The Super Bowl of Fashion
“Oh my God, the Met Gala is legendary.” - Kim Kardashian, In Vogue: The 90’s
Awards season may finally be over, but Hollywood glamour isn’t ready to fade just yet. There’s still one more cultural zeitgeist-driver left to grace us with its A-List presence: The Met Gala. Personally, I’m excited to analyze and dissect every single look from the comfort of my couch. It’ll be as if I were on the red carpet myself.
On February 4th, the Metropolitan Museum of Art released an official statement on its website revealing details for this year’s annual fundraising gala to be held on May 5th. The chosen theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, commemorates the many complexities of the African diaspora and draws on the concept of Black dandyism—a term popularized by Monica L. Miller, a professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College. With contributions from renowned artists across a wide range of disciplines, the result is a thoughtfully curated collection of diverse topics, voices, and emotions celebrating the beauty of the Black experience.
This year’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” embraces the menswear-inspired focus on custom tailoring, underscoring the idea of wearing something made exclusively to fit you and your body.
In addition to Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief since 1988, this year’s co-hosts include Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams. Meanwhile, LeBron James will serve as an honorary chair, marking his first appearance at the Met Gala.
The Met Gala this year will be on May 5th, 2025. Pictured: Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, Anna Wintour, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton.
THE MET GALA: WHERE FASHION MEETS ART
The Met Gala is a fundraising event hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City—the Costume Institute, specifically. Held annually on the first Monday in May, the charity marks the opening of the Institute’s fashion exhibition and is the Institute’s primary source of funding. According to Vogue, the event hosts around 450 attendees, most often with high social capital.
They say that in order to truly understand fashion, you must understand everything other than fashion. This is especially reflective of the Met Gala as a whole—although it may be a frenzy of paparazzi, designer couture, and just pure utter glam, it’s so much more than that.
Much of what’s discussed here draws from the docuseries In Vogue: The 90s, an excellent introduction for anyone curious about fashion but unsure where to start. This series traces how the industry, spearheaded by Anna Wintour at Vogue, catapulted into mainstream popular culture throughout the 1990s. By weaving together behind-the-scenes insights, interviews with iconic celebrities and major industry figures, and archival footage, In Vogue: The 90s highlights how the decade’s bold experimentation and emphasis on individuality revitalized global fashion—resonating on runways, red carpets, and in everyday style today.
Moreover, the docuseries underscores the evolution of high-profile events like the Met Gala—which has since become the most-watched fashion affair worldwide—and demonstrates how these cultural touchpoints reflect the ongoing fusion of haute couture and popular culture. It captures the essence of a pivotal era in fashion, revealing both its history and its enduring impact on contemporary style.
Thus, to understand the significance of the Met Gala, we have to trace it back to its roots.
An entire segment of In Vogue: The 90s is dedicated to the rise of the Met Gala. In the very beginning of the episode, Anna Wintour’s voice is one of many that guides us through a flashy highlight reel of iconic red carpet moments and flashing cameras—the sheer starpower of it all. “People enjoy seeing fashion at its best,” she remarks. “Theater, fantasy, a world of creativity.” The Met Gala captures this wonderful essence of fashion as entertainment, highlighting the growing overlap between the industries. It’s an amazing sight, frankly. I understand why people call it the Super Bowl, because this really is a huge deal for the fashion world. And it wasn’t always this way—this kind of cultural phenomenon did not simply present itself to us in a quaint package, tied in a neat little bow. This is decades of hard work, innovation, and strategic evolution culminating in the spectacle we recognize today. To fully appreciate how it evolved into such an iconic event, we need to look back at where it all began.
HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Met Gala has been around since 1948, cloaked in a kind of underground exclusivity that kept it “low-profile” to the broader public; attendees primarily consisted of fashion insiders, socialites, and donors to the museum. When Anna Wintour became co-chair in 1995, she recognized the event’s potential for expanding fashion’s grip on popular culture—especially during the late ‘90s, where everything seemed charged with a hunger for change and self-expression. What I love about the Vogue docuseries is how it emphasizes the power of fashion as a universal language—its omnipresence is woven into everyday life. Sure, the breakneck speed of modern microtrends and frantic fashion cycles can feel overwhelming, but it only underlines just how pervasive style really is. How it can say so much without uttering a single word.
Today, the Met Gala positions itself as one of the most influential events in fashion, shaping global trends while also raising significant funds for the Costume Institute—proof that fashion isn’t just personal expression, but also a cultural force that transcends runways. As the #1 most visited exhibit in the museum, the Costume Institute is one of many departments that fall under the Met. Essentially, their main goal is to promote fashion as an expression of art. With the Costume Institute under Anna Wintour’s wing, fashion’s prominence within pop culture rose tremendously.
The docuseries, In Vogue: The 90s, pinpoints the 1997 Met Gala as a key catalyst that forever changed the way the general public viewed the fashion world. Its theme paid tribute to Gianni Versace, a beloved fashion designer who had been tragically murdered earlier that year. His name was on everyone’s mind, not just the fashion industry; aside from being one of Wintour’s closest friends, Versace was also well-connected in the music and entertainment industries. The ‘97 Met Gala served as a congregation of solidarity, attracting attendees from all walks of life—from singers like Elton John and Madonna to celebrities like Gwenyth Paltrow and Sandra Bullock. This starpower provided the final nudge that catapulted fashion into a new realm of public consciousness. In Tom Ford’s own words, what was once an exclusive insiders’ affair had now become “a photo opp moment that was a dream for contemporary culture.”
