Morning Press Conference – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Powerful,” “Outstanding,” “Groundbreaking,” and “Timely” — are the buzzwords the CEO and Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka The Met) used early and often during the Monday morning press preview to describe the current exhibition at the Anna Wintour Costume Institute, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
Anna Wintour – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Also mentioned: this year’s “little party,” aka the Met Gala, has raised a cool $31M for the museum. In no small part is the titular woman due credit. Major sponsor LVMH’s presence looms large. The megacorporation, whose branding opportunities know no limit here – along with brand ambassador Pharrell Williams as one of 4 Black male co-chairs — have their designs featured everywhere, including but not limited to Andre Leon Talley’s three personalized ALT steamer trunks to Dapper Dan’s jacket, to a black suit dripping with colorful stylized Murakami collab LV tasseled belt. Perhaps the outsize faux steamer trunks encasing the midtown renovation and the temporary store across the street aren’t enough for them, and they needed an uptown outpost at The Met?
Hamish Bowles – Photograph by Laurel Marcus
Actor Colman Domingo spoke next about the fashion influences in his life, including his stepfather, who wore work clothes during the week for his job as a floor sander. “He came alive on Fridays when he came home with a paycheck and a six-pack of beer,” he relayed.
Fern Mallis, Andrew Bolton, Jeffrey Banks, & Max Hollein – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Stepdad Clarence would go out with Colman’s mother in a Sharkskin suit, Florsheim shoes, a beautiful long trench coat, and a pinky ring. Colman Sr. (when he appeared) wore all white tight Italian clothing topped off with a jaunty white Kangol-type hat and drove a canary yellow Cadillac – “he looked like a pimp.”
Brother Rick used to enjoy browsing through GQ but would make the clothes he saw from fabric and patterns, as he had learned from his mother and aunt. “You can always have style,” he would say. “Style doesn’t cost too much.”
Jeffrey Banks and Curator Monica Miller – Photo by Laurel Marcus
“I put that shit on,” is how he phrased it – meaning you are well-dressed and look good. Years later, when Colman appeared on the cover of Vogue, he mentioned that his brother “used to be into it.” He finished his speech with playwright George C. Wolf’s quote: “God created Black people, and Black people created style.” Designer Oswald Boateng got a shout-out for the magenta-striped suit with tailcoat worn by the actor.
Andrew Bolton & Alina Cho – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Curator Andrew Bolton attributed the ghost of ALT (who passed away in 2022, largely discarded by his mentor and Vogue) as a significant inspiration for the dandyism theme. After all, a young Talley was certainly the epitome of the black dandy and Anna’s right hand—until he aged, gained weight, and eventually was ostracized.
Bolton paid homage to the late Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director from 2018-2022, who was “acutely aware of the 18th-century dandy’s emancipation through sartorial style.”
Bolton asked, “What happens to the dandy when he’s racialized?” This question led him to Co-Curator Monica L. Miller, author of “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.”
Ms. Miller invoked the 1952 work of Ralph Ellison’s novel “Invisible Man” by reading a passage concerning “the sartorial style of Zoot suited youth” and their imposing/foreboding stature.
“These fellows whose bodies seemed – what had one of my teachers said of me? – “You’re like one of those African sculptures, distorted in the interest of a design.” Well, what design and whose?” she quoted.
Dandies design their ways of being in the world. Dandyism is an act of refusal—of exercising one’s own powers of individualism,” she added. Regarding her book becoming a Met Gala theme, she said, “This is the dream I didn’t know I had.”
The Zoot Suit – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Then, it was off to view the highly anticipated exhibition. So, how did they do with the first exhibition based on race and the first in more than 20 years focused on men? Walking through the overly dramatic (read: dark) maze appears to be a very polarizing experience—I encountered some who thought it was “amazing” and “sooo great.”
In contrast, others in the know thought it was a “missed opportunity.” While many black people thought, “It’s our turn,” others were a bit annoyed at the execution, perhaps thinking that it smacked of apologia.
Photo by Laurel Marcus
This writer’s opinion: The effort was sincere, but fell flat. It was overly ambitious, unfocused, and annoying in that vaunted museum bugbear of displaying mannequins near the ceiling, which gave me a sore neck. It’s very frustrating, if not impossible, to observe detail, not to mention get good photos. It’s like when you’re shopping and something you’re interested in is on a high shelf. I get the multi-level drama, but giraffes are not generally museum-goers.
Oh, did I mention the inclement weather yesterday? Some say the monsoon is ALT’s curse for being ill-treated and summarily dismissed from his lofty fashion post on the red carpet at a previous Met Gala.
Marilyn Kirschner & Steven Kolb – Photo by Laurel Marcus
Speaking of the red (actually blue) carpet, as usual, it was a mixed bag for the theme “tailored for you.” Those who adhered to tailoring did alright without getting too bogged down in the ridiculous embellishments. My favorites included “The Wives Club” — designer Nina Hollein (yes, Max’s wife) in her own design (a cross between Thom Browne, who owned the night, and Comme des Garcons), Dee Ocleppo (Tommy Hilfiger’s wife in a sparkly tailcoat), and Usher’s wife Jenn Goichechea (in remarkably restrained black and white Sergio Hudson.)
Somali supermodel Ugbad Abdi may have been my fave. She managed to combine sparkling pinstripes, a floor-length brocade cape with faux fur trim, and a fedora and make it look iconic, not overdone. Honorable mentions go to Cardi B, who channeled either Prince or supposedly wallpaper in green rather than purple. The best-jeweled suits were Joey King (although not the whole McKenzie-Childs-looking checked shirt underneath) and, believe it or not, Chappell Roan’s “pink pony club” tribute.
Of course, this was all about the men, and there were many more hits than misses, which somehow made the bad ones more memorable. For some reason, I particularly liked Damson Idris in red, and I didn’t care for Bad Bunny with his bowling bag and woven almost-sombrero, but then again, it was Cinco de Mayo.
