To coincide with this year’s Met Gala, the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition takes in more than two centuries of Black style, focusing on the changing face of dandyism (10 May–26 October). The show comprises 12 sections exploring themes such as ‘Disguise’, ‘Respectability’ and ‘Cosmopolitanism’, with the first six dedicated to pre-20th-century objects and the last six bringing us up to the present day. Encompassing a wide range of media, including painting, film and decorative art as well as clothing, the exhibition looks at Black style in the round. Among the items on display are historic athletic outfits, which long embodied harmful stereotypes as well as sporting excellence, and Kariba suits, which became the official dress of politicians and dignitaries in a newly independent Jamaica. Although the exhibition celebrates surfaces, the accompanying catalogue goes deep, exploring Black style in more than 30 essays.
Find out more from the Met’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
An American zoot suit (1940s), designer unknown. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo: © Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tailor boys at work (1899–1900), Frances Benjamin Johnston. Museum of Modern Art, New York
An American jockey suit (1830–50), designer unknown. Charleston Museum. Photo: © Tyler Mitchell, 2025