Met Gala makes history with exclusive focus on Black men's fashion

By Curtis Bunn

For the first time at the glamorous Met Gala in New York, Black men — their style, expression, elegance, creativity and versatility — will be on full display.

Using as inspiration the 2009 bestselling book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Disasporic Identity,” by Monica L. Miller, Monday night’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” opens the door for Black men to demonstrate their versatile and globally influential fashion sense on the red carpet during fashion’s big night.

“Black style is really related to thinking about how fashion and power connect,” Miller said in a YouTube video about making Vogue’s Met Gala issue. “The way that people are styled or fashioned or fashioned themselves in response to the degree of agency that they feel.”

Miller, who curated the Costume Institute’s spring exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is bringing Black dandyism into focus.

While the dandy was an 18th century term for a man who is meticulously dressed and appreciates the finer things in life, these days dandyism inspires myriad definitions. The dozens of Black actors, athletes, entertainers and other celebrities in the Vogue video described dandyism as everything from “Black excellence” to “confidence” to “expression.”

Black dandyism, which reaches at least as far back as the Harlem Renaissance from 1918 to the mid-1930s, celebrated life in times that were not socially or politically celebratory for Black people. Miller’s book illuminates that transformational power.

“When the dandy is Black, we get to see the dandy as a figure that really encapsulates a kind of matrix in identity: race, gender, class, sexuality and sometimes nation,” she said.

At the Met Gala, the fashion world will take in and celebrate Black dandyism and its many contributions to high fashion, a departure for an industry where Black culture has historically been underrepresented.

The spotlight on Black men “means everything” to so many people who have plied their trade in fashion for decades, celebrity stylist Avon Dorsey said.

“It’s everything we could want,” said Dorsey, who has dressed A-list talent including Michael B. Jordan, Winston Duke and Jay Ellis. “We know that Black men throughout history have always come and shown up and shown out, whether it was a church suit or whether it’s with a top hat or fashion like how our uncles and grandfathers used to wear. So, knowing that this exhibit focuses on Black men specifically and the style of Black men, is an amazing thing, especially with the way that the world is right now.”

Jonathan McCrory, executive artistic director of the National Black Theatre, said in a Vogue article that the Met Gala opportunity is “an important nexus that we’re in — society-wise — and our clothing allows us to create protection to be radically soft in a brittle world that wants us to be hard,” McCroy said.

Jazz band leader Lionel Hampton draws an alteration markings on the jacket of his trumpeter, which would be altered into a "zoot suit." — Jazz band leader Lionel Hampton draws alteration markings on a horn player’s jacket, which would be altered into a “zoot suit.”Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

And while it is not a political event, Dorsey said the Met Gala — intentionally or not — is making a statement about the power and necessity of diversity, equity and inclusion, a set of practices the Trump administration has weaponized by deeming them “illegal.”

“It is something that comes to mind, because the Met Gala has these themes that emphasizes all three of those touch points of DEI,” said Dorsey, who is launching Brother, a Black men’s fashion magazine, next month. “To highlight the importance of Black culture, specifically Black men, is something that’s needed in the world to stand up against the stereotypes and misinformation and push forward our reality.”

Dapper Dan, a fashion icon in Harlem who grew up underprivileged, said dressing up in clothes purchased from Goodwill was his first introduction to the power of dandyism.

“Even if the clothes weren’t mine, nobody knew how poor my family was,” he said in the Vogue video. “And for me, that was the birth of dandyism, because I saw the power of transformation that could take place with your clothes.”

Dapper Dan, 80, has made a name for himself in the last several decades by bringing this resourcefulness to others. A trip to Africa in 1974 inspired him to make fashion his life. After he returned to New York, he opened a 24-hour store in Harlem in 1982 and built enough credibility to begin making custom clothes for celebrities and community members alike. He and Gucci opened an invitation-only studio that provided fabrics for his new creations.

This year’s Met Gala co-chairs are actor Colman Domingo, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, and entertainers A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, with NBA star LeBron James as the honorary chair. This year’s committee members include musicians André 3000, Janelle Monáe, Teyana Taylor, Usher, and Tyla, actors Ayo Edebiri, Audra McDonald and Jeremy Pope, and athletes including Simone Biles and Angel Reese. The directive for attendees is to don an outfit “tailored to you.”

Michael B. Jordan attends the European premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square on April 14 in London, England. — Michael B. Jordan at the European premiere of “Sinners” at Cineworld Leicester Square in London on April 14. Dave Benett / Dave Benett/WireImage

“A lot of the designers and the stars and the celebrities really can’t talk about what they are going to wear beforehand,” Dorsey said. “But I’m excited to see Colman Domingo; he always wears a great suit. A$AP Rocky perfectly merges street style with high fashion, a men’s version of couture. I’m excited to see what Rihanna is going to wear next to him.”

The late André Leon Talley, the first Black creative director at Vogue, who died in 2022, battled stereotypes and exclusion in leading the iconic fashion publication’s vision. Monday night will also be about Talley, Dorsey said.

“This Met Gala in particular,” Dorsey said, “André will be looking down with so much pride and joy, knowing how much he had to endure for us to get to this special moment. He did so much for Black men in fashion, and Monday is sort of the fruits of all his work.”