Shōgun star Anna Sawai had an accidental matching moment with Zendaya when they arrived at the 2025 Met Gala to honour the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibit “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”.
The theme for the annual haute couture fundraising event, which took place on Monday (5 May), centered around the concept of Black dandyism and was the first in 20 years to focus entirely on menswear.
The event’s dress code, “Tailored For You”, encouraged individual expression. However, both actors – who were styled by different fashion houses – interpreted the theme the same way.
Zendaya, 28, walked the red carpet in a three-piece custom Louis Vuitton suit, designed by Pharrell Williams. She completed the look with a wide-brimmed hat and a brooch pinned to her back collar.
Meanwhile, Sawai, 32, arrived wearing a three-piece Dior suit and an almost identical wide-brimmed hat. The only difference between the ensembles was that Sawai’s trousers were wide-legged rather than flared.
This year’s Met Gala theme was announced back in October 2024 during a press conference held in the museum.
Andrew Bolton, the head curator for the Costume Institute, said “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” was inspired by Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
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“In the 18th century, dandyism could be both a vehicle of enslavement and liberation. It was also imposed upon and quickly taken up by Black people swept up into the political realities of the time,” Miller said at the press conference.
The Met Gala guidelines meant critics expected to see various renditions of classic suiting, from the double-breasted, kaleidoscopic design of a Zoot suit to the more contemporary, baggy silhouette typically seen on Willy Chavarria’s runway, at this year’s event.
Williams designed Zendaya's suit to reference outfits worn by trailblazing Black female performers such as Jamaican singer Grace Jones and 1920s American Blues singer Gladys Bentley, he told Vogue.
Meanwhile, Sawai said of her own markedly similar outfit: “I wanted to respect the moment, so I came in a suit. I know dandies are known for extravagance, but I wanted to keep it simple.”
