This year’s Met Gala theme has been announced — and breaks a 12-year-long trend

Each year, when the Met Gala debuts and celebrities don their designer garments for the red carpet, millions of people across the world sit on their couches and spend hours judging the looks — us included!

If you’re one of the many people who love to browse the annual catalogue of superstars from across the globe, you’re in luck: the 2025 Met Gala will be taking place soon on Monday 5 May, and this year’s theme has been announced.

The 2025 Met Gala theme

Since 1948, the Met Gala has attracted a crowd of high society individuals and fashion enthusiasts. Each one is defined by a theme, drawing inspiration from varied sources such as literature, technology and art.

Read more: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Demi Moore and other famous faces grace the 2024 Met Gala red carpet

This year is no different. The 2025 Met Gala theme is inspired by the Black dandy, a historical figure that blends upper-class European men’s fashion with African-American culture.

Officially titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, this year’s exhibit will draw inspiration from as early as the 18th century to present a range of looks — and attendees are expected to adhere to a similar dress code.

The 2025 Met Gala dress code

Most people may not know this, but the theme and the dress code are technically two separate categories — though they tend to be quite close in definition.

Read more: Met Gala 2022: All the weird, wonderful, and jaw dropping looks that oozed ‘gilded glamour’

Celebrities attending this year’s Met Gala will do so according to the dress code, “Tailored By You”. In layman’s terms, it calls on attendees to explore the influence of the sartorial style (think timeless elegance and the classic gentleman) of the Black dandy.

This particular theme holds greater significance than recent ones. In the last few years, the themes saw a preference for women’s fashion. 2024’s “Garden of Time” theme explored an interplay of florals and the idea of fleeting beauty; 2023 celebrated the works of Chanel’s former creative director Karl Lagerfeld and 2022 called on celebrities to deliver looks inspired by “gilded glamour”.

However, the 2025 Met Gala’s dress code specifically focuses on menswear, which hasn’t been done since 2003’s “Men in Skirts” dress code.

At least we can (hopefully) expect to see more than just the same variations of a black-and-white suit this year!