Since its debut in 1892, Vogue has shaped beauty standards for generations, often centering a narrow ideal: thin, white, and effortlessly chic. Its covers and editorials have historically elevated this archetype, sidelining diverse voices and reinforcing exclusionary norms. Black style, vibrant and transformative, has long existed on the margins—erased, misunderstood, or co-opted. But a revolution is brewing, led by those who’ve been overlooked, rewriting fashion’s narrative through fearless self-expression. In 2025, the Met Gala aims to honor this shift with its theme, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."
It’s a cultural milestone. Yet, Vogue and the Gala, under Wintour’s stewardship, have faced accusations of racism, tokenism, and marginalising Black talent. Can one exhibition shift this narrative, or is it a fleeting gesture in an industry that has historically profited from exclusion?
00:01Fashion loves to celebrate rebellion, but it often forgets who sparked the fire.
00:06In 2019, Billy Porter's tuxedo gown at the Oscars shattered a century-old gender binary.
00:13Yet, by 2020, Vogue anointed British singer Harry Styles' white, cis, straight as the face of gender-fluid fashion.
00:22This was not just a cover story. It was a flashpoint in fashion's complex dance with race, gender and power.
00:29Since its debut in 1892, Vogue has shaped beauty standards for generations, often centering a narrow ideal, thin, white and effortlessly chic.
00:39Its covers and editorials have historically elevated this archetype, sidelining diverse voices and reinforcing exclusionary norms.
00:48Black style, vibrant and transformative, has long existed on the margins, erased, misunderstood or co-opted.
00:57But, a revolution is brewing, led by those who've been overlooked, rewriting fashion's narrative through fearless self-expression.
01:05In 2025, the Met Gala aims to honour this shift with its theme, superfine tailoring black style.
01:12But, can it truly celebrate black style without reckoning with fashion's past?
01:17The 2020 Vogue cover featuring styles in a dress-ignited debate, spotlighting how fashion often amplifies white faces in spaces pioneered by marginalized communities.
01:28Now, the 2025 Met Gala, its first ever focus on black style confronts this tension.
01:36Curated by Monica Miller, the exhibition traces 300 years of black dandyism, inspired by her seminal book, Slaves to Fashion, Black Dandyism, and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
01:48Dandyism is more than sharp tailoring. It's defiance.
01:52The initial moment of black dandyism also includes not only just the kind of moment in which black people were dressed to be objects, but at the same kind of exact time, black men in particular, they learned how to appropriate or kind of flip the script, if we want to talk about it in a black tradition, flip the script on that particular mode of degradation.
02:14So, as soon as white masters put their black slaves into this fancy dress, the black slaves realized, huh, clothing means something.
02:23I might be able to really restyle it in a way that might allow me to say something slightly different about myself that perhaps my master is not necessarily anticipating.
02:34From the Harlem Renaissance's cultural swagger to the Black is Beautiful movement's embrace of natural hair and the civil right era's bold self-expression, black style has been both resistance and pride.
02:46In the late 80s and 90s, New York's ballroom scene erupted. Paris is Burning, a film captured black and Latino queer communities carving out safe spaces through extravagant fashion and performance.
02:58Voguing emerged, a fierce art form of defiance and identity in a hostile world laying the groundwork for fashion's embrace of fluidity.
03:07Enter Dapper Dan, a Harlem legend and now 2025 Met Gala committee member whose boundary-breaking designs in the 80s and 90s fused hip-hop swagger with high fashion.
03:19By reimagining luxury logos for black icons, he challenged fashion's gatekeepers only to be shunned by the industry until Gucci, once his critic, collaborated with him in 2017.
03:31His presence on the committee signals a nod to black innovation but also a reminder of fashion's selective memory.
03:38In 2025, the Met Gala, guest curated by Monica Miller, celebrates this legacy, hosted by Coleman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Dapper Dan, and Anna Wintour herself.
03:52With LeBron James as honorary chair, it's a cultural milestone.
03:56Yet, Vogue and the Gala, under Wintour's stewardship, have faced accusations of racism, tokenism, and marginalizing black talent.
04:06Can one exhibition shift this narrative or is it a fleeting gesture in an industry that has historically profited from exclusion?
04:14As the Met Gala spotlights black fashion, the question persists.
04:18Will this moment spark lasting change or become yet another trend absorbed by a system slow to confront its biases?
04:26In fashion, style is not just fabric, it's a story, it's a stand and a revolution.
04:31Who is your pick to redefine the red carpet at the 2025 Met Gala?
04:35Who do you think will push fashion and culture forward?
04:38Share below and stay tuned for more deep dives.
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