Fashion

Men of the Met: A Master Class in Black Fashion, Dandyism, and Tailoring

Our editors bring to you the best dressed men of the 2025 Met Gala

May 13, 2025

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s steps were transformed into a magnificent platform for a celebration of style, tradition, and cultural expression on the first Monday in May.

The 2025 Met Gala, with the subject Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, celebrated the lasting influence of Black designers, craftspeople, and tastemakers who have transformed tailoring as a tool for self-expression and empowerment rather than just a technique.

The evening honored decades of Black sartorial genius, from the defiant polish of streetwear’s contemporary innovators to the accuracy of master tailors, and was inspired by the Costume Institute’s ground-breaking exhibition.

The rich history of dandyism, a cultural and artistic movement where precise tailoring, painstaking attention to detail, and individual flair become potent instruments of sophistication and resistance, was at the heart of the evening’s plot.

As a testament to fashion’s capacity to convey dignity, intelligence, and defiance beyond the realm of clothing, dandyism was rooted in the traditions of legendary Black dandies like Frederick Douglass and the Sapeurs of the Congo and echoed in the modern swagger of icons like André Leon Talley and Dapper Dan.

Interpretations of the subject that combined architectural accuracy, sumptuous textiles, and cultural narrative, all infused with a feeling of pride and purpose, glistened on the red carpet.

In this post, we highlight the night’s best-dressed women, whose looks not only demonstrated inventiveness and technical skill but also captured the essence of dandyism and the classic elegance of Black fashion.

These are the designs that will go down in the history of fashion: