A$AP Rocky, Pharrell, Lewis Hamilton and Colman Domingo will co-headline a historic Met Gala

CNN
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Although often underestimated, men's fashion is experiencing a renaissance on red carpets and catwalks. Next year, a groundbreaking exhibition of black suits and fashion codes will inspire fashion's biggest night.

The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced its spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which will celebrate black dandyism from the 18th century through its revival during the Harlem Renaissance to its impact on today's luxury fashion . The highly anticipated Met Gala event typically draws its theme from the accompanying exhibition, which A-listers can interpret on the red carpet.

Last year's theme, “Garden of Time,” based on JG Ballard's 1962 short story, explored themes of decay, beauty and fragility and coincided with the exhibition “Sleeping Beauty: Fashion Resurgent.” The exhibition featured clothing from four centuries – many of them so delicate that they could no longer be touched or worn.

For the upcoming Met Gala, the Costume Institute has also announced a new cast of celebrity co-chairs, all fashion-forward men: actor Colman Domingo, British racing driver Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$AP Rocky and producer Pharrell Williams will collaborate with Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour will be the Organize event with honorary co-chair LeBron James.

It's a fitting list of style icons who have a long history with the Met Gala, from Domingo's dramatic white cape suit with black calla lilies last year, courtesy of designer Willy Chavarria, to A$AP Rocky's pre-owned one Grandma blanket from the 2021 event. Williams is the creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton – which is co-sponsoring the exhibition – and one of the many Black designers whose work has a direct connection to dandyism and is characterized by lavish collections, extravagant details and silhouettes that pushing the boundaries of men's tailoring.

The exhibition, based on historian Monica L. Miller's book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” will make history in more ways than one. It is the first fashion exhibition at the Met to focus exclusively on black design, and Miller will also be the Costume Institute's first black curator when she co-organizes the exhibition with the institute's executive curator, Andrew Bolton.

The hallmarks of dandyism – which emerged in men's fashion in London and Paris in the 1790s – are elegance and exaggerated clothing, and it also became fashionable for enslaved men to dress extravagantly. According to Miller's book, black dandies became known for their “modern fashions.” However, dandyism has deeper roots in African aesthetics and has since become a transgressive subculture that continues to be revived around the world. In a press statement, Bolton noted his influence on today's fashion and praised black designers from the line for revitalizing men's fashion.

“Am “At the forefront of this revitalization is a group of extremely talented Black designers who continually challenge normative identity categories,” he said. “While their styles are both unique and distinctive, what unites them is a reliance on various tropes rooted in the tradition of dandyism and particularly black dandyism.”

In the press release, Miller hints at an exhibition that will delve into how fashion, race, identity and power go hand in hand. Dandyism marked a seismic shift in self-determination and dignity for African Americans and is a story that is still unfolding in today's culture.

“The history of black dandyism shows how black people have evolved from enslavement and stylization as luxury items acquired like any other sign of wealth and status to autonomous, self-fashioning individuals who are global trendsetters,” she said . The exhibition will “highlight the aesthetic playfulness brought about by the dandy and the way fashion experimentation suggests both assimilation and distinction – while telling a story about oneself and society.”