{"id":5587,"date":"2025-05-23T17:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=5587"},"modified":"2025-05-26T16:58:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T14:58:44","slug":"superfine-at-the-met-in-ny-the-exhibition-on-the-origins-of-black-dandyism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/trend-en\/superfine-at-the-met-in-ny-the-exhibition-on-the-origins-of-black-dandyism\/","title":{"rendered":"Superfine: at the MET in NY the exhibition on the origins of black dandyism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The exhibitions able to gather all this attention are only a few. One of them takes place every spring at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For 2025 the museum has embarked on a difficult challenge: to make use of fashion as an instrument in order to examine, from an historic and cultural point of view, the phenomenon of dandyism within the African diaspora for over three hundred years. Superfine: Tailoring Black Style (New York, until October 26th) starts right from dresses with the aim of narrating the various sides of black style. We have been there and we are going to tell you about it<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

di Domenico Casoria<\/p>\n

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Superfine: Tailoring Black Style<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It isn\u2019t a comfortable journey, or at least it seems. The reason is that right when you enter the room where the dresses, the accessories, the paintings and letters are exhibited, you are rapidly struck by the impression that the ultimate destination depends on who is looking. The exhibition was curated by Andrew Bolton<\/strong>, responsible for the Costume Institute, and Monica L. Miller<\/strong>, Chair and Professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College.<\/p>\n

The title takes inspiration from one of the books written by the scholar: Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, published in 2009. Right before embracing a path from one \u201ccategory\u201d to another, the curators are keen to underline the definition of a dandy: \u201csomeone who studies, above everything else, how to dress elegantly and fashionably\u201d. Right from this premise precisely starts the analysis of black style through the lens of dandyism, highlighting, \u00c7a va sans dire – the crucial role played by tailoring <\/strong>in terms of formation of black identity. An approach that is still spread between the black designers who continue to reinterpret history.<\/p>\n

The sections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Even if it is organized in 12 specific sections, the exhibition path is not strict. A few central islands, on which are exhibited the dresses of contemporary designers, essentially act as glue between the past and the future. Much more challenging is the analysis of colours, since the curators have opted for a room with darker tones, which does not help in focusing on the dresses.\u00a0 The sections, as we were saying, are twelve. It goes from champions <\/strong>to respectability<\/strong>, from distinction <\/strong>to freedom<\/strong>, from beauty <\/strong>to heritage<\/strong>, in order to ultimately reach an overview.<\/p>\n

Every aspect is taken into consideration and, in this way, moving from the disguise <\/strong>(viewed as an exit strategy) section to freedom, six portraits of black gentlemens – some named, some unknown – essentially tell how style and attention to details are crucial for the construction of an identity. They are all shown in unconventional and bizarre poses, with the aim of emphasizing\u00a0 the break with classical portraiture. Along with already known themes, the exhibition wants to explore gender, sexuality, conviviality or it aims to return clear and precise codes to the visitors.<\/p>\n

As in the case of the writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass<\/strong>. Inside the exhibition is shown a top hat of his, but also a tailcoat, a cane and sunglasses, in order to remark the fact that Douglass was used to dress like this with the aim of supporting black people and their rights, and in order to represent them as they actually were. Without any mediations.<\/p>\n

Fashion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Surely, the most impactful chapter of Superfine – precisely because of a temporal proximity – remains the one linked to dresses. It needs to be underlined that the curators also took inspiration from Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley<\/strong>, historical fashion editor and the first black creative director of Vogue, who passed away in 2022. He has always strongly influenced the world of fashion. Among the most shown creations clearly stand out the ones designed by Virgil Abloh<\/strong>, ex creative director of Louis Vuitton<\/strong> (main partner of the exhibition).<\/p>\n

But there are also some references to streetwear carried on by the successor Pharrell<\/strong>, the leather suits of Salvatore Ferragamo<\/strong> by Maximilian Davis<\/strong> and a contemporary re-edition of mules, designed by British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose<\/strong>. Not to mention young designers, such as the Dutch-Dominican Lisi Herrebrugh<\/strong> and her crocodile leather comb-bag. So, basically, all personalities that nowadays possess the power to determine how we dress. But this is maybe the ultimate aim of the exhibition. To light an impactful spotlight – hoping it won\u2019t go out – on how fundamental fashion has been in the process of building identity in the black community. And on how much it continues to be so, today.<\/p>\n

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