Kylie Jenner’s annual Met Gala bathroom selfie, where phones are forbidden. Also featured: Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Brie Larson, A$AP Rocky, and more.
WHAT IS THIS YEAR’S THEME/DRESS CODE ABOUT?
On October 9th, the fashion world buzzed with anticipation as the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed the Costume Institute’s compelling new exhibition for spring 2025—Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Drawing profound inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s influential 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibition thoughtfully guides visitors through 12 distinct sections: Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, Jook, Heritage, Beauty, Cool, and Cosmopolitanism.
More than an exploration of aesthetics, Superfine is a powerful celebration and reclamation of Black identity expressed through meticulous tailoring, exquisite detail, and vibrant storytelling. Historically, the art of dandyism has served not only as a mode of personal style, but also as a profound act of resistance and self-affirmation amidst systemic challenges. Through their interpretations, designers are expected to showcase innovative craftsmanship, dazzling patterns, and sophisticated silhouettes, paying tribute to the expansive history and creativity of Black fashion across diverse cultures and time periods.
Centering Black designers, artists, and cultural innovators, this exhibition provides an essential platform for recognizing their immense contributions to global fashion. By spotlighting these trailblazers, the Met Gala sparks critical conversations around identity, visibility, and cultural heritage. It invites audiences not just to observe, but to actively engage with, honor, and deeply appreciate the transformative power of Black cultural expression within fashion and beyond.
MY FAVORITE MET GALA THEMES
Although it is jokingly referred to as the Super Bowl, we should be glad that there are no objective winners or losers in the game of fashion. If there were, I think we’d be suffocated by competition.
The Met Gala introduced themes in 1973. Since then, every year has always brought a pleasant surprise. With that in mind, let me walk you through a few of my personal favorites in no particular order—each one a testament to how imaginative, subversive, and delightfully extravagant the Met Gala can be.
Haute Couture (1995)
I loved Haute Couture. It was sleek and simple, with overarching notes of elegance. This year brought Anna Wintour to the spotlight as co-chair for the very first time, marking the beginning of an iconic era. Haute Couture spotlighted the art of custom-made, handcrafted fashion at the highest level of workmanship, underscoring how painstaking details like hand-stitched embroidery and custom tailoring shape the world’s concept of luxury. Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss looked absolutely stunning; I can’t unsee How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Kate’s lemon-coloured backless dress.
Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (2018)
The 2018 Met Gala is known for its somewhat controversial yet divine theme, exploring the centuries-long interplay between sacred art and high fashion. Attendees were encouraged to dress modestly, with the dress code being “Sunday Best.” By bridging the gap between sacred tradition and runway spectacle, the dress code showcased how a deep well of heritage can be translated into bold, imaginative statements on the red carpet. The Costume Institute welcomed over 1.6 million visitors to the Heavenly Bodies exhibition—the Met’s most visited exhibition to date. 2018 really amplified the “spectacle” of it all, pushing the boundaries of what a Met Gala theme can provoke and setting the stage for even more daring interpretations in years to come.
Camp: Notes on Fashion (2019)
In 2019, the Met Gala turned to Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay, “Notes on ‘Camp,’” for inspiration, resulting in the theme “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” Sontag’s original work is less of a strict definition and more of a playful list of observations about the over-the-top, gloriously self-aware world of camp. It celebrates theatricality, irony, and artifice—qualities that empower fashion to push boundaries and poke fun at itself. It was a night where the line between costume and couture seemed to vanish, and where the essence of Sontag’s essay—style as a spectacle of wit and creativity—came roaring to life on the red carpet.
Karlie Kloss is the perfect case in point. After posting on Twitter that she was looking camp “right in the eye”—and she most definitely was—she sent the Internet into shambles, resulting in commentators absolutely dogpiling on Kloss’ look. As a matter of fact, the entirety of the 2019 Met Gala received a great deal of criticism for its abstract theme, even years later. Personally? I think people simply didn’t get it. While I did think the Karlie meme was hilarious, who’s to argue that this moment wasn’t camp itself, perfectly embodying the theme?
Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion (2024)
As the most recent Met Gala, it’s fresh in my mind, especially Anok Yai’s 98,000 Swavroski crystals. The dress code, “The Garden of Time,” examined the interplay among time, nature, and social change, underscoring the fragile, ephemeral nature of fashion. Tyla’s custom dress made entirely out of sand? Holding the sands of time? Perfectly executed.
As we look ahead to 2025’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,”with its tailored dress code, there is a palpable sense of anticipation surrounding the way designers, artists, and guests will interpret this powerful homage. In celebration of Black creativity and heritage, the event is poised to spark conversations that go beyond aesthetics—a potent reminder that fashion is embedded into our history. We should not be afraid to acknowledge this. Just as the Met Gala raises essential funds for the Costume Institute, it also wields remarkable power in shaping global fashion trends and spotlighting whose stories get told. Each year, its themes prompt us to reflect on how we represent ourselves and our communities, both on and off the red carpet.
So where do we go from here? Perhaps the real question is whether we, as a collective, are prepared to let fashion continue evolving into a stage for cross-cultural celebration and conversation—one where every thread and silhouette has a story to tell.
