Met Gala will pose question: can Vogue keep diversity in fashion in Trump’s America

On Monday night, the party of the year will ask the question: can Vogue keep diversity in fashion in Trump’s America?

The Met Gala, the knotty point where fashion meets politics, will be in the spotlight. The annual event has become a pop cultural phenomenon by reinventing party dressing as a world of internet-breaking daredevil stunts. Kim Kardashian wearing the dress in which Marilyn Monroe serenaded John F Kennedy, Lady Gaga changing outfits four times in front of the cameras and Katy Perry dressed as a cheeseburger serve the thrills for the social media generation that a James Bond car chase did for their parents.But the gala is also the opening night of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibition, which this year addresses a politically charged theme of dandyism, race, masculinity and the underrepresentation of black creativity in western museum culture.

Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, which opens to the public on 10 May, is about how black men in America and Europe have used clothes as self-expression. This intellectually minded celebration of diversity lands at a moment when the Trump administration is pushing back robustly against both diversity and intellectualism.

With popcorn-worthy dramatic timing, a show that honours America’s immigrants and celebrates understated elegance and inclusive definitions of masculinity has an all-singing, all-dancing moment in New York, under the gaze of a government that stands in baseball-hatted opposition to all of the above. Donald Trump’s second term has seen a dramatic pushback on diversity and inclusion programmes.

And while other culture wars of the Maga era are happening on elite campuses, the high-profile opening night red carpet will put Kardashians, supermodels and sports stars at the centre of the conversation.

The fashion on the Met Gala red carpet – and at the afterparties, for which second looks are standard – reach many more people than will visit the exhibition. This year’s dress code is “tailored for you”. Bespoke suiting, pocket squares and cravats, bow ties and shiny shoes are expected to make a strong showing on the red carpet.

A high representation of black designers is anticipated, to reflect the spirit of the show. The British Vogue editor, Chioma Nadi, will be wearing a suit by Martine Rose. Privately, some celebrity stylists are reporting anxiety among white celebrity clients around how best to respectfully dress for an event that celebrates black culture. Williams has tipped Rihanna and her partner, A$AP Rocky, as the couple to watch on the red carpet. “Those two, they come through with a blowtorch,” he said.

Hamilton appears in the current issue of Vogue in a tuxedo with a bow tie and a large Tiffany diamond earring worn as a brooch. In an accompanying letter, Hamilton wrote that he hopes the night “sparks conversation and reconfirms the connection between fashion and self-expression, and how deep it runs in black culture”. He added that “particularly in the States, in terms of people pulling back on diversity … I think this Met Gala sends a really strong message that we must continue to celebrate and elevate black history.”

Domingo told Vogue that at a preview of the exhibition he “got really emotional” on seeing “these dark, beautiful mannequins with wide noses and shiny dark skin, lean and beautiful [that were] specially made for the show”. A flamboyant dresser, who attended last year’s Met in an ivory tuxedo with a floor-length cape accessorised with a spray of calla lilies, Domingo said style “has been key to our survival as people of colour to imagine ourselves in a different situation.