metgala2025

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Fashion fights back: Resisting the erosion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Superfine: Tailoring Black Style is the theme of the 2025 Met Gala. A direct response to the growing threat to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) under Trump’s influence. As the Trumpization of politics fuels division across American culture and beyond, the global fashion industry is pushing back. So, this year’s Met Gala deliberately centres Black creativity. In fact, the event caught our attention because we see fashion as culture. Specifically, we’re interested in unpacking the concepts and messages woven into the clothes.

The Met Gala: Beyond celebrity spectacle

We’ve never been ardent admirers of the Met Gala. Ostensibly a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the event has devolved into a display of celebrity excess, far removed from true elegance. As Tom Ford once remarked, “The event turned into a costume party.”

But this year, something different happened.

Tailoring Black Style: Fashion as identity and resistance

The 2025 exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, focuses on cultural significance, not just celebrity theatrics. Divided into 12 sections, it draws inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, exploring how African American designers have shaped global fashion.

The dress code, Tailored for You, was more than an aesthetic choice—it was a declaration of identity. As Anna Wintour stated, “In this political moment, this exhibition and gala stand in solidarity with the Black community.”

A defiant statement against Trump’s anti-DEI policies

However, the timing is no coincidence. Within Trump’s first 100 days in office, DEI initiatives faced aggressive dismantling, including attempts to erase Black history from cultural institutions. Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth Carter voiced a shared frustration: “They’re taking everything away from us.”

So, this year’s Met Gala was a direct challenge to that erasure. By celebrating Black contributions to fashion, it resisted the administration’s regressive policies.

Final thoughts

With Tailoring Black Style, the Met Gala not only celebrated the Black community’s contribution to fashion but also reinforced fashion’s role as a cultural and political statement.

As DEI principles come under attack, events like this matter. They are acts of defiance—reminders that culture cannot be whitewashed. In this spirt, we stand with every individual, brand, and institution that rejects the Trumpization of society and upholds the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.