Source: Vogue Business
Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams will co-chair Monday’s Met Gala, alongside Vogue’s Anna Wintour and honorary chair LeBron James.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ draws inspiration from Monica L Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. In the context of dandyism, the exhibit will feature garments and artworks that explore the style of Black men throughout history.
This year’s Met Gala co-hosts all extend the Black dandy tradition in ways specific to our current moment, says fashion and costume historian Shelby Ivey Christie, adding that their approaches have not just artistic merit, but business finesse. “Black dandyism has always been about using precise self-presentation to challenge limitations placed on Black expression,” she says. “Just like Frederick Douglass used portrait photography and precise clothing to counter racist imagery, these men are using fashion deliberately to expand possibilities for Black representation. Their choices aren’t random — they’re strategic.”
These choices have made each of the four co-hosts and honorary chair majorly influential in fashion, gaining favour with luxury brands and communicating to music, film, sports and fashion fans alike through their sartorial choices. Vogue Business breaks down the co-hosts’ fashion industry impact ahead of the big night.
Domingo has had a stellar year. But he’s been making waves on the red carpet for many prior. In 2017, the actor partnered with stylist duo Wayman and Micah, and began leaning into bold, playful looks. In this, Domingo helped to spearhead the menswear style shift away from boring black and navy suits towards more flamboyant outfits — which has turned out to be very good business for brands leaning into the vibe shift. “We love putting him in tailored ’fits that highlight his stature, and we love using accessories to innovate and elevate his looks,” Wayman and Micah told Vogue.
“Colman Domingo’s mastery of sharp, architectural silhouettes while marrying rich textures, layered patterns and contrasting hues notably reflects the excellence of the traditional Black dandy,” says Cydni M. Robertson, assistant professor of fashion [merchandising] at Indiana University Bloomington. “What makes Colman’s style so significant is how he uses fashion to express the fullness of his identity as an openly gay Black man in an industry that has historically expected both Black men and queer people to minimise themselves,” Christie adds.
Domingo is a newly minted Valentino ambassador, and has appeared in a slew of Alessandro Michele’s Valentino looks this year. At the Golden Globes, Domingo donned a black suit, a silk polka-dot shirt and a checkered necktie, tied into a bow. At the SAG Awards, Domingo opted for a cream blazer and black suit pants, paired with neck scarf and bowtie double-up. And at the Oscars, he wore red. “It felt like everything’s coming up roses,” he told Vogue of the look. All three ranked in the top four menswear looks for the respective events, based on media impact value (MIV), according to Launchmetrics. Throughout the quarter, Domingo’s Valentino appearances generated $7 million in MIV, as fans poured over his looks. His Oscars look alone culminated in $1.7 million in MIV in just five days. (MIV is the monetary value of posts, article mentions and social media interactions.)
Throughout the 2025 awards season, where Domingo wore not just Valentino but Versace, Marni and Boss, too — on top of accessories from the likes of Boucheron, Omega and Swarovski — the actor generated $36.4 million in MIV, per Launchmetrics.
To read the full article see Vogue Business.
