The 2025 Met Gala, celebrating the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibit on Black Dandyism—which focuses on menswear—saw several attendees paying tribute to Josephine Baker. Baker was a Black fashion icon, dancer, civil rights activist, and the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture.
Like the theme of the exhibit, Baker was known for her daring and experimental fashion choices. A photograph of Baker in a tuxedo and top hat is archived at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.
Quinta Brunson, the creator of Abbott Elementary, told Vogue that Baker’s style inspired her to wear a suit to the Met Gala.
Brunson’s hairstyle also nodded to Baker’s signature look: a short cut featuring a prominent curl on the forehead. A$AP Rocky, a Met Gala co-chair, and tennis star Venus Williams, among others, sported variations of this hairstyle.
Williams, on the red carpet, stated that she was aiming to embody Baker’s “elegance,” referencing Baker’s nickname “the Black Venus.”
Megan Thee Stallion directly referenced Baker, styling her hair in a long, cone-shaped ponytail reminiscent of Baker’s Havana look.
Gigi Hadid’s custom gold Miu Miu gown had a notable resemblance to a Balmain dress Baker wore in a 1951 photoshoot for the Balmain fashion house.
Baker’s ability to fluidly transition between menswear and womenswear cemented her status as a queer style icon, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her enduring influence was widely apparent at the 2025 Met Gala.
