Several days ago, thousands flocked to the star-studded steps of New York’s iconic Metropolitan Museum to witness music, sport, and television collide with high fashion at the 2025 Met Gala. This year’s theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, brought together 600 carefully chosen guests — all interpreting the night’s dress code, “Tailored for You.”
With camera shutters clicking, sprinters beeping, and months of couture waiting to be unveiled, the world held its breath for fashion’s most anticipated night — the Hunger Games of Style.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style
Co-chaired by A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, and, of course, Anna Wintour, this year’s Met Gala honored the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, which explores the culture and history of Black style over the past three centuries, with a focus on the Black Dandy.
Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism, this year’s Costume Institute exhibition explores the evolution of Black style across the Atlantic diaspora. Co-curated by Miller and Andrew Bolton, it features over 200 garments, paintings, and photographs, showcasing fashion as a tool of resistance, self-expression, and social mobility.
Theme & Dress Code
Emerging in the early 18th century as a response to enslavement, the Black Dandy is described by Miller as “often a man so devoted to aesthetics that he approaches dressing well as a lifestyle.”
Black Dandies challenged societal limitations and navigated across lines of class, race, gender, and sexuality.
From enslaved cotton labourers in the 1700s to global style icons, the Black Dandy is a symbol of resistance, creativity, and reinvention — a force to be reckoned with.
Black Dandyism is not confined to a single gender. Notable Dandies include the ever-stylish Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, and political activist Nina Simone.
Its roots extend far beyond the United States, with threads of Dandyism woven through Latin America, South America, and France.
Contemporary icons of the Dandy movement include the late André Leon Talley, Dapper Dan, Rihanna, and Pharrell Williams, to name a few.
Tailored in White
Coco Jones in Custom Manish Malhotra
The gift of the Met Gala, sent straight from André Leon Talley’s heaven, was Coco Jones in custom Manish Malhotra.
Indian beadwork at its finest, the high-waisted trousers were embedded with thousands upon thousands of crystals, pearls, and beads — a look destined to dominate bridal Pinterest boards for years to come.
A nod to Dandyism, the trousers were paired with an ivory tuxedo coat, patterned in botanical embroidery that pooled into a train and finished with exquisite pearls, reminiscent of its matching pair.
A hint of sexiness came from the lack of a top and the natural plunge of the jacket, which left her chest garnished with 20-carat tanzanite — if the whole look wasn’t already dripping in pure opulence. Jones chose clean and glowy makeup with a floor-length braid to finish off the look with flair.
For his first Met Gala appearance, Manish Malhotra made history with this unbeatable look.
In summary, Malhotra walked the carpet with two Dandy-inspired, art-meets-fashion looks (see Natasha Poonawalla), solidifying Indian couture as the rising star of the Met.
Tailored in white emerged as a major theme of the night, with several stars — including Zendaya, Anna Sawai (in near-identical looks), and Lewis Hamilton — all embracing the crisp aesthetic.
However, the most successful interpretation (with Coco Jones in a league of her own) came from Spider-Man actress and model Laura Harrier, in a breathtaking look by The GAP Studio that painted the Black Dandy as angelic.
The GAP Studio’s Zac Posen masterfully played on androgyny, blending period dressing with curated drama. A raw denim vest and ultra-wide-leg trousers in duchess silk satin set the foundation. Voluminous sheer cotton sleeves added an air of lightness, while the wide-legged silhouette offered a shape that was daring, yet distinctly Dandy.
Diana Ross: The Feathery Priestess
Diana Ross glowed as the feathery priestess of the evening, thanks to the collaborative genius of Nigerian-American designer Ugo Mozie and her son, Evan Ross.
Together, the designer-throuple recarpeted the Met steps with 18 feet of flowing white satin. Paired with an Old Hollywood-inspired embellished gown trimmed in soft feathers, the look radiated strength through softness — timeless, majestic, and wholly Ross.
Black history was literally stitched into the ensemble. Ross’s 18-foot train was hand-embroidered with her family tree, woven in a root-like pattern — a stunning tribute to legacy, lineage, and identity.
Suited to Stripes
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz stunned in inverted stripes by Moncler x Edward Enninful.
Their matching looks spoke to tailoring fit for kings and queens, spiked with accessories that paid homage to the history of Black fashion.
Keys’s look paid homage to 1940s Dandy Josephine Baker, with a softer take on the traditionally rigid pantsuit. Old Hollywood glamour was infused through a Moncler-coded puffer shawl pooling into a dramatic train, and the beaded headpiece linked back to traditional African beading.
Swizz Beatz opted for a red durag designed by Paul Richards and a silver brooch. With a variety of textures, the pair looked polished and proud.
Striped for Success
A Met Gala favourite, Rihanna in custom Marc Jacobs played with the theme of menswear in a way that honoured the traditional Dandies, while captivating attention — especially with her unexpected plus one: another baby!
Marc Jacobs dressed the mama in a black cropped jacket, wool bustier, and a jacket-turned-tailored-skirt with bustle.
Maximalist accessories included a dramatic hat and polka-dot cravat, borrowed straight from the 1800s. Rihanna never disappoints in pushing boundaries, and at this Met Gala, we were thrilled to see something rarely explored — maternity couture.
