The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on 10 October that the theme for its Costume Institute show in 2025 will showcase crisp Black tailoring throughout history.
For the first time in the history of the Costume Institute, the 2025 MET Gala will exclusively feature menswear in its annual exhibit benefit, titled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
It is also a first for the show Curator in Charge, Andrew Bolton, to involve a guest curator, Monica Miller, a professor and chair of the Africana Studies at Barnard College.
According to the Costume Institute, their Spring show is heavily influenced by Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
The exhibit aims to bring its visitors on a journey to discover different figures of the Black dandy, beginning with its earliest depictions in 18th-century art continuing to modern-day representations across a wide range of mediums, such as clothing, paintings, photographs and film.
The Costume Institute said that it plans to offer a narrative that presents history and description of Black dandyism “as a discrete phenomenon that reflects broader issues of power and race in the Black diaspora.”
“Dandy” is a term usually used to describe a man who is passionate about style and sees it as a discipline.
Dandyism, on the other hand, was initially imposed on Black men during the 18th-century Europe when a trend of consumerism during the Atlantic slave trade emerged, creating fashionably dressed servants.
Historically, dandyism was an opportunity for Black men to use clothing and gesture to make their given identities their own, while also representing political and social implications of their time.
The 2025 MET Gala also has a fitting line up of co-chairs, with Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour, alongside honorary chair LeBron James, working together for the 2025 Met Gala.
The men are known to be icons of Black dandyism with each having their own influence on style, setting the course for men’s fashion.
“Fashion for me has been like air in your lungs,” Hamilton said in a video posted by the Costume Institute, announcing him as part of the co-chairs for the gala. “For me to be able to express myself in the way I look and have confidence, historically black men have used it as protection, but over time you’ll be able to express yourself with dignity and courage.”
As part of the fundraising for the funding of the Costume Institute activities, they hold the Met Gala, also known as the Costume Institute Benefit or the Met Ball, which is annually held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City each spring.
It is the most anticipated fashion event of the year as celebrities, personalities and influencers walk up the steps of the museum showcasing their best interpretation of that year’s theme.
The last MET Gala was held with the theme “Garden of Time,” where iconic looks, such as singer Tyla’s Balmain sand sculpture dress, graced the red carpet.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style will run from 10 May to 26 October 2025 following the Met Gala on 5 May.