NEW YORK – It’s fashion’s biggest night at the Met Gala.
The annual Met Gala returns for 2025 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first Monday in May. This year’s Met ball, an invite-only event overflowing with A-list talent, will help fund and correspond with the museum’s Costume Institute and its spring exhibit, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
The exhibit – and the night’s dress code, “Tailored for You” – will highlight Black dandyism. With celebrity attendees including A$AP Rocky, Spike Lee, Janelle Monaé, Usher and more, expect to see a red carpet full of immaculate suiting, custom couture and inventive takes on tailoring, hopefully with a focus on Black history and personal style.
USA TODAY has an exclusive spot on the red carpet, so follow along for all the top moments from the night:
Met Gala 2024: Zendaya’s outfit change, Usher explains his look
The stars were out at the 2024 Met Gala. USA TODAY’s Anika Reed had a front row seat to the action and chatted with Usher about his look.
Pharrell, one of the co-chairs of the event, arrives as cool as ever in a pearl-encrusted suit jacket and sunglasses, with his wife rocking LV tights in support of her designer husband. His jacket had 15,000 pearls and took 400 hours to create.
Diana Ross knows how to make a grand entrance. In an 18-foot-long train, the enduring diva stunned in a white feathered cape over a bejeweled gown.
She was flanked by her son Evan Ross, who helped her adjust her oversized feathered hat
Lewis Hamilton breezes to the top of the Met steps, almost as quickly as he drives his racecars, in a cream-colored tuxedo and matching bow tie and hat, adorned with a golden brooch.
Colman Domingo arrived in a cape and later revealed a perfectly tailored suit underneath.
Domingo rounded out the early arrivals of the co-chairs in an expertly tailored, glittering black and silver suit jacket. Missing from the co-chair arrivals: A$AP Rocky and Rihanna. Perhaps they’ll shut down the carpet again like they did in 2023?
LaLa Anthony, one of the Vogue livestream hosts, is in archival Off-White by the late Virgil Abloh.
Anna Wintour arrives in a pale blue coat atop a white gown with her signature blonde bob. The top Vogue editor has revolutionized the Met Gala since taking the helm in the ‘90s, making it one of the top events of the year.
Teyana Taylor is one of the early arrivals as a Vogue livestream host, donning a wine-colored, strong-shouldered cape atop a black suit, complete with a complementary durag, top hat, cane and gloves.
Alongside her adjusting her look on the carpet is Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
Rain or shine, the stars show out for Met Gala 2025
Despite a rainy forecast for the first Monday in May, the stars are set to be out for one of the biggest events of the year.
The carpet this year is a shade of midnight blue, dotted with white and yellow Anemone Honorine Jobert flowers blooming amid greenery lining the famed Met steps. The usually bustling Fifth Avenue, typically crammed with onlookers from across the street, is quiet this year, potentially signaling a VVIP arrival at some point tonight.
Met Gala 2025 theme: Black dandyism
The theme coincides with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s spring exhibit, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, which the institute describes as a “cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism.”
Inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” the exhibit theme explores how the multicultural blend of African and European styles informed Black identity. Black dandyism became a practice in which Black people – and specifically Black men – used the power of personal style as a form of resistance, and a way for them to push back on societal limitations and negative perceptions in terms of race, class, gender and sexuality.
What time does the Met Gala start?
Held on the first Monday of May, the gala will take place May 5. The carpet usually kicks off with first arrivals around 5 p.m., and coverage airs and streams beginning at 6 p.m.
Where can I watch Met Gala 2025?
To check out the fierce fashion in real time, stay tuned to USA TODAY’s updates all night.
The official Met Gala livestream will be broadcast across Vogue’s digital platforms, including the magazine’s official YouTube channel.
E! is also airing a red-carpet special, kicking off at 6 p.m. ET/PT and co-hosted by Zanna Roberts Rassi, Maria Taylor, Elaine Welteroth, Yvonne Orji and fashion designer Christian Siriano. A separate livestream special, airing from 6:30-8 p.m. ET, will be available across E!’s social media platforms, E! Online and streaming service Peacock.
Met Gala themes over the years
The Met Gala has a distinct theme to correspond with that year’s Costume Institute exhibit. Look back at the past 10 years:
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Jay Stahl, Edward Segarra
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