Superfine: Black Style as Fine Art at the 2025 Met Gala

By Theresa Rézeau

The steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have always been a stage. But on the first Monday of May in 2025, they transformed into a radiant runway of resistance, reverence, and renaissance. With the Costume Institute’s exhibit and Met Gala theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, the night was not just a celebration of fashion, it was a reclamation of history, a love letter to Black identity, and an acknowledgment of the creative genius woven through the Black diaspora.

Every year, the Met Gala produces headlines, memes and fashion commentary. But this year’s theme was not just topical, it was urgent. Curated in tandem with the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, the 2025 Gala honored centuries of Black style, with a particular focus on the historical and cultural significance of menswear within the Atlantic diaspora.

Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s groundbreaking 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibit (and the Gala) examined how fashion has served as a tool for Black identity formation, self-determination and resistance. As Vogue described, the show “takes the Black dandy as its subject, examining the importance of clothing and style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora.”

This marks the first Met Gala in over two decades to center on menswear and crucially, through a Black cultural lens. The dress code, Tailored for You, encouraged guests to explore bespoke suiting, refined silhouettes and personal interpretations of Black excellence. Guests did not disappoint.

The evening was co-chaired by a powerhouse of Black visionaries: Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and LeBron James (though LeBron was notably absent on the night). Their presence set the tone, this wasn’t about borrowing from Black style. It was about honoring it.

The host committee, too, was a vibrant constellation of Black brilliance: Simone Biles, Spike Lee, Ayo Edebiri, Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Monáe, André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jeremy O. Harris. Together, they represented a tapestry of Black voices in sport, literature, art, music, and performance, all unified by a love of style and cultural storytelling.

In the words of Gala committee member Usher, “The theme this year is not only timely, but also speaks to our rich culture that should always be widely celebrated.”

To understand this year’s Met Gala, one must first understand that style for Black people has never been just about fashion. It's been about freedom. From the brutal legacy of slavery to the Harlem Renaissance, from colonial West Africa to contemporary diasporic streetwear, clothing has been one of the few available languages of resistance, beauty, and self-definition. The figure of the Black dandy,  a man who dresses with precision, elegance and flair is not simply an aesthetic. He is a political figure.

Tailoring, in this tradition, was a statement: I see myself. I know my worth. I demand to be seen.

In the face of dehumanisation, Black men used suiting and style to reclaim power, blending European tailoring with African colour palettes, diasporic prints and radical attitude. And in doing so, they laid the foundation for everything from hip-hop fashion to today’s red-carpet revolutions.

No Met Gala is complete without Rihanna and this year, she stole the show, yet again. Not only did she arrive, she announced. She revealed her third pregnancy to the world. The Internet didn’t just break. It bowed.

With an incandescent pregnancy glow, Rihanna reminded us why she’s not only a fashion icon but also a cultural oracle. She has turned motherhood into a muse and style into scripture. No one does the Met like she does. She doesn't just wear the theme, she defines it.

Another icon who turned heads was Madonna, who has long walked the fine line between homage and reinvention. Madonna proved yet again why she is,  as many described on the night, One of One. And let’s not forget, she wasn’t just holding a “cigar “… it was The Cigar . Smoked by a Legend, Madonna herself. She was here. She is here. And she will always be here. Her presence felt like an affirmation: that the legacy of Black style isn’t just rooted in Black communities, it has shaped global culture.

A personal highlight was the radiant Jodie Turner-Smith, whom I had the pleasure of meeting once at The Ritz in London. Her spirit is as gracious as her style is immaculate. Her look at the Met was a masterclass in Black elegance. She didn’t just wear a an outfit. She wore her story. Jodie exemplifies what this year’s theme set out to prove: that Black women have always been part of the tailoring tradition, not just as muses but as innovators.

If tailoring is music, André 3000 composed a symphony. Wearing a giant “piano suit”, literally coming with a piano on his back, André turned fashion into performance art. When he moved, the piano whispered. When he paused, the world stared. With nods to both Afro-surrealism and 19th-century dandies, his look was as much about sound as it was about silhouette. As the night unfolded, it became clear: He’s the note everyone follows. 

One of the most poignant absences was Supermodel Naomi Campbell, whose impact on fashion is immeasurable. Though she was invited, Naomi penned a moving public message on Instagram. Her absence was felt, but so was her presence. Naomi needs no carpet to command a room. She is the carpet.

Also absent was LeBron James, appointed co-chair. While he didn’t attend, his influence pulsed throughout the night. From the presence of Black athletes on the carpet to the quiet elegance of tailored streetwear-inspired ensembles, LeBron’s sartorial ethos, that Black men can be both regal and relaxed was echoed in every hemline. His legacy lives not only in sport, but in how Black masculinity is now styled: powerful, unapologetic and multidimensional.

But the most deeply felt absence was that of André Leon Talley, the late Vogue editor, fashion historian and undisputed king of couture commentary. This year’s Met Gala was, in many ways a tribute to him. Talley fought for the inclusion of Black designers and models when few others did. He viewed fashion as art, as history, as protest. His legacy is embroidered into every square foot of the Met. If Superfine was the exhibition, Talley was its spiritual curator. As Naomi Campbell noted, his vision “helped shape what the Met Gala is presenting tonight.” And what a vision it was.

While the Met Gala often celebrates designers, this year also shone a light on Black fine artists who paint fashion into permanence. Names like Kehinde Wiley, Amy Sherald, Mickalene Thomas, Barkley L. Hendricks, and Jordan Casteel are essential to this conversation. Their portraits don’t just depict Black style,they canonize it. They transform Black subjects in suits, dresses or streetwear into modern-day royalty. Every canvas is a museum of memory.

Let’s not forget the legacy of Black fashion designers : Dapper Dan, Patrick Kelly, Willi Smith, Ann Lowe  and contemporary icons like Telfar Clemens, Kerby Jean-Raymond and Grace Wales Bonner,  all of whom have made tailoring a Black art form. They weren't just referenced on the carpet. They were honoured.

The 2025 Met Gala was more than an event. It was a ritual. It proved that Black people have always been the architects of aesthetic excellence even when the institutions didn’t acknowledge us. This time, the Met didn’t just open its doors. It handed over the keys.

Fashion is freedom. Tailoring is testimony. And Black style? It’s superfine.

As guests descended the steps and the cameras dimmed, one thing remained clear: Black fashion didn’t arrive at the Met. It built the Met.