What to Know About the 2025 Met Gala

ABLUpdated 3 days Ago3 Mins read0

New York is finally shrugging off the reboot of winter that followed the one nice Saturday in March, and, for fashionistas, the arrival of spring means one thing: the Met Gala. Every year, on the first Monday in May, the Costume Institute puts on a fundraising gala that also happens to be fashion prom. Everybody who’s anybody will be invited, somebody is going to be in the best outfit of the year, and hopefully someone else is in the worst. The “theme” of the night is based around the Costume Institute’s newest exhibit, and, while it is not a requirement to dress to theme, the internet demands it. That means we get things like the slightly disastrous “camp” year when nobody seemed to know what camp was — Celine Dion wanted to dress like a tent. Below, find everything we know about the 2025 Met Gala.

What is the theme?

This year’s Costume Institute exhibit is titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” per Vogue. It specifically engages the “Black dandy” counter-colonial style, drawing inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. That makes the book required reading in the way that Susan Sontag’s essay “Notes on Camp” was on Harry Styles’s reading list back in 2019. “Black people are known for ‘stylin’ out,’ dressing to the nines, showing their sartorial stuff, especially when the occasion calls for it and, more tellingly, often when it does not,” Miller writes in the book’s introduction. “In contemporary culture, stylin’ out takes a number of forms and happens in multiple locations, from the high style seen at the famous White Parties in the Hamptons given by the hip-hop fashion mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, to any Black church on Easter Sunday, to the locker room after the Super Bowl championship, when a winning player positions an oversize baseball cap forty-five degrees off-center on his head before the television camera turns to him.”

Notably, while the event celebrates an exhibit based around Black dandyism, the “dress code” for actual event is “Tailored for You,” per a February announcement from the Met.

Who are the co-chairs?

Along with permanent co-chair Anna Wintour, there will be four other men co-chairing the event, plus one honorary co-chair. Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, Colman Domingo, and Lewis Hamilton are joining Wintour as the working chairs. Plus, LeBron James was named an honorary co-chair of the event. “I’m looking forward to seeing everybody celebrate Black excellence,” Rocky told Vogue in an April 15 profile. “When people celebrate a different culture or race,” he added, “sometimes it’s done with intent, sometimes with ulterior motives.” So … who else is excited to see what Katy Perry wears?

Who is attending the event?

The full guest list is under wraps, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some insights. Of course, the co-chairs will all be attending the event, so expect them to turn looks — and since Rocky is coming, it’s a safe bet to say Rihanna will be too, thank God. Plus, there’s the “host committee,” all of whom will also be attending. That list has a slew of names from multiple industries. Musicians hosting include André 3000, Doechii, Janelle Monáe, Tyla, and Usher; the actors and filmmakers include Ayo Edebiri, Regina King, Spike Lee, and Tonya Lewis Lee; the athletes are Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, Angel Reese, and Sha’Carri Richardson; fashion notables include Dapper Dan, Grace Wales Bonner, Olivier Rousteing, and Edward Enninful; the theatermakers are Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Audra McDonald, and Jeremy Pope; the artists include Jordan Casteel, Rashid Johnson, and Kara Walker; and, finally, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Outside the confirmed guests, there are tons of other celebrities who are Met Gala regulars and are likely to show up again. People like Blake Lively, the Kardashians, the Hadids, and, of course, Zendaya are not named in the press surrounding the event, but are all usual attendees.

When is the event?

The Met Gala is always held on the first Monday in May, and this year that will be May 5. Happy Cinco de Mayo!