When you think of the Met Gala, conservative suiting isn’t always front of mind. This time, however, things may look a little different: Tailoring is poised to have a starring role.
Guests invited to the 2025 gala, scheduled for May 5, will be given the dress code “tailored for you.” In recent years, the Met has prompted attendees to dress in outfits that recall everything from the career of Karl Lagerfeld to gilded age American glamour.
Each year, the Met Gala serves as the larger-than-life opening for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring fashion exhibition: The spring 2025 exhibition, titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” will look at the history of the Black dandy and its impact on broader fashion. The show will also be the first Costume Institute exhibition to focus solely on designers of color, as well as the first exhibition in more than 20 years dedicated to men’s wear.
The museum also announced a newly formed host committee that includes stars like Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Tyla, Simone Biles and Usher. The list also includes boldfaced names from the arts like the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the playwright Jeremy O. Harris and the painter Kara Walker. They will join the previously announced co-chairs ASAP Rocky, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, Pharrell Williams and the gala’s honorary chair, LeBron James.
The tailoring dress code is meant as a loose interpretation of the dandy suiting theme. According to the Met, “tailored for you” is intended to spur creative interpretations of classic tailoring techniques.
Speaking by phone, Lindsay Peoples, a founder of the Black in Fashion Council, called the exhibition’s theme “overdue.” Sandrine Charles, another founding member of the council, said the show felt “very timely to highlight and amplify and support.”
Ms. Peoples, who is also the editor of New York magazine’s The Cut, believes the Met Gala’s red carpet will be a moment for Black fashion designers to explore new facets of creativity. “When we talk about diversity and inclusivity, people narrow it to race or the kind of people involved, but there is also the diversity of intelligence and thought around creating,” Ms. Peoples said. “I’m intrigued to see what people come up with.”
Other members of the new host committee include André 3000; Jonathan Owens; Grace Wales Bonner; Jordan Casteel; Dapper Dan; Edward Enninful; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Rashid Johnson; Regina King; Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee; Audra McDonald; Janelle Monáe; Jeremy Pope; Angel Reese; Sha’Carri Richardson; and Olivier Rousteing. In a statement issued by the Met, Ms. Richardson, an Olympic track and field sprinter, said she was looking forward to “celebrating the undeniable impact of Black creativity on fashion and culture for centuries.”
The glamorous gala consistently draws celebrities like Cardi B and Kim Kardashian dressed in fantastical attire. It is the biggest fund-raiser of the year for the Met’s Costume Institute, with tickets going for $75,000 apiece in 2024.
