Introduction to the Met Gala 2025
The Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan made history as the first male Bollywood star to walk the red carpet of the Met Gala 2025 on Monday. He wore a black ensemble designed by Indian couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee, which included a silk shirt, pants, and a satin cummerbund. Khan’s outfit was accessorized with an eye-catching stick featuring an 18-carat golden Bengal tiger with tourmalines, sapphires, old mines, and brilliant diamonds, as well as a crystal-headed "K" trailer and a diamond star brooch.
The Met Gala Event
The 59-year-old strutted his stuff at the event, which was themed "Tailored to Her", in connection with the pioneering new exhibition of the Costume Institute, "Superfine: Tailoring the Black Style", which opens to the public on May 10. Sabyasachi Mukherjee is internationally known for marrying complicated Indian craftsmanship with modern luxury. Last year, he became the first Indian designer to make the Met Gala Red Carpet, designing a dreamlike saree encrusted with gems and a 7-meter (23-foot long) train, worn by Indian actress Alia Bhat at the same event.
The Biggest Night of Fashion
Every first Monday in May, the levels of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City are transformed into the most extravagant and male-dominated eyebrow education. The Met Gala is officially known as the Costume Institute Benefit and is not just a parade of stunning outfits – it also collects donations for the institute that finances the museum’s only curatorial department. The gala coincides with the opening of the institute’s annual fashion exhibition.
History of the Met Gala
What started in 1948 as a modest midnight evening for the New York elite, "Fashion’s Big Night Out", has since developed into an excited annual event with Vogue’s Anna Wintour at the helm since 1995. MET GALA tickets are highly sought after, with the guest list curated by Wintour, and they come with a pretty penny – $75,000 per person, according to a recent report by Time magazine. This is far from the $50 per person charged in 1948.
2025 Theme: Dandyism Redefined
Every year, the MET GALA theme sets the tone for both the exhibition and the sartorial selection of its famous guests. This year’s theme, selected by Andrew Bolton, chief curator of the Costume Institute, is "Superfine: Tailoring the Black Style". Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book "Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity", the exhibition examines how tailoring has shaped black identities.
Notable Guests and Outfits
This year is the second time that men’s fashion has been in the spotlight, since 2003’s "Bravehearts: Men in Skirts". The co-chairs of the event, alongside Anna Wintour, include actors and Oscar nominees, Formula 1 racing drivers, rappers, and singers. The host committee includes celebrated authors and singers. Over the years, the guests of the Met Gala have promoted fashion handling with the various themes, turning jaw-dropping fashion into an art form and creating waves on social media.
Memorable Met Gala Moments
Some notable outfits include Rihanna’s 2018 appearance, where she wore a tailor-made Maison Margiela ensemble, complete with a decorated mitre, inspired by the theme "Heavenly Body: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination". Katy Perry dressed as a life-size chandelier by Moschino’s Jeremy Scott in 2019, and Jared Leto brought a replica of his own head as an accessory to the same event. Kim Kardashian wore the iconic Jean Louis dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1962 to the 2022 Met Gala, and Doja Cat transformed into a cat, complete with prosthetics and an Oscar de la Renta outfit, in 2023.
