CFDA LAUNCHES TAILORED VOICES: A CELEBRATION OF BLACK DESIGNERS AT THE 2025 MET GALA
words by Lisette James for Vogue
APRIL 18, 2025
In collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the CFDA is proud to introduce Tailored Voices—a new initiative spotlighting a dynamic group of Black designers whose work defines the depth, authorship, and innovation moving fashion forward.
Tailored Voices debuts at the 2025 Met Gala, coinciding with this year’s exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Drawing inspiration from the lineage of Black self-styling, dandyism, and fashion as resistance, the initiative honors the designers whose practices elevate tailoring as a language of identity and cultural narrative.
As part of this groundbreaking program, each selected designer has been granted their own dedicated table at the Met Gala—hosting up to eight guests of their choosing. These tables become spaces of celebration, storytelling, and creative authorship, led entirely by the designers themselves. From cultural icons and longtime collaborators to rising talents and family figures, each guest list reflects the unique community and vision behind the designer's work.
The 2025 Tailored Voices designers include:
J. Monroe (New Orleans) – Celebrated for reimagining Southern Black elegance through radical tailoring
FOLA (Lagos & London) – Known for sculptural silhouettes and ceremonial formality
Asanti (Atlanta) – A multidisciplinary collective rooted in costume, history, and Black performance aesthetics
June & Mercy (Philadelphia) – Sisters channeling matriarchal memory and Sunday-best iconography
Dorne (Los Angeles) – Reviving menswear through an Afro-futurist lens
Studio Atelier (Brooklyn) – Led by Stacy Strange, whose work bridges narrative, intimacy, and cut with a deeply considered hand
“Tailored Voices is about presence,” said 2025 Met Gala co-chair Pharrell Williams. “These designers have been shaping the conversation for years, sometimes quietly, sometimes boldly, but always with integrity. This initiative offers them the platform they’ve earned to speak on their own terms.”
Fashion icon and cultural pioneer Dapper Dan, whose career laid the foundation for generations of Black style innovation, echoed the significance of the moment.
“For years, we made fashion from the outside looking in. Now, we’re not just in the room—we’re designing the room. Tailored Voices is the future dressed in our past.”
The CFDA extends its gratitude to The Costume Institute, the Met Gala committee, and the participating designers for their vision and commitment. As Tailored Voices makes its debut, the CFDA looks forward to a future where these voices are no longer emerging—they’re centered.