Janelle Monáe wore one of the most talked-about looks of the night, with theatrical elements borrowed from Oscar-winning Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell, in collaboration with Thom Browne.
The two-look moment explored the concept of time-bending and classic tailoring. Browne’s bold black, red, and white striped colour palette flowed across an exaggerated cape — with another razor-sharp look waiting underneath.
Topped with a bowler hat and clock monocle, the blend of theatre and tailoring kept cameras clicking, with the colours screaming futuristic Dandy.
Dapper Black Dandy
Pusha T. indulged in custom Louis Vuitton, drenched in rich maroon. Subtle yet sharp pinstripes patterned the custom suit and flared pants, with the look adorned by crystals dusting the shoulders in pure opulence.
Keith Powers’s Met debut had jaws dropping, thanks to Boss’s cool take on history meeting contemporary tailoring — easily earning him a return invite.
The cropped suit jacket, check-patterned relaxed pants, and street-style chain created a refreshing twist.
While the colours may have been demure, the break from tradition and the sharpness of new silhouettes breathed life into what could have been just another suited-up look.
Both men proved that Dandy doesn’t need to be loud to be noticed — nor does a look have to be shocking to be unique.
Playfully Patterned
Doechii made her first Gala debut in Pharrell Williams’ custom Louis Vuitton gender-bending look, no less.
The Dandy-esque, monogrammed ensemble featured a tuxedo jacket with long coattails and a rich maroon pussycat bow tie — layering historical references with today’s branding culture. The look was one of ten that shared a similar maroon-and-neutrals palette, marking Pharrell Williams’ third year of success as Creative Director at Louis Vuitton.
Demi Moore wore Thom Browne in a playful interpretation that cleverly tied into the theme.
The sculptural look was both witty and refined, tastefully patterned in stripes and sequins.
Brooches for Days
Joey King led the brooch revival in a custom forest green Miu Miu suit. Her two-piece ensemble screamed Dandy — featuring a clashing checkered blouse and necktie, perfectly balanced by soft Hollywood hair and makeup.
Peplum, Please
Priyanka Chopra found a friend in peplum, donning a three-piece Balmain look in vintage black-and-white polka dots. The Pretty Woman-esque tailoring borrowed shapes from the ’40s, ’80s, and ’90s — all structured, cinched, and hatted to perfection. Her décolletage was adorned with Bulgari’s largest-ever stone: The Magnus, a 241.06-carat faceted emerald that added a dramatic slash of colour to her sharply dapper look.
Daring to Be Different Dandies
Lauryn Hill arrived to welcome spring by lighting up the night in a saturation of butter yellow. Hill chose Ghanaian designer Jude Dontoh for her Met debut, which featured a dramatic cape that doubled as a whipped cream fantasy — a soft contrast to the sharp lines of the double-breasted pantsuit.
She styled the bold look with maximalist accessories in an effort to pay homage to diasporic Indigenous women: bold blue eye makeup, bag, and purple lips paired with a matching tie. The look screamed Dandy, showing that Hill isn’t afraid to be different, daring, and take up space.
A fashion first for the Met came from André 3000, who wore Pink Sparrow’s grand piano on his back. The design and fabrication company scaled down the original Steinway Model S by 75%, allowing it to weigh just 30 pounds — a clever reference to the performing Dandy, while cheekily teasing his new album, 7 Piano Sketches, released on the first Monday of May.
Perhaps the most iconic and Dandy moment of the night, André 3000 used fashion as power, collaborating with Burberry to create a tailored navy workman’s jumpsuit. Law Roach styled the look with an Atlantic-style hat, chunky disco glasses, and a trash bag as the cherry on top.
History, wit, music, fashion, and culture — all in one.
Committed to the Cause
Doja Cat failed to disappoint, with Marc Jacobs’ take on ‘80s power dressing that hit a home run on the tailored Black Dandy.
Jacobs included clashing animal print and pinstripes on a highly tailored playsuit that dramatically contorts the female shape.
Adopting an over-accessorised retro aesthetic, Doja’s ‘little madame’ meets ‘little gangster’ look featured larger-than-life hair and contrasting makeup that says she’s unapologetic and pantless.
Shaboozy’s was a one-of-a-kind look we weren’t quite expecting, showing how to have fun with the androgyny of Dandy in new and current ways.
Custom Robert Wun saw 3,100 turquoise beads and 2,900 Swarovski crystals adorn the black moiré cropped suit. Antasia Walker styled Shaboozy perfectly with a black wide-brimmed hat, custom turquoise grill, and David Yurman turquoise and diamond rings, and elevated the look to be one of the top male Renaissance looks of the night.
In the words of André Leon Talley:
“Fashion carries its past along like a shadow.’”
At the 2025 Met Gala, that shadow became a spotlight. In a night that raised a record $31 million for the Costume Institute, Black Dandyism wasn’t just remembered — it was reborn.
As the Met’s doors open to the public, may the message echo beyond the red carpet:
Tailor the future. Wear the past. Dare to Dandy.
Beyond Curious 
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