It's time to start gearing up for the next edition of fashion's night of nights: the first Monday in May, 2025
The Met Gala 2025 will, as always, celebrate the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring exhibition, which this time will centre around the political and aesthetic constructs of Black dandyism.
From the theme to the co-hosts, scroll down for everything you need to know about the Met Gala 2025.
When is the Met Gala 2025?
“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will run from 10 May to 26 October 2025, following the Met Gala on 5 May, which provides the Costume Institute with its primary source of funding for all activities.
What is the Met Gala 2025 theme?
The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition – 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' – will take the Black dandy as its subject, examining the importance of clothing and style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora. The first Costume Institute exhibition since 2003’s 'Men in Skirts' to focus exclusively on menswear, the show is inspired by co-curator Monica Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, in which she establishes Black dandyism as both an aesthetic and political construct. The exhibition will be arranged by 12 characteristics of Black dandyism, an organisational principle informed by a 1934 Zora Neale Hurston essay, The Characteristics of Negro Expression.
“Superfine” will feature garments, paintings, photographs, and more from artists including Torkwase Dyson, Tanda Francis, André Grenard Matswa, and Tyler Mitchell—all exploring the indelible style of Black dandies, from the 18th century through to the present day. (Miller also serves as a guest curator for the show, working alongside Costume Institute Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton.)
The contemporary designers involved – including Grace Wales Bonner, Pharrell Williams and the late Virgil Abloh – Miller notes, are “well versed in the kinds of issues that we’re talking about in the exhibition, [issues] that are related to race and power, that are related to immigration, slavery, colonies and colonisation, empowerment, joy, aesthetics.”
Who are the co-chairs of the Met Gala 2025?
This year the co-chairs are Pharrell Williams, actor Colman Domingo, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, musician A$AP Rocky and Anna Wintour, with basketball star Lebron James acting as honorary co-chair.
Reviving a tradition from years past, the 2025 Met Gala will also have a host committee, made up 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.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/MG21
What is the Met Gala?
Organised and presided over by Anna Wintour since 1995, the Met Gala has become a much-loved annual celebration of fashion. A fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, it has traditionally been timed to mark the opening of its annual fashion exhibition. Year after year, the event raises eight-figure sums.
What was the theme of the Met Gala 2024?
The spring 2024 exhibit was entitled 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion'. The exhibition was structured around approximately 50 beautiful and historically significant pieces from the collection that are far too fragile ever to be worn again. “These [were] the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ of the title,” Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu curator in charge of The Costume Institute, explained. Cutting-edge curation and technology gave a deeper understanding of these fragile pieces – an illusion technique known as Pepper’s ghost had been used to revive some looks, while video animation, light projection, soundscaping, AI, CGI and other forms of sensory stimulation provided a deeper context to each piece, according to Vogue’s Luke Leitch.
In 2023, the Met Gala theme was 'Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty', in tribute to the legendary designer who died in 2019. Fittingly, the Met Gala dress code was 'In Honour of Karl' – with many guests drawing inspiration from the creative director’s tenures at Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, Patou and his own eponymous brand.
What happens at the Met Gala?
In short: it’s a secret. For this reason, guests must abide by the no phone (and, therefore, no social media) policy. However, the rules were famously broken by a cluster of celebrities smoking and taking selfies in the bathroom in 2017. The event usually involves a high-profile performer (like Rihanna), and guests always explore the exhibition before sitting down together for dinner.
Photo: Getty
How many people attend the Met Gala?
The event usually hosts about 450 attendees, welcoming stars, young creatives, and paragons from the worlds of fashion, the arts, sports, and politics.
Who is invited to the Met Gala?
The 2024 guest list included everyone from Zendaya, Kim Kardashian, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez and Dua Lipa, to Nicole Kidman, Lana del Rey and Jennie Kim. As always, designers attended with muses, like Conner Ives and his close friend, Ivy Getty; Jonathan Anderson and Ambika Mod; and Kim Jones and Raye.
Who hosted the Met Gala 2024?
The 2024 hosts were Zendaya and Chris Hemsworth, Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Vogue’s Anna Wintour.
Photo: Arturo Holmes/MG21/Getty Images
Can I watch the Met Gala?
If you’re determined not to miss out on all the pageantry and excitement of the evening, you’re in luck; the official Met Gala livestream will provide exclusive coverage of all the action for the fifth year in a row.
Singer and actor Teyana Taylor, actor and producer La La Anthony, and actor and comedian Ego Nwodim will host this year’s livestream, which will be broadcast across all of Vogue’s digital platforms (as well as on YouTube).
What are some of the best looks of all time?
Over the years, the Met Gala has delivered viral looks that are still being discussed today. Rihanna’s dramatic Guo Pei couture cape and gown in 2015 springs to mind here. What about Lady Gaga’s 16-minute entrance while wearing transformative Brandon Maxwell in 2019? Divine. Another outstanding moment was Kim Kardashian’s black-out Balenciaga dress from 2021.
What looks did we see in 2024?
The 2024 dress code was themed around 'The Garden of Time', inspired by a short story of the same name by JG Ballard, which is set in an edenic villa surrounded by crystalline flowers with translucent leaves. Guests nodded to the theme with florals and hourglass silhouettes, rare archive looks and stately ball gowns. Some highlights to note include: Kim Kardashian in a rib-crunching Maison Margeila haute corset; Zendaya in look 8 from John Galliano’s first Givenchy couture collection in 1996; and Greta Lee in sculptured Loewe lace.
Originally published by Vogue.com.