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The Met’s Bold New Exhibit Tailors Black Style Into Art
May 6, 2025, 1:43.32 pm ET

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Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met is putting Black style in the spotlight. Opening May 10, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style is The Costume Institute’s newest exhibition—and a powerful exploration of how fashion has shaped Black identity from the 18th century to today. On view through October 26, the show dives into the history of Black dandyism, self-expression, and suiting as strategy, style, and social commentary.


Photo: Presence Gallery/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Organized by guest curator Monica L. Miller, the exhibit is inspired by her acclaimed book Slaves to Fashion and features 12 striking sections—from “Disguise” to “Cool”—that reflect how fashion has been used as both resistance and radiance across centuries.

The show breaks new ground for The Met—it’s the Costume Institute’s first major menswear exhibition in more than 20 years, and one of its most thematically ambitious. “Dandyism can seem frivolous,” says Miller, but it often poses a challenge to social and cultural hierarchies. The title itself nods not only to “superfine wool,” but to feeling especially good in one’s own body, in clothes that express the self.


Photo: Cool Gallery/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Expect more than just garments. Artist Torkwase Dyson contributes monumental “hypershape” sculptures, while Tanda Francis designed bronze-inspired mannequin heads evoking collective identity. Special consultant Iké Udé curates a section spotlighting the revolutionary flair of Julius Soubise whose style and behavior challenged societal norms in 18th-century London, while Tyler Mitchell captures camaraderie across generations of stylish Black men in a stunning photo essay.


Photo: Champion Gallery/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Standout pieces include Frederick Douglass’s personal clothing as points of power and distinction, 19th-century jockey silks to a 1974 issue of Jet magazine featuring Walt Fraizer on the cover. The exhibit also features a suit owned by André Leon Talley, and an ensemble from the 2022 Polo Ralph Lauren Exclusively for Morehouse and Spelman Colleges collection.


Photo: Ownership Gallery/The Metrpolitan Museum of Art

The exhibition isn’t just about fashion—it’s a cultural reckoning in fabric, thread, and style.


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