Everything you need to know about the Met Gala 2025 and ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ exhibition

The Met Gala, which takes place each year on the first Monday of May, has long been a glittering highlight of the fashion calendar (so much so, it is often called ‘The Oscars of Fashion’). The gala, officially called the Costume Institute Benefit, is a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. But it’s also one of the most anticipated red carpets around, with attendees dressing to a theme and turning out looks that routinely turn into viral sensations.

With just a few days to go, Wallpaper* has compiled all of the details surrounding the event – consider this your Met Gala cheat sheet. Read on for everything we know bout this year’s gala, from the theme and dress code to the co-chairs and where you can watch the spectacle unfold.

The date: Monday 5 May 2025

Tradition dictates that the Met Gala takes place on the first Monday of May, which this year falls on 5 May. The event is held at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The concurrent Costume Institute exhibition, ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, which dictates the theme of the event (more on this later), will be open to the public from 6 May – 26 October 2025.

The theme: ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’

The theme of the Met Gala reflects the year’s Costume Institute exhibition, which the gala also inaugurates. This year’s is called ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, and is based on the 18th-century looks explored in Monica Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. In it, Miller considers how Black people have used fashion to ‘imagine new ways of embodying political and social responsibilities’.

The theme, therefore, focuses on the role of sartorial style in the forming of Black identities, with a focus on the ‘Black dandy’, defined as a Black man who ‘paid distinct and sometimes excessive attention to dress’. ‘Superfine’ will redefine the notion of a dandy while celebrating Black fashion through the ages.

Composed of clothing, photographs, art, texts and artefacts, this will be the first Costume Institute exhibition to focus exclusively on menswear for more than 20 years (since 2003’s 'Men in Skirts' theme). The exhibition will be arranged by 12 characteristics of Black dandyism, informed by a 1934 essay by writer Zora Neale Hurston. Additionally, Torkwase Dyson will be curating the scenography for ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’; look out for Wallpaper's exclusive interview with the artist.

The dress code: ‘Tailored for You’

While the theme of the Met Gala is ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, the dress code presents attendees with a looser assignment – the gala says that its dress code is ‘purposefully designed to provide guidance and invite creative interpretation’. This year’s is ‘Tailored for You’, which, we can safely assume, will invite attendees to focus on suiting more generally.

Expect diverse renditions of classic tailoring, inspired takes on tuxedos and lapels, and a smattering of hats, ties, canes, brooches and pocket squares. Designers like Willy Chavarria, Thom Browne and Grace Wales Bonner will likely relish the assignment – each is known for their distinct riffs on sartorial classics.

While the dress code is ripe for inspiration, some Met Gala fans have voiced concern that it might serve as a licence for men to turn up in a ‘boring’ suit – a phenomenon frowned upon in previous years. Here’s hoping that such concerns prove empty.

Recently, Burberry announced that it would be working with image architect Law Roach as a partner and consultant on the creative expression of the Met Gala theme, as well as for the curation of the Burberry Met Gala table.

The co-chairs: Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and Lewis Hamilton

The Met Gala appoints co-chairs for each event. Although their role is ambassadorial, it’s rumoured that the panel also takes an active role planning the Met’s dress code, dinner and performances.

2025’s honourary chair will be sporting legend LeBron James. Co-chairs will be Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky, Lewis Hamilton and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who has been the driving force behind the Met Gala since 1995.

The Costume Institute has also announced that it will be reviving the tradition of having a ‘host committee’. This features a slew of Black luminaries including André 3000, Grace Wales Bonner, Simone Biles, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Usher, Janelle Monáe, Spike Lee, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Edward Enninful, Olivier Rousteing, Dapper Dan, Regina King, Sha’Carri Richardson and Tyla.

Attendees might look to the co-chairs, many of whom have a track record of bringing top-tier menswear to the red carpet, for inspiration: Domingo made headlines when he appeared in mustard yellow haute couture at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards. Hamilton is the king of F1 paddock fashion, showing up to his final race with Mercedes in a red Rick Owens look. A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, is a menswear stalwart, boasting standout Met looks ranging from a custom Gucci outfit in 2023 to the vintage quilt he donned in 2021.

Where can I watch?

Vogue, which organises the event, will be live-streaming the red carpet on all of its digital platforms, including YouTube, with singer and actor Teyana Taylor; actor and producer La La Anthony; and actor and comedian Ego Nwodim hosting.

What happens inside the gala, however, is kept strictly under wraps, with guests required to abide by a no phone or social media policy.