MET Gala 2025. Superfine: Tailoring Black Style
On Monday May 5th, Grace Wales Bonner served as a host committee member at the MET Gala.
Since its inception, Wales Bonner has brought together the traditions of European fashion with the style and soulfulness of Afro-Atlantic expression. The theme of 2025’s MET Costume Institute exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, presented a cherished opportunity to celebrate the inspirations, codes, and craft signatures at the core of the brand.
As a member of the host committee, Grace Wales Bonner is proud to have created bespoke looks for Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, photographer Tyler Mitchell, musician FKA Twigs, actor Jeff Goldblum, musician and actor Omar Apollo, artist Eric N. Mack, curator Antwaun Sargent, stylist Eric McNeal, and curator of the Met exhibition, Monica L. Miller.
In FKA Twigs bespoke look, Harlem Renaissance ballrooms and heritage French couture are united in a hand-embroidered organza dress inspired by trailblazing performer Josephine Baker. Savoir-faire is felt in ostrich feather trim on the dress and chiffon silk stole made in collaboration with Lemarié, feather and needlework specialists founded in 1880.
Delicate crystal embroideries on FKA Twigs' organza dress, as well as Omar Apollo's vest, were produced in partnership with Swarovski.
No wonder, we float so lightly
these summer night songs in us
we float, bopping high on the rhythms of Drum ;
do air-dances O so lightly…
-From Larry Neal, “Kuntu” in Hoodoo Hollerin Bebop Ghosts, Washington: Howard University Press, 1974.
Ah
There is wind here
Open eyes
Sails
The conch shell sings
Hallelujahs
From Kamau Brathwaite, Black + Blue. New Directions Books: New York, 1995.
Fine Jewellery
Wales Bonner's bespoke looks include the brand’s first iterations of fine jewellery, produced in partnership with lab-grown diamond company SNOW Diamonds and including emerald-cut stones in garnet, white, and amber.
Across the jewellery offering, brooches hang like baobab flowers, crystal conch shells sing, cowries and bird feathers bring purity and power.
Enquire about fine jewellery, available to order below. You can also view Wales Bonner's Met Gala fine jewellery collection at Dover Street Market New York, May 8th - 13th, and Dover Street Market London, May 14th - June 14th.
Footwear
Opera boots, shoes and heels in patent leather, pony hair, and satin worn for each bespoke look continue the years-long collaboration between Wales Bonner and Manolo Blahnik.
Tailoring takes on a soulful approach, where European sartorial traditions meet Afro-Atlantic elegance, resulting in garments rich with symbolism, cultural resonance, and artisanal detail. Each bespoke piece is crafted through a deeply considered process—drawing on heritage techniques, hand embroidery, and rare materials—to express a refined, intimate story of Black style and spiritual grace.
Also presented as part of the summer exhibition are seven looks from the Wales Bonner archive spanning the ten-year history of the brand and its continued exploration of black style. It includes looks from Wales Bonner’s debut collection, Autumn Winter 2015 Ebonics, and two from the Spring Summer 2017 collection, Ezekiel, which is featured on the cover of the exhibition catalogue in a portrait shot by Tyler Mitchell.
The pieces on display are shining examples of the brand’s signatures, of a luxury proposition rooted in culture. There are recurring motifs like crochet knit, details in red-gold-and-green, cowrie shells and crystal embellishments. The pieces are on view until October 26, 2025 at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 999.
