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Black Dandy, Time Queen: Janelle Monáe Brought the Revolution to the Met
Janelle Monáe stepped into the 2025 Met Gala with a commanding Thom Browne look, clock monocle and all, championing Black elegance and self-expression.
Photo Credit: Janelle Monáe/Instagram
We are short of words to describe the outfit Janelle Monáe wore to the Met Gala last night. Perhaps we can start with profound, stupefying, peerless—because truly, nothing else came close.
Janelle raised the bar at the 2025 Met Gala, embracing this year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, and the dress code, “Tailored for You”, with characteristic flair. She arrived at the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a two-piece Thom Browne look that played with illusion and time. The overcoat, covered in vertical white stripes, featured a trompe l’oeil tie, lapel and even a briefcase, embroidered in duchess silk and grosgrain ribbon. Beneath it was a full-length skirt suit cut with sharp lines and an old-school edge.
On her head was a Magritte-style bowler hat with a timepiece-monocle hybrid extending from the brim—part watch, part spectacle, and entirely unforgettable. As she walked the carpet, costume designer Paul Tazewell helped her remove the coat to reveal a second look: a deconstructed sport coat and skirt, split clean down the middle. The left side was red wool crepe with white detailing; the right side, black-and-white pinstripes.
“I’ve tried to deconstruct systems for many years through my work, through my art and activism,” Monáe told The New York Times. “I want to deconstruct respectability politics around suiting and around how Black people can show up in the world. I wanted to show that we get to decide who we are.”
This year’s Met Gala marks the Costume Institute’s first exhibition dedicated entirely to Black designers, and the first in over two decades to spotlight menswear. It’s also a loving tribute to Black dandyism.
Monáe also served on this year’s Met Gala host committee, joining cultural icons like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ayo Edebiri, Usher, André 3000, Doechii, and more.
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