Superfine

Monday 5th May is Met Monday and I am super excited! Each year, the Met Gala is held on the first Monday in May. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Met Gala is a fashion, charity fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, organised by Vogue. Around 450 celebrities and influencers from a variety of areas attend every year and make a financial contribution in order to attend. For the 2024 Met Gala, this was a whopping $75,000 per seat. Another prominent factor of the event is that there is a different theme to which the attendees must base their outfits. For example, last year, the theme was ‘Garden of Time’ and the year before that had the theme ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ to honour the late German designer. The event raises 8-figure sums each year, as well as being a very entertaining red carpet for fashion lovers, celebrities’ followers or just curious people like me!

Today’s blog is the first part of my Met Gala blog duology. It is going to focus on the history behind this year’s theme, what it means for the fashion industry moving forward and what I am most excited for. I hope you enjoy!

This year’s theme is ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. It is drawing inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s book, ‘Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity’ (2009). Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams are the four hosts who will be alongside Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue. These are all ‘prominent Black men who have excelled in their respective industries’ (Gavin, 2025) and who will be the face of the Met Gala and therefore, hopefully the powerful messages that are delivered as part of the theme of Black Dandyism.

To give a brief background to what Black dandyism is, it is described as being about ‘identity, power, and resistance. In a world where Black people have been marginalised, the dandy became a figure who defied the rigid categories of race and class that sought to confine them (Ty Gaskins). It is explained that ‘for the dandy, fashion was a vehicle for both self-expression and a subtle form of rebellion against societal norms’ and that for Black dandyism, the rebellious streak has higher stakes (Ty Gaskins). 

I think that Ty Gaskins does well to connect the history and meaning of Black Dandyism to the Met Gala and how the theme may be used to express the history behind the term. He stated in a Vogue article that ‘this year’s theme is a direct acknowledgement of the influence that Black culture, particularly Black fashion, has had on shaping the broader fashion landscape.’ He continued, ‘The exhibition will explore how dandyism in Black culture is not just a matter of dress, but an assertion of autonomy, beauty, and power in the face of a world that continues to attempt to restrict Black expression.’ Miller, the author of the book, supported this in a statement to Vogue, which reads, ‘(Dandyism) asks questions about identity, representation, and mobility in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, and power. This exhibition explores dandyism as both a pronouncement and a provocation.” 

When Gaskins stated that this year’s Met Gala theme, in essence, is fighting back against the culture of ‘restricting Black expression’, this stood out to me. Over time, racism has been prominent and fought against. The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 and grew hugely following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Its presence across media remains prominent, with discussions around human rights for ethnic minorities and other minority groups often seen to be taking the forefront on social media, in the news and in general conversations. Therefore, having this theme for the 2025 Met Gala feels relevant and extremely important for the fashion industry and beyond. To provide several popular and well-known celebrities with an opportunity to express autonomy, power, identity and beauty in a way that will be noticed by so many people across the world is amazing in my opinion. Whether you are an avid watcher of the Met Gala or have never found it cross your mind, you are likely to see pictures and videos of the event across social media, news articles and papers. To use this platform to try and bring about positive change and to call out injustice in societies all over the world, I think, is bold and smart. It is the perfect opportunity to say something, as previous Met Galas have allowed celebrities to do in different ways (AOC’s ‘tax the rich’ dress, for example), when the world is looking at them and their outfits. As well as the scale of the event and the guarantee that in some format, most people will see coverage of the Met Gala, the fact that celebrities are the attendees is also significant when thinking about delivering a message to the public. ‘Celebrity worship’ is a concept that has been around for a long time, but has accelerated as social media has grown and become more accessible. ‘Celebrity worship’ is the act of looking up to and ‘worshipping’ celebrities, following their lives online and copying them as they are seen to be ‘perfect’ and are idolised. People ‘worship’ celebrities because they desire to be better and perfect like them. Obviously celebrities are not perfect and what is shown on social media is a very fabricated version of them. However, ‘celebrity worship’ is very prevalent. Therefore, when they are given the opportunity to speak out on social issues like racism in this instance, there is a significant amount of power involved. Boon and Lomore talk about the relationship that can be formed between celebrities and their fans, explaining that celebrities have the power to alter the attitudes of the fans and their behaviours and values to emulate their own (2001). In the case of the Met Gala, I believe that if the celebrities take the theme seriously and come up with a concept that delivers a message about Black dandyism and the growth of the Black fashion industry, their fans will see this and take on board similar attitudes which may lead to greater change. In previous Met Gala’s, it hasn’t always been clear how the theme has been used in the fashion decisions that have been made but hopefully it is clearer with a theme as important as this. 

It is disappointing that the only charity that is being donated to is the Met Costume Institute, not others which support ethnic minorities like the Black Voters Matter Fund for example. However, having high profile celebrities attend and have the opportunity to express the theme of Black dandyism how they see fit is significant. I believe it could lead to positive change due to the huge platform that the Met Gala has, as well as the impact of fans and celebrity worship. 

I am intrigued and excited to see how the attendees interpret this theme and what sort of messages will be behind their choices. 

To end off this blog, I thought I would mention a few of the celebrities that I am particularly excited to see. Billie Eilish has such a unique style and has worn really interesting pieces to previous Met Gala’s which makes me look forward to seeing her look this year. I enjoy watching the Met Gala, and I am looking forward to this year, particularly because of the theme and what conversations might arise from the celebrities' interpretations. 

See you next time when we catch up after the event!! Who are you excited to see? Thank you for reading.