Singer, producer, and fashion designer Pharrell Williams will serve as one of the co-chairs for the upcoming Met Gala in New York, which is set to explore race relations through the lens of fashion.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on Wednesday that the event will be co-chaired by rapper ASAP Rocky, actor and playwright Colman Domingo, and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. Basketball legend LeBron James will step in as an honorary chair. Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, will remain at the helm of fashion’s biggest night.
The highly anticipated event and its corresponding exhibition at the Met’s Costume Institute will take place five years after the significant Black Lives Matter protests, which urged cultural institutions across the U.S. to confront issues surrounding race and diversity. This year’s exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, will spotlight Black men’s fashion, diving into the rich and complex history of Black dandyism.
Guest curator Monica Miller, whose book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity inspired the exhibition, explores the origins of Black dandyism—a style first forced upon Black men in 18th-century Europe, where well-dressed “dandified” servants became a trend. Over time, however, Black men across the diaspora reclaimed dandyism, turning it into a form of creative expression, identity assertion, and defiance.
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The Met Gala, traditionally held on the first Monday of May, dates back to 1948. While the gala is a major fundraiser for the Costume Institute, raising an impressive $22 million last year, it’s also a star-studded social media extravaganza.
Tickets to the 2024 event reportedly cost $75,000 per seat, with entire tables going for $350,000—a steep price for fashion’s most sought-after invitation.
