At Met Gala, in New York, a tribute to fashion and the creation of black diasporas of the United States

The fashion festival started on Monday, May 5, on the extravagant gala of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (MET) on Monday May 5 on Monday. Like every first Monday in May, celebrities paraded on the steps of the prestigious 5 museum^e Avenue de Manhattan, backed by Central Park, crowds of fashionistas waiting for long hours on the sidewalks, to hope to capture an image of stars on their smartphone.

The purpose of this gala is to raise funds to finance the costume Institute, the MET fashion department, and the 2025 edition is marked by a theme that resonates particularly with news: fashion through black diasporas in the United States.

Among the first personalities to dazzle this annual worldly event at the crossroads of fashion and philanthropy, the actress and musician Teyana Taylor posed in an endless detail: hand cane, feather hat on her head, she wears a costume enhanced with silver chains on a fitted button vest, all under an impressive rosy cape. But it was probably the singer Diana Ross who has imposed herself in the competition for the greatest train, on which she had the names of her children and her grandchildren embroidered.

The singer Madonna presented herself, cigarette in her mouth, in a clear salient suit, with a bow tie and a buttonhole flower.

The high priestess of the event, the director of VogueAnna Wintour, appeared alongside some of the co-presidents of the 2025 edition: actor Colman Domingo, whose royal blue cape with white collar pays homage to the late André Leon Talley-the first African-American creative director at Vogue -, the Formula 1 pilot Lewis Hamilton, in a cream costume matching his beret, or the artist Pharrell Williams, now creator at Louis Vuitton, who wears a short white jacket encrusted with pearls.

At the foot of the steps, they listened to a choir singing the song Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

Political dimension

As usual, the theme of the evening coincides with the great exhibition of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum. The Met is offering this year an exploration of American fashion from the 18th century^e A century through clothing styles first imposed on black populations in the United States and Europe, but that the latter have reclaimed and reinvented. Like the black dandies, an aesthetic inherited from slavery which has become synonymous with elegance and emancipation.

This complex story is revisited in all its forms. The new rap star, Doechi, sported an Afro cup and a large cigar to accompany a short jacket and a Louis Vuitton shorts.

The exhibition, prepared for months, is part of the quest for diversity of American cultural institutions, five years after the immense wave of anti-racist protest of the Black Lives Matter movement (“the black lives count”) after the death of an African-American, George Floyd, during a police arrest in Minneapolis (Minnesota).

But it takes on a particular dimension when Donald Trump, returned to power, abolishes federal funds on any initiative to promote diversity, which he castigates as a “woke” drift weakening meritocracy.

“It is obvious that this exhibition was planned many years ago and that we did not know what would happen in the political arena, but it takes on a new importance and a new reason for being”told France-Presse Anna Wintour.

A place at $ 75,000

Among the guests were also the champion of gymnastics Simone Biles, arrived in a bright blue outfit, and the sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, as well as the filmmaker Spike Lee, the singer Shakira and the stars of Pop Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Charli XCX. rapper Andre 3000, in the midst of eccentricity, presented himself by bearing the replica of a piano on the back.

The actresses Halle Berry, Demi Moore or Nicole Kidman also climbed the steps, as well as the actor Adrien Brody. On the other hand, the legend of basketball LeBron James, who had the title of honorary president of the gala, said, because of a knee injury.

When the theme had been announced, in October, Pharrell Williams, whose brand sponsored the exhibition of the Institute costume, had recalled the importance of celebrating cultures from slavery, which still haunts American society.

“We are the survivors of what the worst trials are never suffered by a group of human beings, and not only we have survived, but we have worn music, culture, beauty and universal language through an ocean and four centuries”he had launched. “This is what the Met Gala will celebrate: we, our talents, our history, our gastronomy, our resilience and our beauty, our style and our strength”he added.

The gala and its climb of the steps are one of the most selective events on the planet. This year, the party is expected to bring in $ 31 million (almost 27.5 million euros), the Director General of the MET, Max Hollein, revealed on Monday. According to the New York Timesplace at dinner cost $ 75,000 (around 66,000 euros), $ 350,000 (around 310,000 euros) for a table.

The singer and designer Rihanna – who has become a billionaire businesswoman by launching her marks of makeup, lingerie and haute couture – took advantage of the event, where she is one of the most awaited guests each year, to reveal that she was waiting for a third child with the rapper A $ AP Rocky.

The artist first staged on Instagram walking in the middle of the cars in New York, the well -rounded belly, dressed in a Layette blue set. A few moments later, A $ AP Rocky confirmed the happy event on the carpet. Then the singer of the Barbados finally arrived-very late-, hat wide on the head, gray skirt tied in the back and mini-vintage to better highlight her plump belly.