The 20 most inventive looks at the 2025 Met Gala

The looks at the 2025 Met Gala were fine and dandy.

The annual fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art is known for celebrities and designers taking fashion risks and creating iconic style moments. But there’s always an open question as to whether or not those in attendance will truly push the envelope or dress according to the theme.

This year’s unique dress code, “Tailored for You,” was intended to be a celebration of Black dandyism, a fashion tradition rooted in cultural resistance and self-expression. It’s also a nod to the Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” With a focus on menswear and tailored suiting, the exhibit is inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, and will open to the public on May 10.

Both specific and broad, the theme allowed room for plenty of interpretation, sparking looks that drew inspiration from the 18th century until today.

Here are our 20 favorite looks of the night, encapsulating those we felt were most inventive, playful, or on theme.

Colman Domingo

We never doubted that Colman Domingo would not only understand the assignment but ace it given that he served as a co-chair of this year’s Met Gala. Not to mention the fact that he’s the essence of Black dandyism on any red carpet with his sartorial swagger. Domingo wowed with two looks — a royal blue Valentino cape in tribute to André Leon Talley and this more tailored black-and-white suit.

Zendaya

Zendaya channeled Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues with her chic white hat, but she made it her own with her exquisitely tailored Louis Vuitton white suit featuring flared trousers, a crisp white vest, and a satin tie. Some compared the look to Bianca Jagger’s iconic bridal suit, which they speculated could mark the launch of Zendaya’s bridal era. Whether or not it is, we can always count on Zendaya to deliver a major fashion moment — and this year, she showed up all the gentlemen rocking suits with the best menswear-inspired moment of the night in her chic three-piece suit.

Zoe Saldaña

Fresh off her Oscar win for Emilia Perez, Zoe Saldaña brought sartorial splendor to the Met Gala with her Thom Browne gown that mashed up red carpet glamour with tailored precision. The delicate buttons that line the sleeves and front of the dress lend the look a femininity, while the pinstripe pattern evokes the zoot suit styles of the Harlem Renaissance.

Jeremy O. Harris

The concept of dandyism dates back to the 18th century and the dandification of Black servants. Playwright and producer Jeremy O. Harris leaned all the way into the movement’s historical roots with an ascot and waistcoat reminiscent of garb the Founding Fathers wore. Don’t miss the snuff ring on his finger, an essential accessory for any dandy.

Diana Ross

Diana Ross has the power to make a room stand still with a single look, and she brought her pure diva energy to the 2025 Met Gala. Her silver sparkling dress wasn’t far off from many of her most iconic looks, but the elaborate feathered hat and lengthy 18-foot train added supreme drama — and we loved the way she honored the familial and generational overtones of Black dandyism by having the names of all her children and grandchildren embroidered into the train of her coat.

Sydney Sweeney

Sydney Sweeney approached the night’s theme in a roundabout way with this sparkling black Miu Miu number that was a recreation of a gown Kim Novak wore in 1967’s The Legend of Lylah Clare. Sweeney noted she wore the dress in homage to her upcoming work portraying Novak in Scandalous, a film about the actress’ romance with Sammy Davis Jr. The 2025 Met Gala co-chair, Colman Domingo, will make his feature directorial debut with the film.

Tessa Thompson

While most of those who took the tailoring theme to heart opted for outfits tailored tightly to their bodies, Tessa Thompson went in a more playful direction with her look, allowing the tailoring to speak for itself with its intricately constructed balloon skirt. Combined with a bedazzled and whimsical top hat, the shape of the ensemble evoked 18th-century silhouettes.

Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott was one of the few to sport colorful menswear to the 2025 Met Gala, with black-and-white looks dominating the night. His pale green suit, paired with a bright red vest and goldenrod shirt, seemed an unlikely combination, but together, they created a striking (and perfectly tailored) look worthy of any dandy.

Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o brought her distinctively feminine style to a menswear piece with this pale blue Chanel suit, accessorized with a gauzy cape and bedazzled eyebrows. The Oscar winner topped it off with a small matching hat. The look blends feminine with masculine, and we love the way the color reminds us of the gown she wore when she won her Oscar in 2012.

Doechii

Doechii made history at the 2025 Grammys as only the third woman to win Best Rap Album. It would be easy to rest on your laurels after that, but instead, she delivered one of the best looks of the night with a Louis Vuitton suit that featured her signature shorts paired with a burgundy ascot and matching tall socks and shoes.

Damson Idris

There’s always at least one person who puts on a show alongside their look and this year the moment went to Damson Idris, soon to star in this summer’s F1. Idris showed up in a racing jumpsuit with a bedazzled helmet. Then, handlers pulled off his outer layer on the carpet, revealing this red getup that offered some 1970s flair.

FKA Twigs

While most of the Met Gala guests opted for menswear, FKA Twigs played into the other side of Black dandyism — the flapper looks of the Harlem Renaissance. The singer channeled the Jazz Age (and the likes of Josephine Baker) with this scalloped cream gown that stands out thanks to its ostrich feather hem.

Laura Harrier

The Hollywood star stunned in a Gap Studio by Zac Posen creation that highlighted the contradictions of Black dandyism in the ways it blended the tailored structure of a suit with its flowing balloon sleeves and trousers. It gave off serious ’70s disco goddess vibes.

Jeremy Pope

On the surface, Jeremy Pope’s look is one of the simplest of the night. But it speaks to the contradictions of Black dandyism with its use of a couture muslin pattern form styled in the fashion of 18th- and 19th-century garb, with a tight neckline that evokes the collar of the yoke of slavery. In contrast, Pope sported a finger-wave hairstyle that embodies the Harlem Renaissance and Black cultural revitalization. Talk about powerful cognitive dissonance.

Demi Moore

Part of tailoring is also the extraordinary shapes that designers can craft out of fabric, and Demi Moore embodied that with her black-and-white Art Deco gown that feels fit for a Busby Berkeley movie.

Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe never fails to create a major moment via fashion, and she didn’t disappoint this year. Monáe arrived in a boxy suit, mixing pinstripes and solid colors with a bowler hat and timepiece monocle. She then removed the top layer to reveal a more precisely tailored suit dress in a similar pattern beneath. The look evoked the sharp lines of tailoring, as well as the art movement of Cubism to create something both wholly original and steeped in history.

Doja Cat

Rapper Doja Cat took the patterns, hairstyle, and accessories of the 1980s zoot suit revival and created something both utterly unique and inventively on theme. The look delivered both old-school glamour and a little bit of 1980s Janet Jackson.

Quinta Brunson

Quinta Brunson paid tribute to Black film star Josephine Baker with her sleek ensemble and spit curls. The shape of the dress and pinstripe pattern evoked some of Baker’s most iconic looks, while the suit jacket added a layer of tailoring that is très chic and on theme in every way.

Monica Barbaro

Monica Barbaro joined the trend of tiny hat wearers with her impeccable ensemble that was a direct recreation of Christian Dior’s iconic 1947 “New Look.” The full skirt and tailored jacket were a repudiation of the war’s utilitarian styles and an embrace of extravagance.

Nicole Scherzinger

Newly minted Tony nominee Nicole Scherzinger brought Old Hollywood glamour and drama to the carpet with her tailored and bedazzled pinstripe gown. The triple threat was ready for her close-up with this eye-catching ensemble that spoke to the theme’s connections to both menswear and classic Hollywood fashion.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly