Met Gala 2025 celebrates Black fashion with “Tailoring Black Style”

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The 2025 Met Gala is held annually on the first Monday in May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This glamorous benefit event benefiting the Costume Institute is known for its exclusive guest list, high-profile fashion, and themed dress codes. The official dress code for the 2025 Met Gala is “Tailored for You,” inviting creative interpretations. The accompanying exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” marks a historic moment as the first to focus on Black fashion traditions.

A night of glamour with deep roots

Held every first Monday in May, the Met Gala is more than a dazzling parade of celebrities in haute couture: it's a benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. With tickets reportedly costing up to $75,000 and a notoriously exclusive guest list, the event is as much a fashion spectacle as a cultural moment.

This year's exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," marks a historic milestone for the Met Gala. It is the Costume Institute's first menswear-focused exhibition in over 20 years and the first time Black fashion has been at the center of the theme. The exhibition is curated by scholar Monica L. Miller, who was inspired by her 2009 book. Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.

What does “Tailoring Black Style” mean?

According to the Met, the theme highlights how tailoring—typically seen as a symbol of respectability—has been reimagined by Black communities to express resilience, pride, and individuality. Miller's book traces the fashion tradition back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when enslaved people were dressed in luxurious clothing by their owners as a display of wealth. Though it began as a form of objectification, Black individuals began to reclaim and reinterpret those styles, eventually creating a fashion language of their own. While the Met Gala Known as “fashion’s biggest night,” this year’s event seeks to truly highlight these narratives.

Who will attend the 2025 Met Gala?

The 2025 host lineup includes a powerful combination of artists, athletes, and designers. Actor Colman Domingo, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$AP Rocky, and fashion visionary Pharrell Williams will lead the evening alongside longtime co-chair Anna Wintour. NBA icon LeBron James joins as honorary chair.

The host committee also includes notable figures such as Spike Lee, Ayo Edebiri, André 3000, and fashion legend Dapper Dan.

To watch the red carpet event, Vogue's livestream will begin at 6 p.m. ET on May 5, 2025, and will be available on Vogue's website and YouTube.

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Fountain: NPR