Janelle Monáe embraces dandyism at the Met Gala with help from an Oscar winner and tequila diamond

Janelle Monáe embraced Black dandyism’s elegance at the Met Gala in an all-star collaboration with Oscar winner Paul Tazewell and designer Thom Browne, completing her look with a sparkling ethical diamond brooch from 1800 Tequila for a finishing touch.

Known for turning heads with her gala looks, Monáe strutted the carpet in a black, red, and white pin-striped suit tailored to her frame with sharp, pointy shoulders. She topped the suit with a black top hat and wore a small black-and-gold clock over her left eye. She wore the tequila diamond brooch tucked beneath her outer jacket, ultimately revealing it on her tie — a bold statement honoring her ancestors and dandy-dressing family members while celebrating a more conscious approach to fashion jewelry.

Monáe said the ensemble she revealed Monday honored her ancestors and dandy-dressing family members while celebrating a more conscious approach to fashion jewelry.

“It felt like the right statement to make in fashion,” the Grammy-nominated performer told The Associated Press in a recent interview before the gala. She felt like she was back in art school to do a group project with Tazewell and Browne, calling the collaboration “one of a kind.”

In March, Tazewell made history at the Oscars, becoming the first Black man to win best costume design. Browne gave Monáe her first suit when, she says, “nobody else would,” and designed her 2023 Met Gala red carpet ensemble: an oversize half-black, half-white tweed suit worn over a hoop skirt that earned rave reviews.

“Just having all three of our minds together around this theme, it’s honestly the most exciting thing,” Monáe said. “The experience of us creating this look together, putting our heads together, getting excited and dreaming up whatever we wanted to dream has been the best part of it all.”

With Black dandyism carving its place in Met Gala history, Monáe found sentimental value in wearing the 1800 Tequila ethical diamond, a gem not mined from the earth, but crafted from the brand’s Cristalino tequila, with the brooch design inspired by the crystalline bottle.

“Knowing the impact that traditional diamond mining has had on African nations, it felt important to me that this piece reflected a more conscious and considered approach to jewelry wearing,” said Monáe, who is a part of the host committee alongside the likes of Simone Biles, Spike Lee, Ayo Edebiri and André 3000.

Monáe is one of the many cultural powerhouses leading Black dandyism into the fashion spotlight at the Met Gala, as the Metropolitan Museum of Art unveils its new costume exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” It marks the Met’s first show centered exclusively on Black designers and the first in more than two decades to spotlight menswear. It’s also a tribute to the rich legacy of dandyism, a style that has long carved space for radical self-expression, especially for those overlooked or misunderstood.

Monáe said she was in awe of the technology used to craft the diamond from tequila. The tequila was aged for 16 months in both new American and French oak barrels before being finished in port wine casks for an additional six months.

“It gives a rare brilliance and shine,” she said. “I’m future focused, and I feel like this should be the future of diamond making. Something that’s more ethical. Something that’s safe to wear.”

Janelle Monae attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

This combination of photos shows Janelle Monae's fashion outfits at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala across several years. (AP Photo)

Janelle Monae attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Janelle Monae attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)