In advance of next month’s unveiling of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the catalogue for the exhibition gives readers much to consider. The exhibition opens on May 10 and will run through Oct. 26 at the Upper East Side museum.
Barnard College chair of African Studies Monica L. Miller, who is the show’s guest curator, explores how the evolution of dandy style inspired contemporary views of Black masculinity that uses the power of clothing as a means of self expression. Miller drew upon her research in literature, history, visual culture, performance studies, and fashion and dress to plan for the show. It will offer a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to the present through the exploration of dandyism.
To that end, in her essay for the catalogue, Miller covers a variety of subjects, such as Zoot suits, Cab Calloway’s style, funeral attire worn by residents of Chicago’s South Side, the importance of self-fashioning figuratively and literally, and the Black American expressive culture. Miller worked on the catalogue with the Costume Institute’s chief curator in charge Andrew Bolton, and his colleagues William DeGregorio and Amanda Garfinkel.
“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” is inspired by Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.” In the catalogue, Miller wrote that if “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” communicates any one thing, she hopes that “it visualizes through fashion, clothing and dress the liberating quality of the imagination, the profundity and joy, [that] the self-making process enable by cutting ‘no indifferent appearance.’”
Spanning three centuries of Black culture, the catalogue, like the exhibition, delves into the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement and imposed uniforms that were once worn by servants and enslaved people. Both the show and the catalogue are organized by 12 characteristics — Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, Jook, Heritage, Beauty, Cool and Cosmopolitan — and highlight examples.
A full-page photo of a Brooks Brother livery coat, 1863-64, is opposite “Dandies on Display: Livery, Luxury and the Enslaved Body” by Jonathan Michael Square. That text explains how clothing was far from a trivial matter for enslaved individuals. In the 18th and 19th centuries, liveries were “more than just uniforms, they were visual representations of the power and social standing of the families who owned them.”
In an essay titled “Win Win,” Andre 3000 wrote of his years of self-styling, drawing and designing clothes and costumes for his stage performances and how he started working with the Benjamin Bixy brand in 2006. The singer and songwriter wrote, “These would be some of the best times of my life. Even considering the hardships and lessons learned, I would do it all over again. And I will.”
Photographer Tyler Mitchell’s “Portrait of the Modern Dandy” includes imagery and an essay. He wrote about how he realized “this project had to go beyond documenting mannequins. It needed to capture the humanity, pride, playfulness and intentional wit that define dandyism.” Insights from artists, curators and other creatives Ike Ude and André Leon Talley are featured in the catalogue.
In its photographs, the book has combinations like a 1946 black-and-white image of two Howard University students by Alfred Eisenstadt opposite a mannequin wearing an ensemble from Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple label’s “Morehouse College” line 2019-22. There is also Thomas Hoepker’s 1966 portrait of the Muhammad Ali standing shoeless while being fitted for a suit by a tailor, as a second man in a three-piece suit looks on, in London. That image is positioned opposite a photo of a pair of white satin Everlast boxing shorts that Ali wore in 1972.
Brands featured in the photos include Louis Vuitton, Telfar, Who Decides War, Juicy Couture, Dapper Dan Labrum London, Ozwald Boateng, Botter and Grace Wales Bonner’s take on Adidas Originals. There’s also a sponsor’s statement from Louis Vuitton that references how the alliance expands on “the legacy ignited by Virgil Abloh” during his time at the luxury house between 2018 and 2022.
This year’s Met Gala co-chairs with Condé Nast’s Anna Wintour are actor Colman Domingo, Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton, musician A$AP Rocky and singer, songwriter and Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director Pharrell Williams, as well as the honorary co-chair L.A. Lakers player LeBron James.
