The 2025 Met Gala transformed the red carpet into a cultural manifesto, exploring three centuries of Black fashion through the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” See how icons like Colman Domingo, Pharrell, and Savannah James redefined menswear and memory.

On the storied steps of New York’s Upper East Side, fashion returned not merely as spectacle but as statement. The 2025 Met Gala wasn’t just a celebration of couture—it was a tailored meditation on history, identity, and the politics of appearance.

This year’s theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, mirrored the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, inspired by Monica L. Miller’s seminal work Slaves to Fashion. But this was no ordinary retrospective. It was a journey through three centuries of Black sartorial expression—a tribute to dandyism not as flamboyance but as resistance, elegance, and self-authorship.

The evening’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” was less a rule than a riddle: a prompt for introspection and interpretation. In a world where suits often erase individuality, here they became a canvas of reclamation.

And so they arrived—icons, visionaries, tastemakers—ascending the floral-lined blue carpet in looks that didn’t just speak to fashion, but to history itself. Co-chairs Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams each embodied different interpretations of the theme. Domingo’s deep blue Valentino cape echoed the legacy of André Leon Talley. Pharrell’s pearl-studded blazer nodded to the unsung sophistication of Black working-class men.

Honorary chair LeBron James, however, was absent—his knees having paid the price of playoff glory. Still, his partner Savannah James walked in his stead, perhaps unintentionally channeling the spirit of endurance behind the night’s theme.

This wasn’t just a red carpet. It was a pageant of memory, resistance, and elegance stitched together—where every seam told a story.