Summary

  • It's the biggest night in fashion on Manhattan's Upper East Side, as stars serve their most iconic looks for the 2025 Met Gala

  • The theme for this year's event is "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," the first since 2003 to focus exclusively on menswear

  • Vogue says the subject of the exhibition is the "black dandy" which "examines the importance of clothing and style to the formation of black identities in the Atlantic diaspora"

  • We've already seen Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour arrive, along with co-chairs for the night Colman Domingo and Lewis Hamilton

  • Stars such as Zendaya, Doechii, Shah Ruhk Khan, and Bad Bunny have also made appearances

  • We have our eyes and ears on the carpet, so follow along for live coverage and analysis of the event

Rihanna’s baby bump and suits galore - key looks from the 2025 Met Gala

Live Reporting

Edited by Caitlin Wilson, with fashion critic Scarlett Harris

  1. Anna Wintour arrives at the Met Gala

    Anna Wintour, Coleman Domingo and Lewis HamiltonGetty Images

    Anna Wintour, Coleman Domingo and Lewis Hamilton

    Vogue's editor-in-chief and co-chair of the Met Gala Anna Wintour has arrived at the Met Gala, along with co-chairs Coleman Domingo and Lewis Hamilton.

    Earlier, she was spotted dashing out of a hotel in rainy New York City on the way to tonight's big event.

    She is wearing a baby blue tailored long coat with a brooch. Underneath it, she appears to be wearing a silk dress with lace detailing. Of course, Wintour is also sporting her signature sleek bob.

    Anna WintourGetty Images

  2. Some of the Met's most iconic looks

    There’s always some Met Gala outfits that are talked about weeks, months and sometimes even years after they grace the red carpet.

    Let's take a look:

    Princess Diana wearing a navy blue lingerie gown and pearl choker necklace, with an enormous sapphire and diamond clasp.Getty Images

    Princess Diana made her first and last appearance at the Met Gala in 1996, three months after news of her divorce with Prince Charles. She wore a Dior gown, designed by then creative director John Galliano

    Rihanna wearing a yellow fur dress with a metre's long trail behind her on the red carpet at the Met.Getty Images

    Cape or omelette? Either way, Rihanna's choice for the 2015 theme 'China: Looking Through the Looking Glass' designed by Chinese couturier Guo Pei certainly turned heads

    Jared Leto in a huge and very realistic cat outfit, waving his paw and holding the head part of the cat outfit at the 2023 Met Gala.Getty Images

    Jared Leto at the 2023 Met Gala celebrating the life and work of Karl Lagerfeld, dressed as the fashion designer's cat Choupette

    Katy Perry wearing a dress made out of silver chandeliers at the Met Gala.Getty Images

    For the 2019 gala, titled 'Camp: Notes on Fashion,' Katy Perry flaunted a built-in corset with two hidden battery packs. The look was created by former Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott

  3. SRK makes gala debut

    Shah Rukh Khan of Bollywood fame is of course not new to red carpets or the galas, but he will making a debut appearance at the Met Gala tonight.

    SRK, as he known to many fans, is a heartthrob and a leading man in the world's biggest film industry. Simply put, he is one of the biggest Bollywood stars of all time, as big a celebrity as it comes.

    We will bring you photos from when he arrives tonight.

    Shah Rukh Khan walks at an airport. He is wearing a teal jacket over a white shirt and blue jeans. He is wearing sunglasses and a blue leather bag is strapped across his torso.Getty Images

    SRK arrived in New York City this Saturday

  4. What can we expect from the red carpet?

    Scarlett Harris
    Fashion critic

    Coleman DomingoReuters

    This year's theme is focused on the style of dandyism as pioneered by black men.

    The event's organisers are enforcing a dress code that is related to the theme but leaves room for individual interpretation: "Tailored for You".

    It allows attendees flexibility in developing their own looks to reflect the theme without risking any potential accusations of appropriating the cultural history of black dandyism.

    On the red carpet, we can expect to see impeccable tailoring from the likes of Thom Browne, the partner of the Costume Institute’s head curator Andrew Bolton; a slew of Louis Vuitton, the French fashion house helmed by Gala co-chair Pharrell Williams; and fellow co-chair ASAP Rocky, who has really upped his Met Gala game since becoming involved with style icon Rihanna, will no doubt push the boundaries.

    “You can’t really use clothing as masculinity anymore. Those lines are blurred, and I like to play with that,” ASAP Rocky told Vogue, while revealing that he raids Rihanna’s wardrobe in the same way she does his.

    Co-chair Colman Domingo - who I can’t help but think played a huge role in inspiring the theme as he’s been carrying the baton for well-dressed and daring men on the red carpet for several years now - has already been spotted in a royal blue cloak that pays homage to André Leon Talley, former editor-at-large of Vogue whom Anna Wintour called “a dandy among dandies.”

  5. Co-host LeBron James on the bench for tonight's gala

    LeBron James and his wife Savannah on a red carpet. He is wearing a brown jacket over a black shirt and trousers and he is wearing black sunglasses. Savannah James is wearing a strapless leather shirt and chequered trousers.Getty Images

    LeBron and Savannah James

    If you are looking forward to seeing LeBron James on the red carpet, sorry to announce that he is not in the line up.

