Superfine: Tailoring Black Style
May 10, 2025 to Oct 26, 2025
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Superfine: Tailoring Black Style
Exhibition Dates: May 10–October 26, 2025
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, Gallery 999, Floor 2
The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, examines the historical and cultural emergence of the Black Dandy. On view from May 10 to October 26, 2025, this groundbreaking exhibition explores the figure of the Black Dandy from its roots in 18th-century Enlightenment Europe to its modern-day expressions in cities like London, New York, and Paris. Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibition reveals how fashion and style have been used by Black individuals as tools for self-expression, resistance, and redefinition.
Through a diverse array of objects—garments, accessories, paintings, photographs, prints, film excerpts, and more—the exhibition highlights the ways in which Black dandyism intertwines aesthetic playfulness with political and social commentary. Visitors will encounter historical and contemporary pieces that portray the Black Dandy as both an identity and an idea, addressing themes such as ownership, ease, presence, and cosmopolitanism.
The exhibition is curated by Monica L. Miller in collaboration with The Costume Institute’s Andrew Bolton, William DeGregorio, and Amanda Garfinkel, with conceptual design by Torkwase Dyson. Artist Tanda Francis has crafted bespoke sculpted mannequin heads for the exhibit. Major funding is provided by Louis Vuitton, Instagram, and the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
The Met Gala® on May 5, 2025, co-chaired by Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour, with honorary chair LeBron James, will mark the exhibition’s opening.
Author: The Met
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