The Met says the show “presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to today through the lens of dandyism.” Miller, a Barnard professor and guest curator of the show, along with the Met’s star curator Andrew Bolton, noted at a museum event last year that back in the 1780s, “dandies” were often defined as “men who paid distinct and sometimes excessive attention to dress.”.
The new committee includes a slew of luminaries from various fields: athletes Simone Biles and husband Jonathan Owens, Angel Reese and Sha’Carri Richardson; filmmakers Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Regina King; actors Ayo Edebiri, Audra McDonald and Jeremy Pope; musicians Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Monáe and André 3000; author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; artists Jordan Casteel, Rashid Johnson and Kara Walker; playwrights Jeremy O. Harris and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; and fashion figures Grace Wales Bonner, Edward Enninful, Dapper Dan and Olivier Rousteing.
This year’s exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” will run longer than previous shows at six months, and is inspired by Monica L. Miller's book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.”.
The Met's Costume Institute also announced on Tuesday that it will be reviving what it called a longstanding tradition of a “host committee” — basically a new slate of high-profile celebrities on top of the previously announced gala hosts: Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and LeBron James.
It’s a suitable concept — meant to be liberally interpreted, of course — for the first Met Gala exhibit in more than 20 years to focus exclusively on menswear, specifically Black style in menswear over the centuries.
