The theme of the 2025 Met Gala has been revealed as Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
The Costume Institute’s spring exhibition and accompanying gala fund-raiser event, which stands as the exhibition's official opening, will be a closer look at how style has been central to the construction of black identity in the Atlantic diaspora, and the importance of clothing from its earliest depictions of dandyism in the 18th century to the present day.
The theme draws on the 2009 book by Monica L Miller, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. Miller herself will co-curate the show alongside the institute's head curator, Andrew Bolton. Miller is also chair and professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University.
This is the institute's first exhibition dedicated to black fashion, and its first focus on menswear since the Men in Skirts show in 2003. The museum has faced criticism for being Eurocentric, and in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, has made efforts to present a more balanced collection, acquiring more than 150 pieces by designers who are black, indigenous and people of colour.
Centred around the dandy – men for whom physical appearance and personal grooming is paramount – this exhibition will examine how myriad black fashion cultures have developed and thrived over the past 300 years, in turn helping to define black identity in a country where the wider community was oppressed and downtrodden. The influence of black fashion and music on American culture is thought to have been long underreported, but this exhibition aims to redress the narrative.
Speaking at the announcement, Bolton explained that the show “marks a really important step in our commitment to diversifying our exhibitions and collections, as well as redressing some of the historical biases within our curatorial practice”.
Miller described how clothing has historically been used by black men as “a strategy and a tool to rethink identity; to reimagine the self in a different context; to really push a boundary especially during the time of enslavement; and to really push a boundary on who and what counts as human, even”.
The exhibition will “illustrate how black people transformed from being enslaved and stylised as luxury items, acquired like any other signifier of wealth and status, to autonomous self-fashioning individuals who are global trendsetter,” Miller explained.
The exhibition, like Miller's book, promises to be an in-depth look at how black fashion – from the cut of a garment to how a look is put together, and how communities coalesce around a certain style – has developed distinctive languages, and exist outside of the more traditional sphere of white fashion.
In choosing this theme, the Met Gala is offering black designers an opportunity to wheel out fantastical looks that will be seen the world over. However, given the historical injustice towards black communities, especially within the US where the exhibition is being held – the segregation of black and white people was enshrined in law until July 1964 – the theme raises the spectre of cultural appropriation, with many taking to social media to express their fears.
Image consultant Paris Chea commented on an Instagram post shared by Vogue announcing the theme, “Please do this properly! Do not make a mockery of something so important! If you are not sure how to come properly with the theme, just wear a nice suit or gown! Ask somebody! Hire a stylist who understands the theme.”
On the same post, designer Zavier Jones wrote: "Love the theme however I wonder if they will use black (American, African, UK) designers this year so many have been looked over." While author Geneva S Thomas welcomed the theme, commenting: "Black style through history has had an immeasurable influence on global fashion identity and commercialism. This Met Gala theme is wildly overdue."
The dandy is already a fixture at the Met Gala. In 2019, Billy Porter arrived dressed in head-to-toe gold. In 2023, Lil Nas X was covered in crystals at the Sleeping Beauty-themed event. In 2021, ASAP Rocky wore an oversized handmade quilt for the show, themed In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. By turning the spotlight on dandyism, the 2025 show is expected to be a fascinating journey through zoot suits, velvet and brocade over the past 300 years.
The honorary co-chairs for the 2025 Met Gala have also unveiled and, aside from Vogue's Anna Wintour, they are all men. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton; rapper ASAP Rocky; rapper, producer and Louis Vuitton menswear designer Pharrell Williams; basketball player LeBron James; and actor Colman Domingo will co-chair the event.
Hamilton wrote on Instagram of feeling honoured. “This theme speaks to me deeply. When I started my career I never imagined what I might be capable of beyond my sport. The pressure to conform holds so many people back. Growing up as the only black kid on the track, so often that pressure got to me. Expressing myself creatively was and still is my freedom from that conformity. For black people across the diaspora, fashion is self-preservation. Fashion is resilience, and I can’t wait to further explore and amplify our underrepresented voices.”
Every year, the Met Gala is hosted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on the first Monday of May. In 2025, this will be May 5.
