Moments before the Met Gala was set to begin, I confessed to a friend, with whom I’d been texting, that I was a little stressed about what celebrities would wear this year. The theme and accompanying exhibition — Superfine: Tailoring Black Style — marked a historic moment for the Costume Institute, which organizes the fundraising gala with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. It is the first exhibition to focus on designers of color and only the second show dedicated to menswear. (The first was Bravehearts: Men in Skirts in 2003.)
Superfine is inspired by the scholar Monica L. Miller’s excellent book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, a cultural history of Black dandyism and its most influential sartorial figures, and Andrew Bolton, head curator at the Institute, tapped Miller to help build the exhibition.
“Who will do this well?” I asked my friend, as if she were an oracle. It turns out not that many people — but the ones who did understand the assignment made powerful impressions.
Adhering to a core tenet of the Black dandy, the evening’s dress code was a broad, interpretive invitation to choose an outfit tailored to the wearer. The best-dressed guests found distinctive modes of self-expression within these capacious parameters. They, like the Black dandies of the 18th and 19th centuries, used their attire to remix their past and respond to their present. These outfits — like Lauryn Hill’s gorgeous yellow get-up or Teyana Taylor’s intimate maroon costume — embodied what dandy artist and special consultant to the exhibition Iké Udé called “future perfect.” Their clothes radiated a visionary and forward-thinking energy.
The more underwhelming outfits stayed within the realm of convention, leaning more heavily into precise tailoring than a radical vision of fashion. These were mostly forgettable ensembles, clothes that would not cause a stir and are likely to fade with time (see Sydney Sweeney in Miu Miu and Nicole Kidman in Balenciaga.) It’s notable that most of them were worn by white celebrities, who seemed to struggle in their interpretation of this year’s theme. There were few egregious faux pas, but I will be contemplating why BlackPink member Lisa’s custom Louis Vuitton one piece, which featured embroidered portraits by the artist Henry Taylor, included a figure who bears a striking resemblance to Rosa Parks right on her crotch area.
As always, the stairs set the tone for the night, inviting guests and spectators watching through the Vogue livestream (which ended promptly at 9 p.m., excluding many of the most fashionable attendees) into the otherworldly interior constructed by Raul Avila. This year’s steps were carpeted with a deep blue fabric adorned with white and yellow daffodils. The striking design was the brainchild of the artist Cy Gavin, whose enormous paintings have a celestial quality to them.
The evening began with the arrival of the gala’s chairs — Wintour, Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Colman Domingo — and the range within the group reflected the kinds of outfits presented throughout the evening. LeBron James, who was named honorary chair, could not attend because of a knee injury. His wife, Savannah James, still attended, wearing a custom burgundy pinstripe suit designed by Hanifa, the label run by Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba.
Wintour didn’t stray from her usual uniform in her custom silver dress by Louis Vuitton (they are the exhibition sponsors) and a powder blue coat; Williams, who serves as Men’s Creative Director of Louis Vuitton, left much to be desired despite the flair of his double-breasted blazer made of 100,000 pearls. Together, these two represented the safer, more ordinary set and some of the outfits that fell flat.
Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Domingo were the winners among this group of gala helmers, with looks that either embraced the drama of Black style or the finer details that define Black dandyism’s legacy. Hamilton wore an ivory ensemble designed by Grace Wales Bonner and a beret by Stephen Jones Millinery that gestured toward Barkley L. Hendricks portraits and told a story through its jeweled embellishments, from the baobab flower affixed to his lapel to the cowrie shells and pearls dotting his jacket tail. A$AP Rocky wore a three-piece black suit he designed himself with Christian Louboutin shoes. His hair was an event too, with cornrows wrapping around his head like a crown.
Domingo’s outfit was a double whammy of Black queer history and personal style. The Sing Sing actor started the evening with a cobalt blue, intricately embroidered cape by Valentino that recalled the outfits of the late André Leon Talley and the ones that members of a church choir would wear. Later, Domingo sloughed off that layer to reveal another Valentino get-up: a double-breasted wool jacket embellished with pearls and crystals, a black neck scarf with hand-painted white polka dots, and wide-leg wool trousers.
The understated playfulness of Hamilton’s attire found echoes in other outfits from the evening — including Jenna Ortega’s dazzling form-fitting Balmain dress constructed entirely out of metal rulers, as well as Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing’s metal sewing machine-shaped bag and gold metal shirt under his wide-shoulder suit. Zendaya, who surprised guests at the Met Gala last year with two distinct red carpet outfits, opted for a subtler look this year. Working with co-conspirator Law Roach, who also styled Tyla, Jeremy Pope, Jon Batiste, Nicki Minaj and Andre 3000, Zendaya channelled Bianca Jagger’s bridal look with a deftly tailored cream silk suit from Louis Vuitton and a complementary wide-brimmed hat. I would be remiss not to mention Kerry Washington’s custom piece from Simkhai, which featured a plunging neckline, an organza-like A-line skirt, mesh gloves and a matching cream hat.
Not everyone kept quiet though. Some of the evening’s most memorable looks leaned into drama, functioning as discrete stories about the people wearing them. I’m thinking about Diana Ross’s gasp-worthy outfit designed by Ugo Mozie with its 18-foot train, which had the names of her children and grandchildren embroidered into it. Or Teyana Taylor’s outfit, which was designed in collaboration with Academy-Award winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
I could talk about Taylor’s maroon ensemble — the pinstripes, the durag underneath the hat, the David Yurman jewels adorning the pants, the walking stick and the words “Harlem Rose” inscribed into the cape — all day, so compelling was its marriage of Harlem’s past and present, with a slight nod to its future. Her outfit felt particularly meaningful when she, conducting red carpet interviews for Vogue with Ego Nwodim (in Christopher John Rogers), spoke to Harlem legend Dapper Dan. He wore a white zoot suit embroidered with the Ghanaian adinkra symbol, sankofa, which instructs us to revisit the past in order to understand the future. How beautiful it was to see two Harlem icons, past and present, talking about what this evening means for their futures.
Other dramatic storytellers included Whoopi Goldberg, Al Sharpton, Doja Cat, Brian Tyree Henry, Jodi Turner-Smith (in a stunning burgundy Burberry suit that paid homage to Black equestrian Selika Lazevski) and Damson Idris, who had handlers tear off his F1 suit (complete with a bedazzled helmet) to reveal a three-piece crimson suit by Tommy Hilfiger.
There was also Janelle Monae, who collaborated with Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell (Wicked) and Thom Browne to create a costume that bent time. Her “time-traveling dandy,” as she referred to the look, fit into the musician’s Afro-futurist leanings while also playing with sharp tailoring. The exterior garment was a striking red, white and black pinstripe jacket that looked like an optical illusion. Monae continued that motif in the interior, which featured a more fitted two-piece skirt-and-jacket combo. She completed the look with a top hat and cheeky monocle.
However, perhaps no one could top Rihanna, who arrived fashionably late and debuted a baby bump while wearing a Marc Jacobs ensemble that included a gray bustier and black floor-length skirt, or Andre 3000, who showed up on the carpet with a piano affixed to his back. In a move that felt in sync with the idea of being a Black dandy — that is, to surprise and subvert — he used the opportunity to release a new project called 7 Piano Sketches. But what I’d really like to know is what he was carrying in that trash bag.
