We are less than a week away from the 2025 Met Gala. Held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Met Gala isn’t just fashion’s biggest night out—it’s an extravagant celebration of history, artistry, identity, and, yes, outrageous glamour. And 2025’s theme? Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
Let’s break down everything you need to know about this year’s Met from the co-chairs, exhibition intel, and the exact kind of tailoring that’ll turn heads on the Met steps.
So, When’s This All Going Down?
Set your alarms for Monday, May 5, 2025, because that’s when the style stars align. The Met Gala always lands on the first Monday in May, and this year it celebrates an exhibition that feels both timely and timeless: a deep dive into Black dandyism, spanning from the 18th century to now.
Yes, we’re talking about centuries of style as resistance, elegance as expression, and tailoring as a tool for empowerment.
The Theme: Superfine Sophistication
The Costume Institute’s 2025 theme is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, a nod to the quiet radicalism and enduring elegance of Black dandyism across generations.
Guest curator Monica Miller, Chair of Africana Studies at Barnard College, brings her brilliant mind (and sharp eye) to the table. Her groundbreaking 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity forms the backbone of the show. And if you’re wondering what Black dandyism is exactly—Miller defines it as a “strategy and a tool to rethink identity…to really push a boundary on who and what counts as human.”
This isn’t just fashion—it’s fashion as resistance, redefinition, and renaissance.
Dress Code: Tailored for You
Tailoring is having a moment—and not just any tailoring. This year’s dress code is ‘Tailored for You’, and I couldn’t love that wording more if I tried. It implies a personal connection to fit, silhouette, meaning, and history. And it hints that we’ll see some serious custom pieces that dig into identity, craftsmanship, and heritage.
Expect experimental suiting, exaggerated proportions, divine draping, and sharp silhouettes that reference and remix everything from Edwardian dandyism to Harlem zoot suits.
This is the year where lapels speak louder than logos—and where Black designers and creatives take their place at the heart of fashion history.
Meet the 2025 Co-Chairs
Let’s talk power players. The 2025 Met Gala co-chairs are a fabulous, fearless foursome: Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, and A$AP Rocky. They’ll be flanking the omnipresent Anna Wintour and honorary co-chair LeBron James.
Could you dream up a more stylish or self-possessed lineup? Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, called them men “who take advantage of classic forms but also remix them and break them down.” Exactly the vibe this year demands.
Pharrell’s LV era is already rewriting luxury menswear. Colman Domingo has been eating the red carpet with regal precision. Lewis Hamilton is a fashion week fixture in bold designer pieces. And A$AP Rocky? He’s a style shapeshifter.
The Host Committee? Iconic.
The host committee reads like a dream dinner party guest list. Expect to see an art-meets-pop-culture mix of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Spike Lee, Simone Biles, Regina King, Janelle Monáe, Ayo Edebiri, Doechii, Tyla, Olivier Rousteing, Grace Wales Bonner, and the ultimate Harlem legend, Dapper Dan.
Who’s Attending the 2025 Gala?
Let’s start with a queen: Rihanna is in. She missed last year’s gala but has confirmed she’ll be making her grand return in 2025—side by side with co-chair A$AP Rocky.
And if the ‘leaked’ guest list that’s been doing the rounds is to be believed (grain of salt, always), we might also see Zendaya, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter. That’s a lot of star power—and a lot of potential slayage.
Meanwhile, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are out. TMZ reports they bowed out long before Blake’s lawsuit against It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni surfaced. Their last Met appearance in 2022 was peak gilded glamour—Blake in a transformative Versace gown, Ryan looking dashing in Ralph Lauren Purple Label. They’ll be missed, but we move.
Inside the Exhibition: A Masterclass in Meaning
Opening to the public on May 10, the Superfine exhibition is a sensory and intellectual feast. Structured around 12 characteristics of Black dandyism (inspired by Zora Neale Hurston’s 1934 essay The Characteristics of Negro Expression), the show explores identity through ownership, presence, ease, cosmopolitan-ism and more.
We’re not just talking garments. The exhibition includes film, drawings, photography, and art, as well as everything from 19th-century livery worn by enslaved people to zoot suits, and modern masterpieces by Virgil Abloh, Grace Wales Bonner, Foday Dumbuya, and of course, Pharrell himself.
Torkwase Dyson is on board to conceptualise the design, while Tanda Francis creates bespoke mannequin heads—because when you’re telling a story this personal, every detail matters. Iké Udé and Tyler Mitchell round out the artistic dream team, bringing their vision to the catalogue and presentation.
Miller’s curation doesn’t just trace Black dandyism—it contextualises it through themes of race, power, immigration, slavery, joy, aesthetics, and identity. This is Black excellence on display—not just in fashion, but in form, history, and imagination.
A Little History Lesson
The Met Gala began in 1948, thanks to fashion PR queen Eleanor Lambert, but it wasn’t until Diana Vreeland got involved in 1972 that it took on its now-legendary status. Since 1995, Anna Wintour has been the gatekeeper of the gala, shaping everything from the guest list to the seating chart to the outfits that grace the steps.
We owe her for many of the most unforgettable moments in Met history.
Iconic Looks? Too Many to Count
Where do we even start? Cher in that OG sheer Bob Mackie gown (1974). Sarah Jessica Parker punking out in tartan with Alexander McQueen (2006). Supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bündchen, and Amber Valletta delivering Versace magic.
Kim Kardashian and Michaela Coel turning Schiaparelli into art. And of course, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky stealing the show in 2023, waltzing in fashionably late like only they can.
Last Year’s Theme? A Floral Fantasy
In 2024, the Met Gala explored the theme Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, a poetic ode to the ephemeral nature of clothing. Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth were the co-chairs.
Your best dressed? Easy: Elle Fanning in architectural Balmain, Zendaya in archival Givenchy, Taylor Russell and Greta Lee in surrealist Loewe, and Mona Patel in breathtaking Iris van Herpen.
Final Thoughts?
2025 is shaping up to be one of the most meaningful and visually striking Met Galas in recent memory. It’s a celebration of culture, creativity, identity and legacy—wrapped in wool, silk, and savoir-faire. The Met steps are about to become a runway, a classroom, and a shrine, all at once.
And I, for one, will be seated—ready to analyse every seam, pleat, and hemline.
Let the countdown begin.
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