswear style and code of conduct prevalent in Black culture during the 18th and 19th centuries, defined by tailored outfits and elegant and refined silhouettes. The exhibition will focus on menswear and suiting, “purposefully designed to provide guidance and invite creative interpretation.”
Who will be the co-chairs?
Vogue reports that Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour will co-chair the 2025 Met Gala. LeBron James will serve as an honorary chair.
A host committee will be set up, including names like André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Tyla, Usher, and Kara Walker.
