By now, you probably know the first Monday in May is not just any old Monday: It’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit, a.k.a. the Oscars of the East Coast or the party of the year. We think of it as the Fashion X Games or the All-Star Game of Entrances.
This year, however, things are a little more complicated, partly because the first Monday in May is also the middle of the N.B.A. playoffs, and the start of jury selection in the Sean Combs trial.
Wait, why do the N.B.A. playoffs matter?
Because LeBron James is the honorary chair of the gala, and if his Los Angeles Lakers make it through to the conference semifinals, he will not be able to attend.
Who else is a host?
Queen of all she surveys is Anna Wintour, the chief content officer of Condé Nast and the editor in chief of its marquee fashion magazine, Vogue. Ms. Wintour has been the gala’s chief mastermind since 1999, after first signing on in 1995, and has transformed the event from a run-of-the-mill charity gala into a mega-showcase for Vogue’s view of the world — the ultimate celebrity-power cocktail of famous names from fashion, film, tech, politics, sports and, increasingly, social media. Every brand scratches every other brand’s back.
Standing beside Ms. Wintour as the 2025 gala’s co-chairs will be the musician and men’s wear designer Pharrell Williams, the rapper ASAP Rocky, the Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and the actor Colman Domingo. For the first time since 2019, there will also be a host committee, which, along with the chairs, is pretty much a mosaic of Black excellence: the athletes Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, the playwright Jeremy O. Harris, the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Broadway star Audra McDonald, the singers Tyla and Usher — you get the idea.
Is there a theme?
Yes, always connected to the blockbuster exhibition that the party is celebrating. This year, that is the Costume Institute’s spring show, titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which will focus on the history and influence of the Black dandy in the Western world, and the way fashion has been used as a tool of both enslavement and liberation.
The show was inspired by the 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” by Monica L. Miller, a professor of Africana studies at Barnard College, and it has been jointly curated by Professor Miller and Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge.
It is also the Costume Institute’s first show devoted solely to men’s wear since “Bravehearts: Men in Skirts” in 2003, and the first ever to feature only designers of color.
That sounds like a big deal.
It is. The exhibition is the culmination of a rebalancing of the Costume Institute’s holdings and approach that Mr. Bolton embraced in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. It has allowed Mr. Bolton to both use pieces from the Met’s own collection and acquire more pieces by designers of color.
Last year, Professor Miller told The New York Times that the show was “an opportunity for everyone on the curatorial team to really understand how many Black designers, historically and contemporarily, are out there.”
But it is also arriving in the world at a time when D.E.I. is under attack from the Trump administration. Similar efforts at universities and museums across the country have put a bull’s-eye on the institutions that embrace them.
Is the Met a potential target?
Unlike other cultural heavyweights such as the Smithsonian Institution, which President Trump recently singled out in an executive order, the Metropolitan receives very little federal funding, and so is much less vulnerable to pressure from Washington.
How does Sean Combs fit into all this?
As P. Diddy and the founder of the fashion line Sean John, Mr. Combs styled himself at one point as a sort of embodiment of the exhibition’s theme. If he had not been indicted on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking last year, it’s almost certain he would have been at the event. (Mr. Combs, who has been held in a Brooklyn jail since September, used to attend the gala regularly, most recently in 2023, when he debuted “Sean John couture.”) Indeed, some involved were reportedly concerned that the tension between party and trial would interfere with the evening. There were even rumors of some requests to move the party, but that was a no-go.
Are there other famous people involved?
The show is designed by the artist Torkwase Dyson, and features mannequin heads created by Tanda Francis, an artist known for her sculptures of monumental African heads and masks. Iké Udé, a multimedia artist whom Mr. Bolton called the ultimate contemporary dandy, is a special consultant, and Tyler Mitchell, the first Black photographer to shoot a Vogue cover, created a special photographic essay for the catalog.
Oh, and the menu for the gala dinner will be created by Kwame Onwuachi, the Nigerian American chef and author.
What’s the price for all of this?
Individual tickets to the gala start at $75,000, and tables of 10 at $350,000. All the money from ticket sales goes directly to funding the Costume Institute’s yearly budget. This year, those sponsors include Louis Vuitton (Mr. Williams is Vuitton’s men’s wear designer), Instagram, Africa Fashion International, Tyler Perry and Condé Nast.
As to why the money has to go to the Costume Institute’s budget: It is the only curatorial department in the Met required to pay for itself, the legacy of a weird deal dating to 1946, when the Museum of Costume Art merged with the Met, and fashion was not considered an entirely respectable art form. Enter the gala. Last year’s event raised about $26 million; for comparison, the Frick Collection’s reopening gala, held in April, raised $3.7 million.
Who’s invited?
The guest list is a closely guarded secret. Unlike other cultural fund-raisers, like the Metropolitan Opera’s season-opening gala, the Met Gala is invitation-only. Qualifications for inclusion have more to do with buzz, achievement and beauty — Ms. Wintour’s holy trinity — than money. The Vogue editor has the final say over every invitation and attendee.
That means that even if you give tons of money to the museum, you will not necessarily qualify, and even if a company buys a table, it cannot choose everyone who will sit at that table. It must run any proposed guests by Ms. Wintour and Vogue and pray for approval. This year, as in 2024, there are about 400 Chosen Ones, according to a spokeswoman for the Costume Institute.
Is Rihanna going?
Given that her partner, ASAP Rocky, is a co-chair, the answer is most likely yes — though you never know with Rihanna. (Last year, she confirmed her attendance and then called in sick at the last minute.) Athletes are increasingly becoming the celebrity guests du jour, so you can expect a smattering of basketball players, including the No. 1 W.N.B.A. draft pick Paige Bueckers, as well as, supposedly, Shakira, Mary J. Blige and Lizzo. There will probably also be a Kardashian/Jenner or two, judging from years past. Several young Black designers such as LaQuan Smith will also be there, many for the first time.
As for Jay-Z and Beyoncé, your guess is as good as mine.
Do the celebrities buy their tickets?
Do dogs fly? No, they are invited by brands (or by brands on the instruction of Vogue), who buy their seats at the table, in addition to custom-making their looks, flying them in and putting them up. In return, the famous guests work the fashion angle. They can also, of course, always make a donation to the museum.
Is there a dress code?
Yes, inspired by the exhibit. This year it is “tailored for you,” a suitably vague guideline. After all, given that most Met Gala outfits are made specifically for their wearer, they are all theoretically tailored for them. Still, the theme may counteract the tendency for guests to dress in costume that has characterized some of the recent galas.
Remember when Billy Porter, as a golden winged phoenix, was borne into the party celebrating “Camp” in 2019 by six shirtless men? Or when Jared Leto arrived at the gala celebrating Karl Lagerfeld in 2023 dressed as Mr. Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette?
One thing you can bet on, however: Since Vuitton is a sponsor, you will see a lot of that brand’s creations. Also, a lot of suits.
When does it start?
In theory, the timed arrivals — each guest is allotted a slot — start at 5:30 p.m., usually with the evening’s hosts, and end around 8 p.m. Unless, of course, you are Rihanna or Beyoncé, in which case you arrive whenever you want.
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