<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This year's Met Gala theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, aims to capture the spirit of a historic style of dress.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you think of the </span><a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/met-gala-2024-red-carpet-celebrity-looks-fashion"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Met Gala</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, your mind naturally goes to the theatrics, audacity, and sheer flair involved, and rightfully so. But for the style of dress known as Black dandyism, the Gala has long been a time to make a statement of cultural resistance and sartorial triumph. Think Billy Porter&rsquo;s Sun God ensemble by The Blonds for the 2019&rsquo;s &ldquo;Camp: Notes on Fashion,&rdquo; featuring a bejeweled catsuit outfitted with 10-foot wings and a 24-karat gold headpiece.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Oct. 9, the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed the 2025 Met Gala Theme to be </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Superfine: Tailoring Black Style." The first menswear style focused exhibition at the Costume Institute since 2003&rsquo;s &ldquo;</span><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2003/bravehearts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Men In Skirts</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,&rdquo; the installation holds particular significance within African American history. The theme is based on </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a momentous text by professor, author, and scholar Monica L. Miller. &ldquo;Monica&rsquo;s research invites us to examine men&rsquo;s fashion, not only in terms of race, but also in terms of class, gender, and sexuality&rdquo; lead curator Andrew Bolton said</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhwD66CpmqY">in a video</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shared by The Met.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For many, the initial thought that came to mind upon hearing of the theme of choice was <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/andre-leon-talley-legacy-fashion-industry-black-history-month-naomi-campbell">Andre Leon Talley</a>. The late fashion editor-at-large was a revered figure in fashion and fit the mold of a Black dandy in every way, prompting social media users to call for him to get his dues at the upcoming Costume Institute event. There were also mentions of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/men/dapper-dan-harlem-influence-fashion-gucci-logo">Dapper Dan</a>, a highly sought-after designer by hip-hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s who blended the music genre and high fashion. These two men show us there is more than meets the eye with Black menswear and dandyism.</span></p>
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<p>In 18th century Europe, people used the term &ldquo;dandy&rdquo; to describe someone - usually a man - who embraced aesthetics as a lifestyle, dedicating himself to appearance. For Black individuals, dandyism both celebrated their ambitions and aspirations and served as a limiting tool. Dandyism empowered Black men and women to reshape their identities&mdash;through style, gestures, irony, and wit&mdash;imagining new social and political possibilities in a world that sought to define them. <span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;I really like to think about dandyism as not just about clothing, but I define it as clothing, gesture, and wit, and a combination of those three. [So] I&rsquo;m really interested, not only in the clothing, but how the person in some ways occupies the clothing right, and so sort of makes it move through time and space," said Miller in</span> a 2022 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tsFpvDN_Xs">interview</a> <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">with the National Arts Club.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miller spoke further in the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">interview </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">on the impact of the Atlantic slave trade. &ldquo;Europeans traded cloth and fancy items of dress for African captives. When transported to the Americas, those captives were stripped of their native dress and given plain coarse clothing. Early accounts of slave appearance emphasized that the enslaved traded for or saved up for small accessories that they could affix to their clothing to distinguish themselves from the masses: a button, a ribbon - something shiny. The enslaved often liberated clothing from their masters in order to be free and escape bondage.&rdquo; Miller also serves as the exhibition's guest curator.</span></p>
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<p>Black dandy style has transformed dramatically since its roots in the 18th century and the African diaspora, evolving through the zoot suits of Harlem Renaissance entertainers, the bold looks of 1970s Black action stars, and now the innovative designs of creatives like Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton. Black dandies didn&rsquo;t simply wear their clothes&mdash;they embodied them, merging with each piece to become a living expression of style.</p>
<p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">As we wait to see how the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute and the attendees manifest this theme, </span><i style="font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px;">L&rsquo;OFFICIEL </i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">looks back at the black dandies that have already graced the Met Gala steps.</span></p>
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For the 2011 Met Gala, honoring the life and work of Alexander McQueen, Andre Leon Talley wore a navy blue tuxedo with a flowing, deep blue coat over it, a trademark style choice of his. Photogrpahy Getty Images.

Lenny Kravitz looked mystically ethereal in an ensemble by Chrome Hearts and styled by Rodney Burns, featuring a lace top, sheer cape, and his signature leather pants for the 2022 Met Gala. Photography Getty Images.

The late Chadwick Boseman looked regal in a custom ensemble by Atelier Versace at the 2018 Met Gala “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” Photography Getty Images.

Billy Porter makes quite the entrance to the 2019 Met Gala “Camp: Notes on Fashion” in a gold embellished catsuit, 10-foot wings, and a gold headpiece. Photography Getty Images.

In what would be his final Met Gala appearance, the late Virgil Abloh sported a white suit with the word “Modernism” airbrushed in blue and a matching sherpa hat with perked up ears. Photography Getty Images.

Pharrell Williams and his wife, Helen Lasichanh wore matching Chanel looks with glossy black cowboy shirts that were accessorized with jewel-encrusted bolo ties and black cowboy boots with gold at the toe for the Met Gala in 2021. Photography Getty Images.

ASAP Rocky channeled the late Karl Lagerfeld in a head-to-toe look by Gucci for the 2023 Met Gala “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.” Photography Getty Images.

Known for his flirtation with androgyny, Colman Domingo made his Met Gala debut in 2023 donning a look by Willy Chavarria that paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman and Andre Leon Talley. Photography Getty Images.

Just before that viral moment he cut Tyla’s sand dress, Olivier Rousteing stepped onto the 2024 Met Gala carpet in a black suit and a sand-inspired mold of his own face, of course by Balmain. Photography Getty Images.

Lil Nas X didn’t hold back for the 2024 Met Gala, wearing an oversized off-white and silver paneled jumpsuit by Raul Lopez of Luar and extra long acrylic nails. Photography Getty Images.

Andre Leon Talley and Anna Wintour at the Met Gala in 1999. Photography: Getty Images.

The Art of Black Dandyism on Fashion’s Biggest Night

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The Art of Black Dandyism on Fashion’s Biggest Night

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