The Metropolitan Museum of Art today (October 9, 2024) announced the theme for its upcoming Costume Institute exhibition and Met Gala, titled, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Drawing inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, published in 2009, the exhibition will explore Black dandyism through both contemporary and historical garments and accessories from cosmopolitan hubs such as London, New York and Paris.
The Met Gala will be co-chaired by Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, actor Coleman Domingo, rapper A$AP Rocky, race car driver Lewis Hamilton and Louis Vuitton‘s menswear creative director Pharrell Williams. NBA star athlete and entrepreneur LeBron James will serve as the honorary co-chair.
In a press release Miller said, “Fashion and dress have been used in a contest of power and aesthetics for Black people from the time of enslavement to the present, and dandyism has long served as a vehicle through which one can manipulate the relationship between clothing, identity, and power. 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.
“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.”
With Louis Vuitton taking the lead on sponsorship of the exhibition and the benefit gala, the brand is expected to make a grand statement, further elevating its visibility through the global pop culture spectacle that is the Met Gala. Additional major funding will be provided by Meta’s Instagram, the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe and Africa Fashion International and The Perry Foundation.
