By Brandy Hale
Staff Writer
The 2025 Met Gala is set to take place on May 5. Every year, the theme and co-chairs are announced by Vogue. On Oct. 9 Vogue announced the theme for this year via Instagram: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
The Met Gala is a way to raise money for Vogue’s Art Costume institute, which houses years of fashion and accessory pieces. Celebrities pay upwards of $75,000 per person for a ticket, according to the BBC. With many celebrities and influencers in attendance, many jump at the first chance to get tickets to attend and show off their designs.
The co-chairs, who host the event, of the 2025 Met Gala are Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, alongside Anna Wintour, who has been a chair member since 1995. This year’s honorary chair is LeBron James.
The costume institute's chief curator, Andrew Bolton, hand picks the theme each year for those in attendance to dress their best in accordance to the theme. After choosing the theme, Bolton, along with his assistants, go to the directors and Anna Wintour for official approval. This process can take up to a year, as Wintour has to find sponsorships to fit the theme in order to make it applicable.
There is an abundance of history behind each theme picked. Bolton chose Tailoring Black Style based on inspiration from the Spring 2025 exhibition. This is the first exhibition since 2003 that has a big emphasis on men’s clothing.
The inspiration comes from Monica Miller, a professor and chair of Africana studies at Columbia University, and takes after her 2009 novel, “Slaves to Fashion; Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.” The book explores how both free and enslaved Black individuals used fashion as a representation of their identities alongside power and experiences.
Looking at the history behind the theme, the types of looks we will see are going to be those similar to outfits from the 18th century, like the photo used to announce the theme. The outfits are meant to represent the relationships between clothing, identity and power from the time of slavery to modern times.
We are likely to see stereotypical men’s clothing pieces such as suits, ties, long blazers, dress shoes — along with accessories like handkerchiefs and monocles.
Fashion fans across the country will be looking forward to the 2025 Met Gala. Both the hopes of representation being appropriate and attendees upholding event standards leave with a lot to look forward to. The wonders of what designs will be presented and which celebrities will be in attendance have us all excitedly waiting.
