On Wednesday morning, the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled the theme for its upcoming fashion exhibit: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Anna Wintour, Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Colman Domingo will serve as co-chairs for the associated spring 2025 Met Gala, with LeBron James as the honorary chair.
The exhibit will examine the history of the Black dandy, from the 18th century to modern day. It will be the first in the Costume Institute’s history to be solely centered on designers of color, as well as the first menswear-focused exhibit in 20 years. Its title comes from the memoir of an 18th-century enslaved man who wrote that he planned to celebrate his freedom through “a suit of superfine clothes.” The Met Gala dress code will be announced in early 2025.
Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, drew inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” which explores the cultural importance of the Black dandy. In 18th century England, burgeoning conspicuous consumption led to dandified Black slaves who began personalizing their uniforms in an act of sartorial individuality. Miller’s book follows the impact of Black dandyism to modern day, showing how Black people have long been arbiters of style. The author will serve as guest curator of the exhibit.
“Over the last few years, menswear has undergone somewhat of a renaissance. At the vanguard of this revitalization is a group of extremely talented Black designers who are constantly challenging normative categories of identity,” Bolton shared in a statement. “While their styles are both singular and distinctive, what unites them is a reliance on various tropes that are rooted in the tradition of dandyism, and specifically Black dandyism. It was this observation that led me to research the Black dandy’s origins and, ultimately, to Monica’s pioneering work on the subject.”
“The history of Black dandyism illustrates how Black people have transformed from being enslaved and stylized as luxury items, acquired like any other signifier of wealth and status, to autonomous, self-fashioning individuals who are global trendsetters,” Miller added. “This exhibition will explore concepts that define Black dandyism specifically and uncover elements of productive tension that appear when considering the figure — such as ownership, authority and self-possession, ease, exaggeration, freedom, transgression, dissonance, and spectacularity. It will also highlight the aesthetic playfulness that the dandy engenders and the ways in which sartorial experimentation gestures at both assimilation and distinction — all while telling a story about self and society.”
The exhibit will include both historical garments and modern-day pieces by American and European designers, alongside “drawings and prints, decorative arts, ephemera, paintings, photographs and film excerpts by individuals whose work has been instrumental to the formation and understanding of Black identities and experiences from the 18th century to today,” per a press release. A book featuring new photography by Tyler Mitchell, as well as contributions from other artists, will be published alongside the exhibit.
The Met’s Costume Institute (along with the fashion industry as a whole) has faced criticism for its shortcomings surrounding diversity and inclusion, and the “Superfine” exhibit aims to address this. “I wanted to stage a show on race that could use our collection to tell a story that had been absent from the conversation both within the museum and outside,” Bolton told The New York Times. “This is a first of its kind.”
Louis Vuitton is the lead sponsor for the exhibit and Met Gala, with additional funding coming from Instagram, the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe and Africa Fashion International, and The Perry Foundation. Following the Met Gala on May 5, the exhibit will be open from May 10 through Oct. 26, 2025.
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Source: Fashionista.com