    James, one of this year's co-hosts, announced on X that he will miss tonight because of injury.

    "Unfortunately because of my knee injury I sustained at the end of the season I won’t be able to attend the Met Gala in NY tonight as so many people have been asking and congratulating me on!," the basketball star said.

    His wife, Savannah James, will represent the James household, he said.

    "Hate to miss an historical event! My beautiful powerful Queen will be there holding the castle down as she always has done!"

  6. Met Gala breaks fundraising record

    The Met Gala isn't just America's biggest fashion show - it's also a major benefit event.

    The gala raises money to support the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and serves as the opener for it's annual major fashion exhibition.

    This year, the Met Gala raised a record $31m (£23m), the New York Times reports.

  7. Inside and outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in rainy NYC

    Arrivals have begun, and we're getting our first glimpses inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the Met Gala will take place.

    The grand entrance of the museum is awash in purple and pink lighting, and decorated with magnificent floral arrangements. Only a rarefied list of guests will be able to go inside after climbing the museum's iconic steps, however.

    The interior of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan is decked out for the gala with purple and pink lighting and lots of florals.Getty Images

    The interior of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan is decked out for the gala.

    For the general public, they'll have to brave the rain that has battered New York City all day. Onlookers have gathered outside the Met wearing ponchos and umbrellas, hoping to get a glimpse of celebrities as they arrive.

    For all you fashion enthusiasts who don't want to deal with a downpour, continue to follow our live coverage all night!

    Spectators brave the rain in ponchos and umbrellas to gawk outside the Met Gala red carpet.Getty Images

    Spectators brave the rain to gawk outside the Met Gala red carpet.

  8. A look at the Met's Costume Institute exhibit behind this year's theme

    The Met Gala is a highly anticipated annual fashion event that attracts celebrities and audiences from around the world. It is also a charity event and fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

    The gala is timed to mark the opening of the institute's annual fashion exhibition. This year, the exhibit is called Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, which showcases different characteristics of the Black dandy style.

    Here's a peek at the looks on display as part of the exhibition:

    People view the fashion on display during the press preview for the opening of The Met's Costume Institute exhibition 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York, USA, 05 May 2025.EPA
    People take photos of a fashion piece worn by late American fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley, who is said to have inspired this exhibit, during the press preview for the opening of The Met's Costume Institute exhibition 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York, USA, 05 May 2025.EPA

    A fashion piece worn by late American fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley is on display. Talley is said to have inspired the exhibit.

    People view the fashion on display during the press preview for the opening of The Met's Costume Institute exhibition 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York, USA, 05 May 2025.EPA

    The exhibit is not only showcasing clothing, but also accessories.

  9. Anna Wintour made the Met Gala what it is today

    A young Anna Wintour looks at the camera, sat in-between American socialite Susan Gutfreund and German fashion designer Karl LagerfeldGetty Images

    A young Anna Wintour sat between American socialite Susan Gutfreund and German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld

    Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and global chief content officer of Condé Nast, is the brains behind the Met Gala operation and the reigning queen of the fashion world.

    She has been planning and hosting the event for three decades, and is touted for turning it into what it is today. Once a dinner for New York high society, it’s now a pop-culture event with a global audience.

    Raised in London to a British father and an American mother, Wintour was editor of British Vogue before taking the helm at its US sister publication in 1988.

    She is credited with making American Vogue one of the world's top fashion publications, where her no-nonsense style of management earned her the nickname "Nuclear Wintour".

  10. And the dress code is...

    "Tailored for you."

    This dress code is inspired by the theme of the 2025 spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

    "Tailored for you" is a nod to the focus on menswear and suiting, according to Vogue, and is “purposefully designed to provide guidance and invite creative interpretation”.

    "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style will explore the role of sartorial style in forming Black identities, focusing on the emergence, significance and proliferation of the Black dandy," Vogue adds.

  11. What is this year's theme?

    A man wearing a smart black suit and white shirt with a painted background of a blue sky with clouds, covered with text which says: 'Superfine, tailoring black style'.The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    This year’s spring show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, and it will be the theme for this year's Met Gala.

    The exhibition examines black style over three centuries through the subject of the black dandy.

    “In the 18th-century Atlantic world, a new culture of consumption, fuelled by the slave trade, colonialism, and imperialism, enabled access to clothing and goods that indicated wealth, distinction, and taste,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art explains.

    “Black dandyism sprung from the intersection of African and European style traditions.”

  12. It’s the first Monday of May, which can only mean one thing…

    Rihanna at the Met Gala, wears a white dress of roses that covers her head, red lipstick and white sunglasses with fake eyelashes stuck on them.Getty Images

    The fashion world’s Christmas Day has rolled around once more as the globe's biggest stars will be getting ready to walk one of the most exclusive red carpets on the planet.

    It is, of course, the Met Gala- the yearly fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in New York, organised by Vogue editor-in-chief and fashion legend Anna Wintour.

    It’s the first year since 2003 that the theme is based exclusively on menswear: "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," based off the institute's spring exhibition.

    We’ll be here following the biggest fashion and celebrity moments: Who is flouting the theme? Which designers seem to be making the biggest splash? Is the weather in rainy New York City causing any trouble for the attendees' planned looks?

    Stick with us as we dissect it all.