Beyond the Carpet: Black Dandyism between Fashion, Resistance, and Afrodescendants-Italian Identity In Italy, there are figures embodying this vision, yet the fashion industry continues to overlook them

On the occasion of the upcoming Met Gala 2025, to be held on Monday, May 5, which will unveil the exhibition Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the editorial team of nss magazine asked Dr. Michelle Francine Ngonmo, founder of the Afro Fashion Association, as well as cultural entrepreneur and diversity and inclusion consultant for various fashion brands, to share with us the deeper meaning of Black Dandyism, its cultural and political value, and the way in which this aesthetic — refined, radical, and inherently political — fits into Italian fashion, which still today is scarcely representative of Afro-descendant voices who inhabit, influence, and enrich it.

«To be a dandy is a political act when the world wants to exclude you.»
— Shantrelle P. Lewis, curator and author of The Dandy Lion Project

The Met Gala is much more than a red carpet spectacle: it’s the heart of fundraising for New York’s Costume Institute — and increasingly a stage for cultural reflection. The 2025 exhibition, Dandyism and Black Elegance, curated with the support of renowned scholars and artists from the African diaspora, invites visitors to reimagine fashion as a space of resistance and identity formation. Through archival pieces, photographs, performances, and digital installations, the show explores the evolution of Black sartorial codes — from colonial subversion to contemporary self-determination. In recent years, exhibitions such as Africa Fashion at the V&A or The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism at the Met have finally begun to center Black creativity, making up for a historic delay. But the 2025 Met Gala goes further: it positions the Black Dandy not just as muse, but as author — reclaiming control over beauty, presence, and storytelling.

Fashion and Black Masculinity: A History of Elegant Resistance

@rosieoko This years met gala theme and exhibition explained The history of Black dandyism! #metgala2025 #fashionhistory #blackfashionhistory #blackdandyism original sound - rosieoko

For Black communities around the world, fashion has long been a powerful language. From the tailored suits of Harlem Renaissance intellectuals to the performative aesthetics of queer ball culture, to contemporary postcolonial streetwear, sartorial expression has served Black men as a tool to assert dignity, creativity, and belonging. The Black Dandy is revolutionary in this legacy. Obsessed with detail, refined in taste, and masterful in blending tradition and innovation, each of his style choices becomes a political gesture. In a system that has historically imposed rigid and exclusionary norms, the Black Dandy deconstructs, reimagines, and rewrites the rules, with charm and visual intelligence.

The Black Dandy: Fashion as Political Presence

The Black Dandy doesn’t dress to impress — he dresses to subvert. Impeccable tailoring, luxurious fabrics, bold colors, and a deliberately theatrical elegance become tools to reclaim visibility and dignity in societies that have historically denied both. Emerging from diasporic histories of resistance — from the Sapeurs of the Congo to the dandies of Harlem, London, and Kingston — Black dandyism redefines masculinity, elegance, and power. The aesthetic is refined, but the message is strong: style can be survival, protest, and cultural memory all at once. At the 2025 Met Gala, we hope this philosophy will come to life. Black Dandies are not just guests — they are the lens, the mood, and the mirror. The world should watch as elegance takes on a new meaning: playful, radical, free from conformity.

The Black Dandy in Italy: Present but Invisible

Italy — the homeland of tailoring, fashion capitals, and design — has its own Black Dandies. They are artists, creatives, professionals, and cultural figures who reinterpret Italian sartorial codes through a diasporic lens. They come from Turin, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Naples, Palermo, Parma, Pavia, Bergamo, and many other cities. They exist and influence. Yet they remain glaringly absent from the country’s fashion campaigns, industry panels, and editorial narratives. Despite Italy’s global influence in fashion, its cultural institutions still struggle to reflect the full diversity of those who live, love, and create within its borders. While international exhibitions are centering Black narratives, the Italian industry often ignores the perspective of Black Italians, not due to a lack of talent, but a lack of systemic inclusion.

A Moment for Reflection — and Connection

The 2025 Met Gala shouldn’t remain a distant conversation. It is a moment — perhaps a rare one — for the Italian fashion industry to pause and rethink its relationship with Blackness, masculinity, and representation. What would it mean to build a true dialogue between Afro-Italian communities and the Italian sartorial heritage? Including Italian Black Dandies is not an act of charity or diversity marketing. It is a recognition of cultural evolution, of new aesthetics, of stories that are already shaping contemporary Italian identity, whether the industry acknowledges it or not. We sincerely hope that this spotlight on Black Dandyism will be a necessary wake-up call for the fashion world — and especially for Italy. In an age marked by political polarization, economic challenges, and cultural crossroads, embracing the full spectrum of identities is not just ethical — it’s visionary. Because in every moment of uncertainty, fashion has the power to reimagine who we are and who we want to become. Because until Italian fashion reflects all its voices, it cannot truly call itself global. And because true elegance — the kind that endures — always begins with truth. The conversation has finally begun. The road ahead is long, but for now, let’s celebrate this powerful moment of culture, recognition, and belonging. I can’t wait to see the Met Gala — to observe the looks, and above all, to hear the stories that every outfit dares to tell.

If you're in Italy and want to explore the world of Black Italian Dandyism more deeply (beyond the Met, because these talents truly exist and live and work here) — whether through collaboration, storytelling, research, or community engagement — we’d love to hear from you.

Contact us at the Afro Fashion Association: [email protected]