On May 5, the Met Gala red carpet in New York City roared with extravagant statements displaying revolutionary tones of Black Dandyism, yet communities around the country were left confused, unaware or disinterested in its culturally powerful theme: “Tailored for you”.
Regular consumers of the Met Gala saw a noticeable shift in the attention this year’s gala received. “This year, in particular, I liked that everyone was sticking towards the theme, I do however think that the Met Gala has received much less attention this year,” shared senior Hannah Horsefield.
“I think there has been less talk about the Gala because people didn’t think outfits were notable enough to spark controversy or to impress the usual large number of viewers,” continued Horsefield, who is correct about the lack of talk in the community: locally not as many people showed interest in this year’s theme, despite generating a total of $552M EMV in 2025.
EMV stands for “Earned Media Value”, and was calculated by influencer marketing consulting brand, Lefty. EMV is the equivalent ad spending of the social media impressions gained. It’s calculated by estimating the number of impressions of each publication and associating a cost per mile (CPM) of $100, equivalent to $1 per engagement.
So, the 2025 Met Gala saw $187M more EMV than last year’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” theme. But why is there less buzz in Pleasant Valley about this year’s gala?
In order to uncover why less people were attentive to this year’s Met gala, the relative theme and its impact must be unpacked. “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” is the title of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s 2025 collection.
The collection celebrates the style and history of Black identities and is inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” a cultural history novel which follows the black dandy and his “emergence in Enlightenment England to his contemporary incarnations in the cosmopolitan art worlds of London and New York.”
Black Dandyism is a cultural style and movement characterized by the reclamation of Black dignity in social and racial hierarchies through strategic and elaborate use of fashion and attire. “It’s rooted in a lot of extravagance and just being proud of who you are as a Black person, so that’s why on the red carpet you saw a lot of exaggerated motifs like big hats and structured suits,” said senior Odelia Ayika.
It’s possible that this theme is something that non-culturally savvy adolescent consumers can’t seem to understand, however there may be a larger disconnect between cultural norms and values that coincide with PV and the theme of Black Dandyism.
Even though Black Dandyism has been contemporarily celebrated in America, due to its counteraction of racist caricatures of the Jim Crow era, it has seen celebration by other cultures as well including Latin Americans and Puerto Ricans. “There’s so many ways that this movement of being extravagant and expressing yourself in a way that blurs the line between masculinity and femininity, was spread across so many cultures and traditions,” Ayika elaborated.“And I think that’s what really makes it beautiful; the idea that even movements started in one place can spread to so many different countries, so many different cultures, and connect people through fashion and art and self expression.”
It’s apparent through Lefty’s data that this theme has been widely adored and appreciated online, however Ayika’s statement about masculinity and femininity being merged seems to disagree with the conservative and mostly-white state that is Iowa, in which Pleasant Valley resides.
The success of people of color is often disregarded even today, and especially with the politically turmoiled state of the nation in the past year. As a Black woman, Ayika shared a note from her experience living in a predominantly white, Iowa community, “I think that’s often something we see any time Black people are being centered, because we live in a White supremacist society. But I think there’s less of that and more of just a misunderstanding of what the theme really is about.”
Further, Ayika shared notable figures that appeared at the 2025 red carpet, including Bad Bunny, who included his Puerto Rican heritage into his interpretation of black dandyism. The artist wore a custom Prada suit and a traditional Puerto Rican pava hat, symbolizing his heritage and honoring the theme of the exhibition. The pava, traditionally worn by Puerto Rican jíbaros (farmers), represents the island’s heritage and cultural identity.
Although there is a greater quietness in the community about the cultural celebrations of the 2025 Met Gala theme, there are students who appreciate such artistic statements, encouraging others to learn from cultures and fashion movements unfamiliar to them – because art and beauty is what can unite people of all backgrounds.