Janelle Monáe’s Met Gala Fashion Streak Continues in Custom Thom Browne

Janelle Monáe has arrived at the Met Gala in spectacular fashion. For the evening, the singer and actress chose a custom Thom Browne look in collaboration with Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell.

The 2025 Met Gala Celebrating — Dia Dipasupil – Getty Images

“I consider myself a free-a** motherf***er,” Monáe said ahead of this year’s Met Gala. “And when I’m in my suit, that is exactly how I feel. I feel like I am showing you a new way to think about clothing and to think about values and to think about what you stand for, what you don’t stand for, and the kind of person you want to represent as you walk this earth.”

Monáe is on the host committee for this year’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” Met Gala, which includes Spike Lee, Regina King, Ayo Edebiri, and Usher, among others.

Early in her career, Monáe only wore black and white, and often wore tuxedos—a uniform that made her think of her family. “When I put it on, I always think about my family,” they said in 2022. “You know, my mom used to serve at banquets. She was a janitor. And my dad was a trash man. My grandmother cooked food for the county jail for 25 years. So I come from a hard-working class family.”

Monáe has attended the Met Gala ten times before, often in black and white outfits. Here, take a look back at Janelle Monáe’s previous Met Gala fashion: