A file picture shows Pharrell Williams posing for a portrait to promote the film 'Piece By Piece' during the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Photo: AP
The theme of the next Met Gala and its celebrity chairs have been announced: Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, ASAP Rocky and LeBron James will help the museum launch an exhibit examining Black style in menswear over the centuries.
Williams and Hamilton were on hand Wednesday morning (Oct 9) to help officials at the Metropolitan Museum of Art announce "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style", the spring exhibit that will be launched by the Met Gala on May 5.
A precise dress code for the star-studded gala – tailored specifically to the exhibit's theme – will be announced early next year.
And this one's for the guys: It's the first fashion exhibit at the Met in over 20 years to focus exclusively on menswear, which explains the almost all-male slate of hosts (Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who oversees the gala each year, rounds out the list of co-chairs).
Hamilton, the Formula 1 star, gave poignant remarks on how fashion became a way of expressing his identity.
When he was young, Hamilton said, "I was forced to conform. From my daily routine down to what I wore. My routine was rigid. And as the only Black kid on the racing track, there was no one like me to look up to.”
Later in life, he said, "I started to express myself more creatively and more specifically, through fashion. Finding my identity in how I dressed. This was a huge positive change."
"I know the power of representation and how fashion can be a vehicle to help push diversity forward and celebrate our differences,” Hamilton added.
"I’m excited to celebrate Black history ... and to show that inclusion and creativity go hand in hand.
Read more: 'I pinch myself every day': Pharrell Williams on his Louis Vuitton appointment
Museum director and CEO Max Hollein said the exhibit, which will run for six months – more than previous Met fashion exhibits–- would explore "the importance of sartorial style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora,” and would celebrate "the power of style as a democratic tool for rejecting stereotypes and accessing new possibilities”.
He noted it was inspired by a book, Slaves To Fashion: Black Dandyism And The Styling Of Black Diasporic Identity by Monica L Miller (a Barnard professor and guest curator of the show).
Williams, who among his many pursuits is menswear creative director for Louis Vuitton, began by paying homage to the artists responsible for the pyramids in Egypt, and spoke broadly of the power of art.
"To me art is an expression of our humanity. It’s where we store our history, it's how we tell our stories, and the literal manifestation of our dreams," Williams said during the theme announcement.
"We are the survivors of what is perhaps the most intense hardships, trials and tribulations to ever bedevil a group of human beings, and not only did we survive, we carried the music, the culture, the beauty and the universal language across an ocean...” Williams added.
"We gave it all back to the world and we continue to and that is what the Met Gala will celebrate – us, our gift, our history, our food, our resilience, our beauty, our style and our strength, our authorship."
Andrew Bolton, chief curator at the Met's Costume Institute. noted that in the last few years menswear has been undergoing a renaissance.
"That’s thanks in no small part to men of style like Lewis (Hamilton) and his fellow co-chairs, men who aren’t afraid to take risks when it comes to their self-presentation,” Bolton said.
Read more: Classic, not trendy: Menswear evolves, but traditional looks still favoured
He added that Williams was among a group of talented Black designers that represent "a flowering of Black creativity in fashion that were very proud to highlight in this exhibition”.
Miller, the author and guest curator, noted that back in the 1780s, "dandies” were often defined as "men who paid distinct and sometimes excessive attention to dress".
"Historical definitions of dandyism range from absolute precision in dress and tailoring to flamboyance and fabulousness," Miller said.
The show will focus specifically on Black dandyism and its various manifestations.
The Met Gala red carpet is always one of the biggest pop culture spectacles of the year with stars like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Billy Porter and Rihanna wearing outfits tailored to the night’s theme.
It is also a huge fundraiser: Last year's gala raised more than US$26mil (approximately RM111.6mil), a record and an enormous sum for such an event.
"Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" will be open to the public from May 10 to Oct 26, 2025. – AP
