We Can Thank Dr. Monica L. Miller For 2025's Met Gala Theme
CLOSE Source: Mike Coppola/MG25 / Getty
When Dr. Monica L. Miller completed her thesis on Black Dandyism as a graduate student at Harvard, it set forth a chain of events that would go on to influence fashion on a grand scale. Thanks to Dr. Miller, we witnessed the Blackest Met Gala yet. The research for her thesis evolved into two books: Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity (2009) and the upcoming Superfine: Tailoring Black Style (2025), which became the blueprint for this year's Met Gala. The biggest fashion event of the year was themed 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' and raised $31 million for the Costume Institute. And even more important, put Black dandyism on display for the world to see.
Dr. Miller's passion for learning and teaching is admirable. Currently, she is the Professor of Africana Studies and Chair of the Africana Studies Department. Her educational career is an example of how fashion, arts, entertainment, and education can intersect. As the guest curator for this year's Met Gala, she was instrumental in contextualizing the theme while carrying the torch for authors, educators, and fashion history enthusiasts.
She continues to encourage other students to follow in her footsteps. She told host Lala Anthony during a Vogue livestream. 'I've never had such a big classroom,' referring to the growing interest in studies. She continues to spread her knowledge of Black history, educating everyone she encounters, from the students in her class to Vogue host La La Anthony. 'Thank you for educating me,' the actress told Dr. Miller during the same stream.
Learning From Dr. Monica L. Miller Source: Arturo Holmes/MG25 / Getty
The Met Gala is about more than dressing up, it helps fund the Costume Institute, which then helps provide educational resources for brilliant minds like Dr. Miller. Education can be a vehicle to achieving greatness.
Dr. Miller's work spotlighted Black Dandyism during a time when civil liberties are being violated and an administration hell bent on smothering the cultural identity. Art imitates life, and like the Black Dandies using fashion to reclaim their identities, we're standing strong as a collective. A teenage fan of The White Lotus whose never heard of Dapper Dan will understand how he expanded the idea of luxury at his Harlem atelier thanks to this exhibition. A privileged person may discover a Black designer like Brandon Blackwood, Chuks Collins, or Hanifa because she one day turned a brush with a cliff note into an indelible body of work.
As media literacy is at an all-time low and pathways to higher learning are under attack, we should remember people like Dr. Monica L. Miller, who quietly inspire us to think harder and reach higher.
DON'T MISS:
Don't Erase Blackness At The Met Gala Because It Didn't Show Up How You Thought It Should
Law Roach's Most Memorable Met Gala Moments
SEE ALSO
We Can Thank Dr. Monica L. Miller For 2025's Met Gala Theme was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Our Brother Theo: An Appreciation of Malcolm-Jamal Warner
As a latchkey kid and the only child in my home, I felt raised by television and was lucky to have a big brother in Theo Huxtable. He showed me what I had yet to see or dream. And he had siblings like me by the thousands. Jonathan L. Allen counts himself among them. Advertisement 'He was smart, funny, witty, and for me, even now reflecting on his legacy, I am still seeing the degree to which my own imagination was expanded about who I could be and what was possible just by seeing him on that screen.' As cofounder of 'Theo was living a life within the show where his parents had graduate degrees. This is what we want at Leadership Brainery, what we desire to see and be able to achieve. On that show, Theo had dyslexia and they called that episode 'Theo's Gift.' To see those challenges as gifts and see those challenges with grace, and to lead how to have tough conversations around education and still overcome them? Malcolm himself was a gift.' Advertisement It's been a hard week for the Xennial pop culture collective. Ozzy Osbourne died at 76. Hulk Hogan died at 71. And our dear brother Malcolm-Jamal Warner died at 54, almost a month before his 55th birthday. They were all legends in their own ways. Few entertainers can live up to the myths we make about them as we create giants of our greats. Warner did. Beyond his role on 'The Cosby Show,' outside of any role he played, Warner exhibited genuine character. On Def Poetry Jam, he celebrated Black love and Black women. In interviews and on stages through music, poetry, and dialogue, he spoke out on the importance of fighting negative stereotypes and living in loving truths. He brought people together. Nick Bates, director of 'A lot of us didn't just watch 'The Cosby Show,' we were able to experience certain fundamental experiences through him, through a nuclear family. We see him go from boyhood to manhood.' Some years ago, Bates joined a virtual brotherhood of fathers and men dedicated to cultivating community for a better future. 