Met Gala 2025: Best Red Carpet Moments

May 5, 2025 6:35 PM EDT

It's the first Monday in May, which also means it's time for the biggest night in fashion: the Met Gala.

This year, the theme of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute Benefit is "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," itself derived from the Costume Institute's spring 2025 exhibition, which explores the role of sartorial style in forming Black identities.

Inspired by Monica Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the exhibit centers on Black style over the past three centuries through the concept of dandyism. The evening's accompanying dress code is "Tailored for You," a nod to the show's focus on menswear that, according to the museum, is "purposefully designed to both provide guidance and invite creative interpretation."

As per usual, the haute couture event drew celebrities, fashion insiders, and tastemakers to New York City’s Upper East Side to ascend the red (or, in this case, blue with yellow and white flowers) carpet laid out on the iconic Met steps. Guests who exemplified the night's theme and dress code included gala co-chairs Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams, who came attired in looks that ranged from a deep blue Valentino cape for Domingo that appeared to pay tribute to fashion legend André Leon Talley's 2011 Met Gala outfit to a pearl blazer for Pharrell that was inspired, in his own words, by "the Black men of the working class."

Although LeBron James was named an honorary chair, the NBA star announced on Monday that he would not be attending the gala due to a knee injury he suffered in the final game of the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff run. However, he said that his wife, Savannah James, would be there in his absence.

Here’s a look at the best (and most outrageous) looks from the 2025 Met Gala red carpet.

Read more: The History Behind the Met Gala