New Met Gala exhibit 'Superfine' gives voice to emerging Black designers

NEW YORK (AP) — When the email came from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jacques Agbobly at first didn’t quite believe it.

The Brooklyn-based fashion designer had only been in the business for five years. Now, one of the world’s top museums was asking for two of his designs to be shown in “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the exhibit launched by the starry Met Gala.

“I was just floored with excitement,” Agbobly said in an interview. “I had to check to make sure it was from an official email. And then the excitement came, and I was like … am I allowed to say anything to anyone about it?”

Agbobly grew up in Togo, watching seamstresses and tailors create beautiful garments in part of the family home that they rented out. Studying fashion later in New York, the aspiring designer watched the Met Gala carpet from afar and dreamed of one day somehow being part of it.

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” is the first Costume Institute exhibit to focus exclusively on Black designers, and the first in more than 20 years devoted to menswear. Unlike past shows that highlighted the work of very famous designers like Karl Lagerfeld or Charles James, this exhibit includes a number of up-and-coming designers like Agbobly.

“The range is phenomenal,” says guest curator Monica L. Miller, a Barnard College professor whose book, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” is a foundation for the show.

“It's super exciting to showcase the designs of these younger and emerging designers,” says Miller, who took The Associated Press through the show over the weekend before its unveiling at Monday’s Met Gala, “and to see the way they've been thinking about Black representation across time and across geography.”

Miller also spoke about the exhibit at a press preview Monday morning, at which the Met's CEO, Max Hollein, announced the gala had raised a record $31 million — the first time the fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute has crossed the $30 million mark and eclipsing last year's haul of more than $26 million.

Also appearing was actor and gala co-chair Colman Domingo, who spoke with emotion about the family members — a stepfather, a father, a brother — who introduced him to style. Resplendent in a purple suit by designer Ozwald Boateng, he shared a favorite quote from director and playwright George C. Wolfe: “God created Black people, and Black people created style.”

The exhibit covers Black style over several centuries, but the unifying theme is dandyism, and how designers have expressed that ethos through history.

For Agbobly, dandyism is “about taking space. As a Black designer, as a queer person, a lot of it is rooted in people telling us who we should be or how we should act … dandyism really goes against that. It’s about showing up and looking your best self and taking up space and announcing that you're here.”

The exhibit, which opens to the public May 10, begins with its own definition: someone who “studies above everything else to dress elegantly and fashionably.”

Miller has organized it into 12 conceptual sections: Ownership, presence, distinction, disguise, freedom, champion, respectability, jook, heritage, beauty, cool and cosmopolitanism.

The “ownership” section begins with two livery coats worn by enslaved people.

One of them, from Maryland, looks lavish and elaborate, in purple velvet trimmed with gold metallic threading. The garments were intended to show the wealth of their owners. In other words, Miller says, the enslaved themselves were items of conspicuous consumption.

The other is a livery coat of tan broadcloth, likely manufactured by Brooks Brothers and worn by an enslaved child or adolescent boy in Louisiana just before the Civil War.

Elsewhere, there's a contemporary, glittering ensemble by British designer Grace Wales Bonner, made of crushed silk velvet and embroidered with crystals and the cowrie shells historically used as currency in Africa.

There's also a so-called “dollar bill suit” by the label 3.Paradis — the jacket sporting a laminated one-dollar bill stitched to the breast pocket, meant to suggest the absence of wealth.

The “disguise” section includes a collection of 19th-century newspaper ads announcing rewards for catching runaway enslaved people.

The ads, Miller notes, would often describe someone who was “particularly fond of dress” — or note that the person had taken large wardrobes. The reason was twofold: The fancy clothes made it possible for an enslaved person to cloak their identity. But also, when they finally made it to freedom, they could sell the clothing to help fund their new lives, Miller says.

“So dressing above one’s station sometimes was a matter of life and death,” the curator says, “and also enabled people to transition from being enslaved to being liberated.”

The contemporary part of this section includes striking embroidered jackets by the label Off-White that purposely play with gender roles — like displaying an ostensibly “male” jacket on a female mannequin.

Stopping by a set of portraits from the early 19th century, as abolitionism was happening in the North, Miller explains that the subjects are Black men who were successful, well off enough to commission or sit for portraits, and dressed “in the finest fashions of the day.” Like William Whipper, an abolitionist and wealthy lumber merchant who also founded a literary society.

They represent the beginnings of a Black middle and upper middle class in America, Miller says. But she points out a group of racist caricatures in a case right across from the portraits.

“Almost as soon as they are able to do this,” she says, referring to the portraits, “they are stereotyped and degraded.”

W.E.B. Du Bois, Miller points out, was not only a civil rights activist but also one of the best-dressed men in turn-of-the-century America. He traveled extensively overseas, which meant he needed “clothing befitting his status as a representative of Black America to the world.”

Objects in the display include receipts for tailors in London, and suit orders from Brooks Brothers or his Harlem tailor. There is also a laundry receipt from 1933 for cleaning of shirts, collars, and handkerchiefs.

Also highlighted in this section: Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, writer, and statesman and also “the most photographed man of the 19th century.”

The show includes his tailcoat of brushed wool, as well as a shirt embroidered with a “D” monogram, a top hat, a cane and a pair of sunglasses.

One of Miller’s favorite items in the heritage section is Agbobly’s bright-colored ensemble based on the hues of bags that West African migrants used to transport their belongings.

Also displayed is Agbobly’s denim suit embellished with crystals and beads. It's a tribute not only to the hairbraiding salons where the designer spent time as a child, but also the earrings his grandmother or aunts would wear when they went to church.

Speaking of family, Agbobly says that he ultimately did tell them — and everyone — about his “pinch-me moment.”

“Everyone knows about it,” the designer says. “I keep screaming. If I can scream on top of a hill, I will.”

For full coverage of the Met Gala, visit https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala.

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Daniel Gayle and James Bosley for Denzilpatrick is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Louis Vuitton is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Brick Owens and Dieter Grams for Bstroy and worn by DJ Kool Herc is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs by Ib Kamara for Off-White are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Slippers designed by Tremaine Emory for Denim Tears are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs by Dapper Dan and Bstroy are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Grace Wales Bonner is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

PUMA sneakers and a hat worn by Walt Frazier are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Zoot suits are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A suit designed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Emeric Tchatchou for 3.Paradis is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A coat designed by John Galliano for the House of Dior and worn by André Leon Talley is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A Polo by Ralph Lauren design for Morehouse College is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs by Louis Wells and worn by Prince, second from left, and Pat Campano and worn by Sylvester, second from right, are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A livery coat and waistcoat worn by and enslaved servant, left, and a Brooks Brothers coat worn by an enslaved child are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs by Saul Nash are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs by Jeffrey Banks, left, and Morty Sills are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Fashion designer/founder of Agbobly, Jacques Agbobly, poses for a portrait on Thursday, May 1, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Gary Gerard Hamilton)

Letters and receipts belonging to W. E. B. Du Bois are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Jacques Agbobly is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Foday Dumbuya for Labrum London is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Designs are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A design by Jacques Agbobly is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute exhibition, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)