Untitled (Christian in Wales Bonner)Photography by Tyler Mitchell, Courtesy of The Met
Tyler Mitchell’s Love Letter to Modern Black Dandyism
In a new photo essay for The Met’s Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition catalogue, Tyler Mitchell captures a group of models and modern dandies in Harlem wearing looks from the exhibition and their own wardrobes
“Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.” —Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, 1970
“Look the part, be the part, motherfucker.” —Proposition Joe, “Game Day”, The Wire, 4 August 2002
My understanding of the power and performance of clothes clicked long before I entered the world of fashion. A white friend visiting my hometown of Atlanta had marvelled at how stylish Black people in the city were. What he noticed was something I had always known: our singular ability to “style out”, to show up, “when the occasion calls for it, and, more tellingly, often when it does not” as Monica L Miller writes in Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. Whether donning a colour-coordinated sweatsuit paired perfectly with a New Era hat, or an expertly tailored suit with complementary cufflinks, a tie bar, and a hat with the brim curled just right, Black people have long understood the transformative power of clothes and the stories they tell about who we are.
Lamine at the Dinner PartyPhotography by Tyler Mitchell, Courtesy of The Met
Untitled (Abdou Classic Portrait)Photography by Tyler Mitchell, Courtesy of The Met
In this visual essay, my aim was not only to depict visions of profound camaraderie, beauty, and joy – though that alone would have been a worthy pursuit – but to explore how Black individuals have appropriated and transformed classical European fashion into something uniquely our own. Featuring models in garments from Superfine: Tailoring Black Style alongside fabulously self-styled men in vintage or the wearer’s own attire, this project is a love letter to modern Black dandyism. It’s about the embodiment of clothes and their wearers creating agency, self-possession, and what American writer and musician Greg Tate calls “the capacity to freak the mundane into magic.”
The Dinner PartyPhotography by Tyler Mitchell, Courtesy of The Met
When invited to contribute to this catalogue, I realised that this project had to go beyond documenting mannequins. It needed to capture the humanity, pride, playfulness, and intentional wit that define dandyism. These images celebrate how tailoring has always been radically reimagined and elevated by Black men across generations and throughout history.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to the incredible men and boys I photographed for this project. Your style, spirit, and confidence brought this vision to life, honouring not only the garments but the vibrant legacy of all that Black style, dandyism, and all-around flyness mean and have meant through time.
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