To say that the Met has made a very interesting choice of exhibition for this upcoming year would be the understatement of the decade. A couple of weeks ago, they announced that their Spring 2025 exhibition would be “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which will focus on the fashion of black dandyism. Not only is it the first Met Gala to focus primarily on menswear since 2003, but it will also be the very first Met Gala chaired entirely by men of colour, and the first exhibition of the Costume Institute to focus solely on the work of designers of colour.  

The exhibition will be curated based on Monica L. Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, which raises the question: what is dandyism? Historically, a dandy was a man who took fashion seriously and approached it as a discipline. Initially, black dandyism began with the popularization of dressing slaves in clothing which displayed the wealth and station of their owner. These dandified servants were only meant to be a visible marker of status, but over time, the practice of dandyism would become a powerful tool of self-expression and defiance for black men. A clear example is where the title of the exhibition, “superfine,” comes from; the memoir of a formerly enslaved man who bought his freedom. He wrote that he planned to celebrate by wearing “a suit of superfine clothes.” The exhibition is going to be curated to show how black dandyism reflected the issues of race, power, and culture within the African diaspora. 

I’ll be honest, I am very excited. Not only is this set to be a refreshing break from the typical fashion choices of male celebs (how many plain black suits have we seen on that carpet before?), but thanks to a truly unique exhibit, it should also be different from any other Met Gala we’ve seen so far. The dress code hasn’t been announced yet, which is the actual theme of the outfits we’ll see at the Gala, but typically the theme is strongly linked to the exhibit, so we can expect that it will be centered on formal black menswear. Which would be in line with the choices of hosts, as fashion-forward black celebrities Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and LeBron James are chairing the event.  

However, it seems just slightly too coincidental that after intense criticism last year for the blatant white elitism that the Met represents, it would choose its first ever exhibition focusing on the work of people of colour. Given the issues it has faced for its history of excluding people of colour, it would seem that this is the Met’s attempt at a rebrand from its reputation as an institute of white privilege.  

I can see that rebrand going one of two ways, and it will depend entirely on how well the guests wear the theme, and what the dress code is. What I’m hoping for is a carpet full of iconic pieces by black designers, like the works of Jay Jaxon, Patrick Robinson, and Olivier Rousteing. Another way to do this would be to wear recreations of work that were overlooked, like Ann Lowe’s bridal gown, worn by Jackie Kennedy, which went uncredited because of her race.  

Of course, it is very possible to do a theme wrong (think Karlie Kloss and the camp dress of 2019), and that’s the proverbial sticking point here. If the guests do not use looks by black designers, I can very quickly see the numerous ways this could turn irreverent, or even offensive. I personally think that the success of this Met Gala will depend on the guest list. The Met will, intentionally or not, reveal its true motivations with its invites, and it will boil down to the whether or not those invited truly understand the power and history of this exhibition. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons