
The 2025 Met Gala Theme Honors Black Dandyism. We’re Already Missing the Point
Lost in the cultural appropriation discourse of the 2025 Met Gala theme is the centering of a Black woman’s scholarship.
he 2025 Met Gala Theme Honors Black Dandyism. We’re Already Missing the Point
7 minute read
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art andVogue announced the next theme for the 2025 Met Gala—“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, based on scholar Monica L. Miller’s pivotal text, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity—the reaction was one of delight—and also of trepidation.
At the forefront of everyone’s mind was André Leon Talley. The late fashion editor, known for his revolutionary career in fashion, embodied the aesthetic and spirit of the Black Dandy. In the comments section of Vogue’s Instagram post about the announcement, many social media users called the theme a tribute to him. Others brought up Dapper Dan, the legendary Harlem fashion designer, who brought hip-hop to luxury fashion, through his custom-made looks, as another example of Black Dandyism.
Not all users expressed joy, though. Calls for The Kardashians to be banned from the Met Gala, as well as frustration over the lack of a female co-chair, were found among the comments of fashion watchdog Instagram Diet Prada’s post about the announcement. In an article for The New York Post, one user said, “It saddens me that there will be very few African American fashion houses able to display their art.”

In recent years, efforts have been made to display Black fashion in cultural institutions throughout the United States. From 2023’s “Africa Fashion” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum to “Africa’s Fashion Diaspora” at the Fashion Institute of Technology, museums are in the process of diversifying their collections on display. According to Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, diversity efforts began in the summer of 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd. “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” is Bolton’s and the Met’s first attempt at putting those changes into place.
Miller describes Black Dandyism 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, to really push a boundary on who and what counts as human, even.”
Agency, autonomy, and choice are quintessential to the Black Dandy. Despite its origins being rooted in enslavement, this imposed dress code on Black men also was born out of a revolt against the dissolution of choice. Their dress was often something that was decided by their enslaver, with no consideration of how they would like to show up in the world. But, as Miller notes, through their “clothing, gesture, and wit,” the Black Dandy was able to traverse and name oneself. An act of creation through garments and clothes.

“When it comes to Black Dandyism, it has the element of going against the norm of what society thinks Black people should be wearing,” says Lakyn Carlton, personal stylist.“I think Cam Newton is the highest level of Dandy. Masculine men, athletes, men whose persona is to be this idea of male excellence should push against that rigidness.” She lists Young Thug, who made headlines for his decision to wear an Alessandro Trincone dress on the cover of his mixtape, JEFFREY, in 2016, as another prime example of Black Dandyism.
Kim Russell, a Perth-based stylist, fashion historian, and critic, mentions Dennis Rodman as another example of Black Dandyism. On Instagram, she recently wrote, “Dennis Rodman is one of my biggest inspirations for this time because while he is a modern representation, there’s still boundaries and glaring issues around racism, sexuality, and expression in regard to Black men. He’s constantly pushed the boundaries of how we perceive a Black man in sports to be.”
Perception is key to not only understand the 2025 Met Gala theme, but also what the institution is trying to achieve with it. This is the first menswear-focused exhibition since 2003’s “Men In Skirts.” And, until this point in the Met’s history, there has never been an exhibition centered on race.
