Image courtesy of mamamia.com
Fashion’s biggest night is quickly approaching! The 2025 Met Gala, put on annually by Vogue at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will take place on Monday, May 5, 2025. Fashion Reverie is here to provide all the details, from the star-studded guest list to the run of show.
Let us begin with a bit of Met Gala history. The ball’s inception was based on the opening of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which takes on a new theme each year, matched by the gala’s detailed dress code that all participants follow. Annually, the event raises eight figures that benefit the Costume Institute.
Image courtesy of blackbride.com
About This Year’s theme
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the name of the Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” on Wednesday, October 9. The announcement spurred excitement for the thought-provoking and culture-rich exhibit, and allowed ample time for the invitees to curate their themed looks.
The exhibition’s theme draws from Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, by Monica L. Miller, published in 2009. The text explores the origins of Black dandyism, identifying the emergence of the Black dandy in 18th-century England, where formerly enslaved African Americans conformed to European fashion to reclaim dignity and challenge expectations. (Duke University Press)
The exhibition will be presented in 12 sections, each one embodying an attribute of Black dandyism. They are: Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, Jook (also known as places of respite for post-emancipation African Americans), Heritage, Beauty, Cool, and Cosmopolitanism. Echoing the theme of the exhibition, the infamous dress code for this year is described as “Tailored for You,” striking a more ominous tone than years past, leaving guests with subjectivity in how they might interpret it.
Image courtesy of F1
The event is routinely star-studded, and this year is no exception. A selected group of co-chairs will join Vogue’s Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour, as the faces of the event. This year, they are Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams. LeBron James will serve as an honorary chair.
About This Year’s Co-Chairs
Image courtesy of Getty Images
Colman Domingo is an award-winning American actor, director, producer, playwright, and minister. Outside of his endless talent, he is known for his incomparable style, which can be defined as impeccably tailored, cohesive, and especially refreshing in the menswear landscape. He routinely makes it on best-dressed lists following red carpet events.
Lewis Hamilton is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Formula One has long been associated with luxury, style, and refinement. Yet, the sport has seen a recent increase in association with the fashion industry, and it is a match made in heaven. Two luxury entities have come together for a mutually beneficial sporty yet fashionable marriage. Lewis Hamilton is set to be a shining example of this come May 5.
Image courtesy of harpersbazaar.com
A$AP Rocky is no stranger to the Met Gala or to fashion. Some know the American rapper for his hit song Fashion Killa, and he lives up to the name, increasingly reputed as a fashion icon. He is also recognized as Rihanna’s partner, for whom he named the famed song. The two are an iconic pair, and fans of the event are sure to wait with bated breath for a Rihanna appearance on this year’s red carpet.
Pharrell Williams is a jack of all trades. Pharrell is best known as an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record-producing legend. Always a fashion legend, recent forays into the industry have solidified him as a mainstay. He currently holds the title of Creative Director of menswear at Louis Vuitton and has reinvented the brand with his innovative and forward-thinking eye, often paying homage to his hip-hop roots and streetwear.
This year’s Gala will dust off an old tradition, reintroducing a host committee, and this year’s list is star studded. It is comprised of André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Tyla, Usher, and Kara Walker.
Image courtesy of wwd.com
A standout on this year’s host committee list is certainly Doechii, as this year will mark her Met Gala debut. The rapper/singer has been making music for a long time, but has certainly made a splash this year after making history as the third woman ever to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album since the awards’ inception in 1989. Moreover, she is a rapidly rising fashion icon status, and Vogue has certainly taken note. Doechii and her team nailed look after look at her Paris Fashion Week appearances this spring, donning major designers such as Schiaparelli. Her debut will certainly have Met Gala watchers anxiously anticipating her appearance.
A collection of red-carpet hosts of similar celebrity status will also decorate the carpet, interviewing equally star-studded guests. When guests enter the museum for the seated portion, each chair will be filled with one of the most prominent and influential people of the current moment, spanning fashion, the arts, sports, and politics. Once the last star leaves the carpet and the doors to the museum close, whatever happens inside is kept under wraps, thanks to a strictly enforced no-phones policy. What happens at the Met Gala stays at the Met Gala!
However, those who may not be able to have a seat at the gala can catch every detail of the red carpet from the comfort of home. This year’s livestream will be broadcast across all of Vogue’s digital platforms and YouTube. Singer and actor Teyana Taylor, actor and producer La La Anthony, and actor and comedian Ego Nwodim will host the official livestream.
As far as post coverage goes, be sure to check back here at Fashion Reverie for our best dressed list, and impossible-to-miss moments. With a theme as rich in history as it is in style, the 2025 Met Gala promises not just fashion, but a moment of cultural reflection.
—Marley Gifford
Speak Your Mind