Iconic Black Males In Fashion Who Continue to Inspire: Photos

Style is individual, even when it is observed through the collective taste of a group or culture. This year, the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025 exhibition will do just that. It is predicted that the 2025 exhibition, themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” will inform a sartorial look at Black male identity through the historical significance of the dandy. Dandyism is defined as a lifestyle and social phenomenon that emphasizes performance, romanticized in clothing — for this moment.

Menswear — or men’s tailoring — is in itself an intentional extension of expression and beauty via the male gaze. Throughout history, the calculated and deliberate approach to style is definitive not just of the choice of costume, dress, or clothes, but of the ritual and embodiment of the wearer themselves. From tuxedos to three-piece suits, jeans and sweatpants, and the manipulation of these items, Black male figures in the arts, fashion and politics, on and off the red carpet, continue to influence style and culture.

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” reflects on the fashion choices of Black icons Duke Ellington and his residence at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York; actors Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Samuel L. Jackson, and Colman Domingo, one of this year’s Met Gala committee members known for his self-expression in tailored finery. There is also Dapper Dan, whose name is synonymous with Harlem style, Gucci, and its infamous relationship to fashion. Other prominent Black male figures, who may not be as familiar in today’s fashion conversation — such as performer Geoffrey Holder, hairstylist Camello “Frenchie” Casimir, singer and pianist Bobby Short, and photographer Gordon Parks — were all known to be connoisseurs of style, alongside many of the fashion industry voices like André Leon Talley. Their iconic influence continues to inspire and celebrate menswear today.

From WWD, whose lens has captured them all along their fashion journey and the Fairchild Archive, here is a look at those iconic names, along with other Black male figures of style through the years as the anticipation for the 2025 Met Gala begins.