Come to the Met Gala, guests!
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the dress code for its yearly extravagant fashion extravaganza in May, that was the directive from above: Tailored for You, a reference to the menswear and suit-focused theme of the accompanying exhibit.
Naturally, the first Met Gala show to concentrate solely on menswear—more especially, Black style in menswear across the centuries—is a fitting idea that is intended to be freely interpreted.
In addition to the previously announced gala hosts Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, and LeBron James, the Met Costume Institute announced on Tuesday that it would be reviving what it described as a longstanding tradition of a host committee. This essentially entails a new slate of well-known celebrities. (The list is completed by Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, who is in charge of the gala every year.)
Athletes Simone Biles and husband Jonathan Owens, Angel Reese, and Sha Carri Richardson; actors Ayo Edebiri, Audra McDonald, and Jeremy Pope; musicians Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Mon e, and Andr 3000; writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; artists Jordan Casteel, Rashid Johnson, and Kara Walker; playwrights Jeremy O. Harris and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; and fashionists Grace Wales Bonner, Edward Enninful, Dapper Dan, and Olivier Rousteing are among the new committee.
Kwame Onwuachi, a celebrity chef, will design the gala’s meal. The annual event, which raised a record $26 million last year, is a major fundraiser for the Costume Institute and serves as the opening for the spring exhibit.The book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity by Monica L. Miller served as the inspiration for this year’s display, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, which will run for six months longer than prior exhibitions.
According to Usher, this year’s theme is not only relevant, but it also highlights our rich culture, which need to be publicly honored at all times.
Richardson added: Our style isn’t only about what we wear; it’s also about how we move, how we take control of our surroundings, and how we communicate our narrative without using words. The Met released a statement in which both members of the host committee commented.
According to the Met, the display offers a historical and cultural analysis of Black fashion via the prism of dandyism, spanning from the 18th century to the present. At a museum event last year, Miller, a Barnard professor and the show’s guest curator, and Andrew Bolton, the star curator of the Met, pointed out that in the 1780s, dandies were frequently described as men who paid particular and occasionally excessive attention to dress.
According to Miller, historical notions of dandyism span from flamboyance and fabulousness to perfect tailoring and attire. According to the museum, the exhibition will highlight Black dandyism in particular, but it will also document how Black people have changed their identities through clothing and fashion over the ages.
Torkwase Dyson is one of the artists working on the exhibit design; she will use her trademark hypershapes to make architectural zones, or isolated colossal sculptures. One of the first Black dandies to question social conventions in 18th-century London, Julius Soubise, will be featured in a section curated by artist Ik Ud, who is also a consultant for the show.
The twelve sections of the show will each stand for a quality that characterizes dandy style: cosmopolitanism, ownership, presence, distinction, disguise, freedom, champion, respectability, jook, heritage, beauty, and coolness.
The date of the Met Gala is set on May 5. From May 10 to October 26, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style will be accessible to the general public.