With the Met just announcing that 2025’s Gala theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”- a nod to Black Dandyism - we decided to dig deeper into the sartorial history and cultural significance of the Black Dandy movement.
The Met’s exhibition of the same name, running parallel to the infamous Gala, is inspired by Monica L Miller’s writings ‘Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.’ The book explores the cultural history of the Black Dandy, from its origins from England to the US. More on this history later …
Since 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement, which followed the murder of George Floyd, there has been a push for more Black history exhibitions in museums.
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.
2025’s Met Exhibition will be the first menswear focussed offering since 2003’s ‘Men in Skirts’, 22 years ago!
However, some critics have met the decision with trepidation. There is a call for the Kardashian’s to be banned from attending the Gala event, and there are real worries that because of the specificity of the exhibit, how non-Black attendees will interpret the theme with fears over cultural appropriation.
As she has done for the past 30 years, Anna Wintour co-chairs the 2025 Gala alongside actor Colman Domingo, F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton, Rapper A$AP Rocky, and Singer/Producer turned Creative Director Pharrell Williams, with honorary chair Basketball legend LeBron James.
Miller serves as a guest curator for the exhibition.
Pharell’s luxury fashion giant employer LV is major sponsor for 2025, so Williams will likely be very busy dressing many guests that night. Other designers and houses like Thom Browne, Chanel, and Versace will likely have tables and therefore dress attendees.
Monica L Miller, the author from whom the Met’s theme takes it’s name, is also a co-chair of the accompanying exhibition which runs from May to October 2025.
What does it mean to be a "Black Dandy"?
Dandy – “a meticulously well-dressed man” Collins dictionary.
In the 18th century across Europe and the US, enslaved Black men were sometimes dressed in elegant attire, to reflect the status of the family they worked for. After gaining freedom, some Black men used fashion to challenge societal stereotypes and assert dignity. Dandyism became a form of rebellion against the dehumanising effects of slavery and racial discrimination.
Fashion became a tool for African Americans to project respectability and counter the negative racial stereotypes that portrayed Black men as uncouth or inferior. For example, African American men in cities like New York and Philadelphia adopted styles inspired by British dandies of the 19th century—tailored suits, waistcoats, and top hats—essentially redefining Black masculinity through fashion.
The Black Dandy trend has always been deeply political. During the Civil Rights Movement, dressing well became an act of protest. Leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. often wore impeccable suits, not only because they were professionals, but also because their polished image symbolised the fight for dignity and equality. The idea was that through their appearance, they could show that they deserved the same respect as their white counterparts.
Figures like André Leon Talley, the former creative director of Vogue, brought Dandyism to the forefront of high fashion. Other influencers such as Billy Porter and Janelle Monáe have carried forward the Dandy legacy, using fashion to challenge gender norms and make bold political statements. New Yorker, Dapper Dan is fashion designer from Harlem, who manipulated designer logos into Black aesthetic tailoring and dressed stars of the 80s and 90s including LL Cool J and Mike Tyson, was a huge driving force behind the modernisation of the movement.
Other public figures like Dennis Rodman and Pharell Williams himself are modern day Dandies where the emphasis is on detail and refinement which stands in opposition to mainstream fashion minimalism. For the Black Dandy, dressing up is a form of art and a declaration of self-worth.
Lost in the cultural appropriation discourse is the celebration of a Black woman’s scholarship, Miller’s life’s work being immortalised in what is probably the most famous fashion exhibition in the world, with coverage of the opening Met Gala streamed across global media outlets.
We wait with baited breath to see if celebrities will choose to wear African American designers on the red carpet in May.
