Tyler Mitchell, the renowned photographer, explores his closeness with clothing in a new photo essay. Shot ahead of the Met Gala, the photo essay delves into the theme of choice this year, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
A modern take on Black dandyism is the root of the compelling imagery that was revealed days ago. The images accompany a catalog written by professor and guest curator of the forthcoming exhibition, Professor Monica L. Miller. Comprised of 372 pages, the catalog expounds upon Miller’s Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
Alongside the release of the photo essay, Mitchell penned a written essay, a love letter depicting his affinity for his hometown, Atlanta, and how a keen sense of dressing is a mainstay there. Below are pulled quotes from Mitchell’s essay.
“My understanding of the power and performance of clothes clicked long before I entered the world of fashion. A white friend visiting my hometown of Atlanta had marveled at how stylish Black people in the city were. What he noticed was something I had always known: our singular ability to ‘style out’, to show up, ‘when the occasion calls for it, and, more tellingly, often when it does not’ as Monica L Miller writes in Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. Whether donning a color-coordinated sweatsuit paired perfectly with a New Era hat, or an expertly tailored suit with complementary cufflinks, a tie bar, and a hat with the brim curled just right, Black people have long understood the transformative power of clothes and the stories they tell about who we are,” Mitchell wrote.
“In this visual essay, my aim was not only to depict visions of profound camaraderie, beauty, and joy – though that alone would have been a worthy pursuit – but to explore how Black individuals have appropriated and transformed classical European fashion into something uniquely our own. Featuring models in garments from Superfine: Tailoring Black Style alongside fabulously self-styled men in vintage or the wearer’s own attire, this project is a love letter to modern Black dandyism. It’s about the embodiment of clothes and their wearers creating agency, self-possession, and what American writer and musician Greg Tate calls ‘the capacity to freak the mundane into magic,'” Mitchell added.
The catalog is currently available for pre-order on the Met Museum website and will begin shipping mid-May. Pivotal figures within the arts, literature, and fashion are featured including Amy Sherald and Andre 3000.
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style will run at The Met Fifth Avenue from May 10 – October 26, 2025.
