“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” charts three centuries of dress. The Met Gala blue carpet was like a fashion history lesson, with playwright Jeremy O. Harris representing the 18th-century (the era in which the exhibition begins) to designer Andre Walker working the clean-lined ease of today.
Rihanna, with a new baby bump, modeled some Belle Epoque curves, as did Jodie Turner-Smith whose Burberry ensemble paid homage to Selika Lazevski, a black equestrian who lived in Paris. The Harlem Renaissance inspired Jazz Age references, such as fka Twigs’s Wales Bonner dress, while the ’30s more broadly were an inspiration for Madonna who reprised her role as a latter-day Marlene Dietrich. The most deeply referenced decades were the ’40s (tip your hat to Teyana Taylor and Doja Cat) and the ’70s, when men’s wardrobes became more expressive and individualistic, as represented by Leon Bridges’s Nicholas Daley flares and many open collars. Pinstripes and tailoring go hand-in-hand, and there were some subversive takes on corp-core. As a whole, the red carpet was a demonstration of power dressing.
The 18th-Century Dandy
Jeremy O. Harris in Balmain
Photo: Getty Images
Military Touches
Lewis Hamilton in Wales Bonner
ANGELA WEISS/Getty Images
Barry Keoghan in Valentino
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Mindy Kaling
Theo Wargo
The Romatic Era
Guillaume Diop in Valentino
Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images
Al Sharpton
John Shearer
Edward Enninful
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Kaytranada in McQueen
Gilbert Flores/Getty Images
Laura Harrier in Gap Studio
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Belle Epoque
Rihanna in Marc Jacobs
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Nicki Minaj in Thom Browne
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Fei Fei Sun in Moncler x Edward Enninful
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Tessa Thompson in Atelier Prabal Gurung
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Jodie Turner-Smith in Burberry
Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images
Tiffany Raja
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Mona Patel in Thom Browne
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sarah Snook in Anonlychild
Savion Washington/Getty Images
The Roaring Twenties
Iké Udé
Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images
Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann
Mike Coppola/MG25/Getty Images
FKA twigs in Wales Bonner
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Tyler Mitchell in Wales Bonner
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Hunter Schafer in Prada
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Malick Bodian in Chanel
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
30s Sizzle and Spectators Shoes
Madonna in Tom Ford
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Gigi Hadid in Miu Miu
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Khaby Lame in Boss
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Louis Partridge in Prada
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Tramell Tillman in Thom Browne
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Ugbad Abdi in Michael Kors Collection
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Dapper Dan in his own design
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
BJ Gray in House of Gray
Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images
Keith Powers in Boss
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Imaan Hammam in Magda Butrym
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
The Fabulous
40s
Teyana Taylor in Ruth E. Carter x Marc Jacobs
John Shearer
Bad Bunny in Prada
John Shearer
Maluma and Willy Chavarria
Theo Wargo
Doja Cat in Marc Jacobs
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Babyface in LaQuan Smith
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Colman Domingo in Valentino
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Chance the Rapper in Versace
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Kara Young in Anonlychild
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
The Seductive 70s
Zendaya in Louis Vuitton
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Pharrell Williams in Louis Vuitton
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Leon Bridges in Nicholas Daley
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab in Moncler
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz in Moncler x Edward Enninful
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Edvin Thompson
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Law Roach in Burberry
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Miles Chamley-Watson in Charlie Casely-Hayford
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Henry Golding in Ozwald Boateng
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
J Balvin in Marc Jacobs
Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images
Damson Idris in Tommy Hilfiger
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Doechii in Louis Vuitton
Theo Wargo
Pin-Striped Power Suiting
Janelle Monáe in Thom Browne
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Chioma Nnadi in Martine Rose
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Emma Chamberlain in Courrèges
Gilbert Flores/Getty Images
Nice and Easy
Ib Kamara in Chanel
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Evan Ross
Savion Washington/Getty Images
Future in Louis Vuitton
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Dev Hynes in Valentino
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Stormzy in Tom ford
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Adrien Brody in Fear of God
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Andre Walker in Fear of God
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jerry Lorenzo and Desiree Manuel, both in Fear of God
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Central Cee in Jacqemus
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Rosé in Saint Laurent
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Christian Lacroix is Laird Borrelli-Persson’s fashion raison d’etre; the way he combined romance and historicism set her on the path she is following today. Borrelli-Persson studied literature at Boston College, spending her junior year abroad at Oxford, where she added some art history. After graduation she moved to New York to intern ... Read More
