A room in New York City with black walls and dim lighting showcased a collection of displays that highlighted the rich history and fashion behind the Met Gala’s 2025 theme: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts the Met Gala annually on the first Monday of May as a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, which selects the theme. Many known celebrities walk the red carpet and strive for fashion excellence at the invitation-only event.
The museum exhibition typically begins a few days after the event and runs through September, but this year it was extended through Oct. 27, likely due to the theme’s success and demand. Although the exhibition has officially joined a history of more than 50 past themes, here is a recap of this year’s theme’s impact over the last several months.
“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” based on the concept of black dandyism, represents the evolution of black fashion elegance and cultural identity over 300 years, according to the Met Museum website. It celebrates black designers and focuses on men’s fashion, featuring many tailored suits within the exhibition.
“In the 18th-century Atlantic world, a new culture of consumption, fueled by the slave trade, colonialism, and imperialism, enabled access to clothing and goods that indicated wealth, distinction, and taste,” The Met Museum website stated. “Black dandyism sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions.”
Met Gala attendees were given the dress code “Tailored for You,” which led to a creative variety of suits, sharply fitted dresses, accessories with cultural references, and other looks that embraced the depth of black dandyism.
The Met Gala Host Committee included many influential names from entertainment, athletics, and the arts, including USHER, Spike Lee, Simone Biles, Tyla, Dapper Dan, and Doechii.
“I’m beyond excited to stand with my fellow Host Committee members in supporting The Met and this year’s spring Costume Institute exhibition, celebrating the undeniable impact of Black creativity on fashion and culture for centuries,” said Host Committee member and track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson. “Our style isn’t just what we wear — it’s how we move, how we own our space, how we tell our story without saying a word.”
Beyond the event, the Costume Institute’s exhibition on the theme leaves a legacy that goes beyond fashion. The exhibition, inspired by Zora Neale Hurston’s 1934 essay “Characteristics of Negro Expression,” was divided into 12 sections that embodied black dandyism: ownership, presence, distinction, disguise, freedom, champion, respectability, jook, heritage, beauty, cool, and cosmopolitanism.
Displays in the exhibition featured mannequins wearing clothing that highlighted the theme, as well as objects, photographs, videos, and artwork that showcased centuries of black history.
“Dandyism can seem frivolous, but it often poses a challenge to or a transcendence of social and cultural hierarchies,” said Guest Curator Monica L. Miller. “It asks questions about identity, representation, and mobility in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, and power. The exhibition explores this concept as both a pronouncement and a provocation.”
Although the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” era has ended, it leaves a lasting impact through the artists who created the exhibition, the public figures involved in the Met Gala, and all the visitors from around the world who traveled to see the artistry and history behind black dandyism.