On October 9, 2024, the MET Gala theme for 2025 was announced and the announcement was met with nervous anticipation and excitement alike. This year’s exhibition theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity” (2009), left fashion lovers around the world stumped. What will designers and attendees do with the theme and how will they fight the urge to characterize themselves while donning the standard zoot suit and fitted hat for the right amount of ironic juxtaposition? Will they honor the history with grace and respect? Is our understanding of the theme even accurate?
Here’s the deal: The theme of the exhibition and the theme of the event, while related, are different. The theme of the event is “Tailored for You” and focuses on mens tailoring. While separate, the fact remains that we live in a society where celebrities thrive on click bait and will do almost anything for a view– including but not limited to rage baiting, feigned ignorance, and outright offensive misappropriation.
This year’s exhibition is being led by the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, Andrew Bolton and the co-chairs of this year’s gala is none other than Anna Wintour, A$AP Rocky, Coleman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, and Pharrell Williams with LeBron James serving as honorary chair.
With that being said, I want to take a moment to dive into Black Dandyism and how I interpret it in the context of today’s fashion landscape. Monica L. Miller describes Black Dandyism a cultural practice where Black individuals use clothing, gesture, and wit to challenge and redefine societal perceptions of Black identity. She emphasizes that this form of self-fashioning serves as a means to assert dignity, resist stereotypes, and explore new possibilities for self-expression within the Black diaspora.
Watch this video to learn more about where the term “Dandy” originated in American culture
Watch this video to learn more about Monica L. Miller’s explorations of Black Dandyism:
What does Black Dandyism look like in contemporary fashion?
When applying Monica’s ideas and research to today’s social climate, we can break the ideas of Black Dandyism into a view core pieces:
- The intentional use of clothing to make a statement and express oneself
- The intentional use of gesture to redefine societal perceptions of Black identity
- The intentional use of clothing to illustrate wit, creativity, and intellect
The key theme here is intentionality. Black culture and fashion has shifted since 2009. Gone are the days when mens fashion was centered around a display of masculinity in both urban and more refined aesthetics. Now, some of the most prolific figures in mens fashion often incorporate elements of fashion that were historically reserved for women like the donning of pearls, silk scarves, heels, bright colors, bold patterns, flowy and billowing silhouettes, and painted fingernails.
Trend setters like A$AP Rocky, Dapper Dan, and Andre Leon Talley are trail blazers in the realm of contemporary Black Dandyism. Each person is a student of the art of fashion and has been outwardly intentional about using fashion to establish their place in fashion and to separate themselves from their peers and the world around them.
While discussing contemporary Black Dandyism, it’s impossible to ignore that this form of dandyism today isn’t limited to men by definition. In another post, we’ll explore what this means for women and how women in fashion have also positioned themselves as dandies through intentionality with regard to statement making, the redefining of societal norms, and the outward expression of wit, creativity, and intellect.
Who would you consider to be a modern Black Dandy and why?
I’d love to know.