Met Gala pays tribute to Black style and menswear
NEW YORK — A rainy Met Gala got underway Monday with a tuxedoed choir and a trend true to the menswear theme: Emma Chamberlain, Zendaya, Teyana Taylor and many other women in pinstripes and other traditional men’s detailing.
Chamberlain and Zuri Hall were among those who wore sleek, sexy gowns that play on men’s suiting in pinstripes as they walked up the grand steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Zendaya, a co-host last year, wore a perfectly tailored white trouser suit with a matching wide-brim hat.
The menswear vibe for women was frequent and expected, “women wanting to maintain a traditionally feminine dress silhouette while still respecting the theme,” said William Dingle, director of style for blackmenswear.com, a cultural impact agency that focuses on uplifting Black men.
The suggested dress code, “Tailored for You,” is inspired by Black dandyism. Taylor went for a stunning Zoot Suit look with a red, feather-adorned top hat and a huge matching cape dripping with flowers and bling. She collaborated with famed costumer designer Ruth E. Carter.
The Zoot was popularized in Harlem in the 1940s.
Colman Domingo, one of the evening’s hosts, wore a pleated, gold adorned cape over a gray and black suit, his jacket a pearled windowpane design with a huge dotted black flower. His look, including his cape and a dotted black scarf at his neck, evoked the late André Leon Talley, the fashion icon who made history as a rare Black editor at Vogue.
Pharrell Williams, another host, was demure in a double-breasted, beaded evening jacket and dark trousers. He kept his dark shades on while posing for the cameras. Williams walked with his wife, Helen Lasichanh, in a black bodysuit and matching jacket.
Williams, the Louis Vuitton menswear creative director, said his 15,000 pearls were arranged in a pinstripe design and the jacket took 400 hours to construct.
Walton Goggins, a guest this year with others from “The White Lotus,” wore a deconstructed suit look with seams out and a pleated skirt he twirled for the cameras.
What other women killed the menswear game? Coco Jones in an ivory tuxedo coat with a train over matching trousers, both covered in chunky embellishment. And Sarah Snook of “Succession” fame and fresh off a Tony nomination for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” was successfully on theme as well.
Gigi Hadid, on the other hand, went all woman. She pulled up the spirit of Josephine Baker in a shimmery gold halter gown by Miu Miu that hugged her hips.