Tailored for Us: Inside the 2025 Met Gala’s Celebration of Black Fashion
They done f*cked around and made the Met Gala Black, in the words of Law Roach. And it was nothing short of a Black fashion renaissance.
The 2025 Met Gala, held on May 5th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, was a culture-shifting moment. With co-chairs Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams, and LeBron James serving as honorary chair, Black presence wasn’t just included, it led with intention.
This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” honored the rich legacy and radical self-expression of the Black Dandy, a figure rooted in resistance, refinement, and redefinition.
Emerging as early as the 18th century, Black Dandyism took the colonial codes of European dress and flipped them into a powerful form of protest. Formerly enslaved people, free men of color, and later, artists and revolutionaries used tailoring to assert presence and demand dignity in societies that denied them both. The Dandy has always known that fashion is power. For Black dandies throughout history, style became a tool for assertion and artistry. Whether it was a bright brocade vest, a wide-brim hat, or a flash of color, the Black Dandy stood apart on purpose. Today’s generation of Black dandies includes everyone from Colman Domingo, Billy Porter, and Jidenna to the everyday style savants reshaping what masculinity, queerness, and elegance look like across the diaspora.
This year also marked the Met’s first menswear-focused exhibition since 2003, and yes they made it Black. Curated by Andrew Bolton and Dr. Monica Miller, Superfine: Tailoring for Black Style celebrated how Black people across the globe have remixed traditional tailoring to tell their own stories. The exhibit fused African textiles, Caribbean flair, streetwear, church suits, and ballroom pageantry into an archive of beauty, defiance, and detail, all stitched into one of the most impactful fashion exhibitions the Met has ever produced.
The energy didn’t stop at the exhibit. Teyana Taylor opened the carpet and co-hosted the Vogue livestream with La La Anthony and Ego Nwodim, setting the tone with effortless style and charisma. Dinner was curated by chef Kwame Onwuachi, with performances by Usher and Stevie Wonder adding to the magic. A gospel choir sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” right on the carpet. From the music to the menu to the hosts, every moment radiated Black excellence.
Now let’s talk about looks. The blue carpet delivered some of the strongest fashion moments we’ve seen in years, rooted in tailoring and history.
Here are some of my top looks from the night:
Want a full breakdown of every designer and who they dressed? Check out the full list here: Who Wore What: The Ultimate 2025 Met Gala Designer Breakdown.
The 2025 Met Gala wasn’t just about clothes. It was about the message behind them. Tailored for You wasn’t just a theme. It was a reminder that Black style and culture has always been the moment, long before the spotlight found it.
