2025 Met Gala Recap: 5 of My Favorite Small-But-Mighty Details
“This is what happens when the people that inspire and create everything we love culturally are put front and center.”
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Last night’s Met Gala broke a record: The Met’s annual fundraiser for its Costume Institute Anna Wintour Costume Institute — held, of course, on the first Monday in May — raised an unprecedented $31 million, making it the most successful event in the museum’s history. Last year’s total, pegged to its “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition, clocked in at $26 million, the Met’s director and chief executive officer Max Hollein told WWD yesterday. This year, individual tickets reportedly cost $75,000, with tables starting at $350,000.
But there was more to celebrate than philanthropic wins. For the first time in the Met Gala’s 77 years, the headlining exhibit — called "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" — focused entirely on Black culture, examining the legacy of Black menswear and over 300 years of Black Dandyism. Andrew Bolton, head curator at the Costume Institute (and one of the coolest people alive), told my friends at Fashionista that “while the theme certainly resonates with the current political landscape, it was originally conceived by the renewed interest in men's fashion.” André Leon Talley's passing in January 2022, as well as Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” served catalysts for the show.
I don’t live in New York City anymore, so in full disclosure, I didn’t attend Superfine’s annual press preview on Monday morning. But from the ample coverage I did see, I was quite moved by its execution. Over at Fashionista, Janelle Sessoms called it “a fascinating illustration of Black dandyism's many interpretations based on time periods, regions, occupations, social stature, economic status, and more.”
I found myself overwhelmed — in a good way! — by a significant portion of the red carpet, too. As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe famously said, "God is in the details,” and that was certainly the case here. Small details didn’t just define the red carpet, but communicated its meaning. I was grateful for the opportunity to see how Black folks like Teyana Taylor and Rihanna, or Colman Domingo and Lewis Hamilton, executed fashion not just as art, but also identity. This was much to the credit of the tremendously talented Black designers behind their looks, like Christopher John Rogers, Olivier Rousteing, Sergio Hudson, Ahluwalia, Ferragamo’s Maximilian Davis, and of course, Louis Vuitton’s Pharrell Williams.
As
wrote on her Instagram Stories: “This is what happens when the people that inspire and create everything we love culturally are put front and center.” We love to see it.I hope you’ll read at least one review of the Superfine exhibit so you can get the full picture — I’ll drop some good ones below! And if you find yourself in New York between now and Oct. 26, don’t miss the exhibit itself.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a small selection (!!!!!!!) of what I found to be among the most meaningful details:
1. Jeremy Pope (who worked with Law Roach) revived Maison Margiela’s landmark Fall 1997 collection with a sleeveless vest that, as he said on Instagram, echoed the “legacy of Black tailoring — our history of precision, of making something out of nothing, and reconstructing identity through our fashion by building elegance from structure.”
2. Tessa Thompson, wearing Prabal Gurung, paid homage to André Leon Talley with a church fan bearing his image. As
wrote on “X,” this “extremely reverential ode” recognized Talley as a “dignified and exalted universally recognized ancestor… The insider cultural references to the church and how Black folk fashion identity all make this special.”
3. Rihanna (pregnant!) shut down the red carpet at literally 10 p.m. in a Marc Jacobs look that fittingly referenced Madam C.J. Walker, the first self-made Black-woman millionaire who made her fortune selling her homemade line of hair-care products for Black women. "That same cane and top hat we associate with male dandies were worn by women like Madam C.J. Walker,” two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter told NPR in a pre-event interview. Jacobs created Rihanna’s hat in collaboration with milliner Stephen Jones, with whom he’s worked in the past.
4. Speaking of Ruth E. Carter: She styled Teyana Taylor, my number-one best-dressed of the evening, in a three-piece pinstripe suit (also by Marc Jacobs) that referenced the once-illegal zoot suits that rose to popularity during the Harlem Renaissance. But it wasn’t just a suit: It came styled with a feathered fedora, red cane, jumbo rosettes, leather gloves, stacked wallet chains, custom Kiki boots, and a durag with a pleated train. In both concept and execution, it was a masterpiece.
5. Finally: Joey King. Let’s talk about it. She ate this up. Also on X, user @snikerdoodlzz pointed out that this Miu Miu suit looks like a Kehinde Wiley background, while the mixed patterns look like the work of American fiber artist Bisa Butler. Even without the artistic comparisons, it’s a cheeky, creative alternative to the black-and-white suits we saw so much of yesterday. And it was her first Met Gala! I think it’s safe to say she’ll be invited back.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Colman Domingo! Janelle Monáe! Doechii! Tracee Ellis Ross! Lewis Hamilton! Kerry Washington! Lupita Nyong'o! Zoe Saldaña! Gigi Hadid! Diana fucking Ross! Look, I get it! This barely scratches the surface!
But I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Let me know in the comments?
Recommended Reading: "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" Reviews!
“Black Dandyism in the Spotlight: 7 Pieces of Fashion History,” by Callie Holtermann (New York Times)
“How the Costume Institute's Latest Exhibit Explores Black Dandyism's Many Forms,” by Janelle Sessoms (Fashionista)
“‘God Created Black People, and Black People Created Style’: Inside The Met’s Press Preview for ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,’” by Laia Garcia-Furtado (Vogue)
“Met Exhibition Review: Show-stopping Peacockery and Introspective Origins,” by Max Berlinger (The Guardian)
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I also loved Colman Domingo's first outfit with its enveloping cape. A wonderful homage to André Leon Talley.
Loved this! The details behind these looks are so inspiring and important to understand in their reverence (I loved Thompson’s in particular.) Vogue should have had TRL Behind the Music style popups giving us all this context on the red carpet!