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, , Usher, André 3000, Doechii, and more.
See more looks below