Journalism of Courage
The Met Gala is an annual fundraising event for the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Held on the Upper East Side, it marks the opening of the Institute’s spring fashion exhibition and is widely regarded as one of the most exclusive nights in fashion. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
As per TIME magazine, the Met Gala was conceived by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, the same visionary who helped establish New York Fashion Week. Her aim was to raise funds for the Costume Institute while celebrating the unveiling of its annual exhibit. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
Over the years, Met Gala has followed themes since the 1970s, encouraged by Vogue’s editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland who became a special consultant to the Costume Institute (1972-1989). (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
In October 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” to be on display from May 10 to October 26, 2025. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
In line with the theme, this year’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” is a nod to Dandyism – a stereotype-bending menswear style and code of conduct prevalent in Black culture during the 18th and 19th centuries, defined by tailored outfits and elegant and refined silhouettes. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibit presents a cultural and historical examination of the Black dandy, from the figure’s emergence in Enlightenment Europe during the 18th century to today’s incarnations in cities around the world. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
The official website of the MET further sheds light on the theme: Historically, the term dandy was used to describe someone—often a man—who is extremely devoted to style and approaches it as a discipline. Dandyism was initially imposed on Black men in 18th-century Europe as the Atlantic slave trade and an emerging culture of consumerism created a trend of fashionably dressed, or dandified, servants. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
Dandyism offered Black people an opportunity to use clothing, gesture, irony, and wit to transform their given identities and imagine new ways of embodying political and social possibilities. (Source: Instagram/@metmuseum)
