As every first Monday in May, the Met -Metropolitan Art Museum in New York – becomes the epicenter of the global discourse on fashion. This year, under the title “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”The exhibition proposes a tour of black tailoring as a vehicle of resistance, power and identity, from Harlem to Lagos, from Savile Row to Atlanta.
Commissioned by Andrew Bolton and with a spatial design of Tadao Ando, the MET sample brings together more than one hundred pieces that reveal how the suit – a traditional symbol of Western power – has been re -written and resignified by the African diaspora for centuries. The conceptual starting point comes from the 2009 book by Monica Miller, Slaves To Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identitywhere it explores how black dandism has historically worked as an act of cultural and political transformation.
So, it promises to be a night in which attendees’ clothing will become a political tool, and tailoring in an act of cultural claim of Afro culture throughout the world. He Dress Code? “Tailored for you.” An invitation to go in a suit … or something with much more subtext. Here we talk about reinterpreting the tailoring from an Afro -descendant perspective, with references to the Harlem dandism, where dressing well was an act of resistance, and figures such as Dapper Dan They turned elegance into their own language from the corners of the neighborhood. The Zoot Suits of the 40s, the Congolese Sapers and all that universe where dressing impeccably – when your body has been historically marginalized, criminalized or exoticized – is also present. It is, in itself, an act of affirmation.
What we will see tonight on the Red Met carpet could, therefore, be a history lesson. References to the large codes of Afro -descendant elegance are expected: large suits, bright colors, noble fabrics, African prints reinterpreted with the English Court. Accessories such as hats, canes, pocket scarves, gloves and broches will become symbols of something much greater: collective memory.
On the red carpet, surely names like Rihanna, A $ Ap Rocky, Zendaya either Beyoncé They eat the gala (again), but with an extra load of responsibility. It is not enough to go handsome: you have to be well read. And in that context, there are names that will inevitably be present, either in the collective imaginary or through the red carpet looks. Grace Wales Bonnerwith his Caribbean heritage; Dapper Danabsolute pioneer to transform logomania into an urban code from Harlem; Tremaine Emory and his signature Denim Tearswhich makes textile a battlefield against colonial amnesia; And, of course, the legacy of Virgil popwhich twisted the rules of classical tailoring from within Louis Vuitton to introduce unusual cultural reading in the contemporary luxury paradigm.
The hosts will also have an important role. Pharrell Williams As coanfrerion of the gala and creative director of Louis Vuitton Homme, it embodies the evolution of the black dandy of the 21st century and its presence is not only symbolic; It is a declaration of principles on how luxury can – and must – dialogue with history, identity and also the future. We are also expectant to see how the other hosts will develop the theme: Lewis Hamiltonthe actor Colman Domingothe rapper A $ AP Rocky and LeBron James.
And the big fashion houses, will they bet on collaborations with racialized designers? Will you risk reinterpreting your files from a critical view? Or will we see simple looks that remain superficial?
After the general confusion that raised the last Gala del Mettonight’s hopes to become one of the most significant in recent years if the challenge is assumed, taking into account that the issue of exposure has a political background.
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