All eyes are on the Met Gala when celebrities across the globe will grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The event’s red carpet is a platform for fashion creativity at its best, where the best designers the world over showcase their outrageous creations, worn by the who’s who.
Each year, the dress code takes inspiration from the exhibition’s theme. This year, the theme is ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,’ celebrating Black Dandyism.
The exhibition will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue, from May 10 through October 26.
While the spotlight will be on the stars invited for the Met Gala and what outfits they wear, the theme is inspired by Monica L Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, with dress code for the evening as ‘Tailored for You’. The dress code is a nod to the exhibition’s focus on suiting and menswear — from specific silhouettes to various fabrics and accessories — that is purposefully designed to both provide guidance and invite creative interpretation.
“Every year, The Met Gala brings together cultural figures and style icons from across a wide array of fields to celebrate and support art and fashion,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s Marina Kellen French director and chief executive officer in a media note, adding, “This spring’s event will mark the opening of the exhibition, a profoundly scholarly show centering an important legacy of Black-led sartorial innovation and creative expression that continues to inspire and shape our world today.”
The Met Gala, which was once called the Costume Institute Benefit, is also the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It is believed that the 2024 Met Gala had raised more than $26 million, a record sum for the party.
This year, the 2025 Met Gala’s honourary chair members include three-time basketball gold medallist LeBron James, along with seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Condé Nast and editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Vogue, as co-chairs.
Then there’s musician and men’s wear designer Pharrell Williams, rapper ASAP Rocky, and actor Colman Domingo. It is also the first time when since 2019, a host committee will have athletes like Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, playwright Jeremy O Harris, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Broadway star Audra McDonald, singers Tyla and Usher, American track and field athlete Sha’Carri Richardson, to name a few.
Sha’Carri Richardson, who is part of the host committee and celebrating the undeniable impact of Black creativity on fashion and culture for centuries, said, “Fashion sets us apart, but it also brings us together-whether you’re shining on the track, commanding the stage, or just making the streets of New York your runway. Our style isn’t just what we wear—it’s how we move, how we own our space, how we tell our story without saying a word. On May 5, our light will continue shining on the power of style, and trust me, you don’t wanna miss it.”
Indian celebrities also have been regulars on the red carpet. Alia Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are some names that have been invited. This year, it is rumoured that Shah Rukh Khan will also grace the red carpet, sources say, dressed in a Sabyasachi creation.