The 2025 Met Gala had the makings of a cultural reset. With a theme like “Superfine: Tailoring Black Model,” the world was purported to bear witness to the richness of Black dandyism—a practice born from the collision of rise up and refinement. A method legacy formed within the margins and spotlighted solely when handy. This wasn’t nearly aesthetics. It was about legacy. About how Black people, barred from entry and drenched in respectability politics, dared to drape themselves in dignity anyway. This was purported to be our evening.
And whereas we’re not ungrateful—the theme was lastly, lastly, centered on us—it nonetheless felt just like the business confirmed up with a Xerox of our tradition fairly than a real understanding. We watched a stream of celebrities glide up the carpet in pinstripes, satin lapels, and secure silhouettes. And sure, Black people have been current. The visitor checklist was wealthy in melanin. However presence alone isn’t energy. Illustration with out creativeness is simply decor.
Let’s be clear: dandyism isn’t nearly garments—it’s a coded language. A sartorial sermon. It’s the rationale enslaved males traded rations for ruffles. The explanation jazzmen wore three-piece fits on phases they weren’t even allowed to enter by means of the entrance. It’s why your granddaddy refused to go away the home with no pressed shirt, even when he was simply going to the nook retailer. Dandyism is a efficiency of worth in a world that attempted to devalue you. So, when the Met Gala introduced a theme that nodded to that legacy, the expectation wasn’t simply “look good”—it was present us you perceive what trying good has value us.
However many missed that mark. As an alternative of embodying the spirit of the Black dandy—the combo of efficiency, politics and pageantry—we acquired vogue stripped of its context. Too many leaned right into a slim view of the Twenties: flapper fringe, finger waves, and Artwork Deco appliqués, as if The Nice Gatsby had a Black cousin. The Harlem Renaissance was invoked, sure, however flattened—decreased to “jazz age” dress-up with little or no nod to the flamboyant futurism of the Nineteen Seventies or the opulence of Nineteen Eighties Black dandies. The place was the spirit of Rick James in lace? Billy Dee in silk? Dandyism didn’t die within the jazz membership—it developed in nightclubs, church pews, magnificence salons and barbershops. It wasn’t simply absent—it was ignored.
And let’s speak about Andre 3000, who rolled in with a full piano strapped to his again. It was surreal, poetic and, in true Three Stacks vogue, miles forward of everybody else. Seems the look was a reference to a brand new musical mission—much less about dandyism and extra about Andre persevering with his journey as a residing, respiration set up. And whereas he didn’t keep on with the theme, per se, his presence was a reminder that dandyism isn’t all the time tailor-made—it’s theatrical. And typically, the easiest way to honor Black fashion is to reject the principles completely.
However not everybody missed the second. Taraji P. Henson and Ava DuVernay arrived with goal, presence and a viewpoint rooted in reminiscence, legacy and religious class. Taraji’s look wasn’t simply visually arresting—it was sacred. Wearing ethereal layers of white, she paid homage to Yoruba tradition and the ladies who wearing white to honor the deity Ọṣun. “That is the place I’m proper now,” she instructed Leisure Tonight. “I’m at peace.” The white represented transformation and spirituality, a deliberate option to replicate not simply her vogue sensibility however her state of being. The look married custom with transcendence—a reminder that dandyism isn’t all the time a flex. Typically, it’s a prayer.
Ava, in the meantime, turned the pink carpet into a visible archive. Her tailor-made velvet tuxedo robe, embroidered with calligraphy-style quotes from Toni Morrison, was already layered with which means. However the deeper narrative got here from her roots. “This was for my grandmother,” she instructed The Hollywood Reporter. A lady who migrated from Texas to Los Angeles in the course of the Nice Migration, and simply two years later, discovered herself in a portrait studio sporting a extra modest model of the very silhouette Ava wore that night. It was a quiet however highly effective reclamation of dignity—an echo of Black girls who wore Sunday’s finest not for vainness however as armor.
We additionally anticipated to see extra Black celebrities utilizing this second to highlight Black creativity. However the unstated fact of the Met Gala is that it runs on cash, not benefit. Designers are anticipated to purchase a desk at six figures minimal and create seems for the celebs seated there. Most Black designers don’t have that form of capital. Whereas the temper boards pulled from our tradition, the credit score (and couture) usually went elsewhere.
What “Superfine” wanted was drama. Flourish. Camp–with context. Furs dragged throughout the steps like outdated Southern pleasure. Hats that tipped again into the Twenties and ahead into the Afrofuturist 2080s. Gloves that snapped like declarations. This was the second to lean into the custom of class as protest, of magnificence as a defend.
As an alternative, we acquired a number of impressed seems scattered amongst a sea of restraint. We acquired respectability after we wished revolution. A theme that might’ve cracked the style system vast open ended up hemmed in by budgets, misunderstandings and an business nonetheless not prepared to guess huge on the folks it borrows from.
So sure, the 2025 Met Gala belonged to us in theme. However in execution? It reminded us that cultural possession doesn’t all the time include management. Not but. And till Black designers are funded like their white counterparts, till Black fashion is led by Black fingers—not simply referenced—we’ll maintain watching our tales be instructed in another person’s handwriting.