'Malcolm-Jamal Warner came in and dropped really pointed and meaningful words about fatherhood and being a husband. It's always been fascinating for us to cultivate a variety of ways that maleness can look beyond toxic masculinity. Malcolm-Jamal Warner showed us the possibilities through his characters, and he did that in real life.' Advertisement The Huxtables had an impact well beyond 1992, when the last episode of 'The Cosby Show' aired. James 'Avenue' Fitzpatrick, a Boston rapper and cofounder of 'Theo was like a big brother,' he said. 'He was cool, he was intelligent, and self-aware at a young age. As a child, I noticed that. I remember the first time I saw Malcolm-Jamal Warner host 'Showtime at the Apollo,' and I saw him in music videos like New Edition's 'N.E. Heart Break.' Are you sure that show ended in 1992?' It was so present in his home, he didn't notice it was reruns he was watching throughout most of the '90s until this week. Warner, the man, and Warner in his portrayal of Theo are so filled with palpable love, joy, and authenticity that love lives in us now. Still present. We remember in ways that make it hard to believe that show ended 33 years ago. On-air and off, we just kept growing with him. Malcolm-Jamal Warner: our distant brother from another. We give thanks. The Read | Story of the moment Clipse's 'The Birds Don't Sing' and vulnerability HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JULY 16: (L-R) Pusha T and Malice of Clipse perform onstage during the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 16, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by) Kevin Winter/Getty We're still in our feels with the latest Clipse album, and Andscape's Justin Tinsley unpacks some of why A palpable vulnerability reverberates in every lyric, drum kick, and John Legend's haunting vocals. But most importantly for me, 'The Birds Don't Sing' allowed me to do something I have yet to do for one reason or another this year: sit with my grandmother's death. Advertisement The Watch Malcolm-Jamal Warner was and is beloved beyond Theo Huxtable, and this talk on vulnerability he gave for TEDx Talks in 2023, reminds us of who he is and what he stood for. His beautiful resistance was standing in his truth with tenderness and love and joy as he subverted stereotypes. Black parade | The vibes we're on right now Roxbury—08/24/2024 Elvin Gonzalez talks on the phone as his Puerto Rico flag blows in the wind. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff (metro) John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Joy pushas | Holding space for happiness David Chae of by Chae Handout We're celebrating David Chae as our joy pusha this week. He's been dreaming of going into the business of food and beverages since he was 13. A month ago, the 20-year-old debuted He grew up drinking matcha in Korea. He once sold Korean fried chicken out of his kitchen in high school. For him, it's always going to be about sharing a drink or a meal. He posts his locations throughout Greater Boston in his Instagram stories and spends a lot of time studying recipes of all kinds. Chae is starting his third year at Babson College, where he studies business and entrepreneurship. What centers you? Beyond joy, my center is always love. I am a huge believer in doing something I love for the rest of my life, loving and eating food, and sharing that, whether I am cooking it or sharing a restaurant recommendation, that is where I feel joy. Now I am making something people enjoy and it becomes a daily routine, and that is one of the best feelings ever. What makes your life a beautiful resistance? There are a lot of people who are worried about how hard this will be for me with school and give me reasons about why it wouldn't work, but I have realized that optimistic thinking and believing in myself and understanding small fails and winning big is the most successful part of my journey. Advertisement Another issue comes up every day, but I think about the next possible optimizing action, and it helps me be better at what I am doing to overcome. It's mentally exhausting being a business owner, but I believe that whether you are 20, 40, or 60, the only thing that is going to limit you is your mindset. Block the noise. Be resistant. Focus on what you do. Fresh finds | Supporting businesses owned by folks of color Mattapan has flowers. Beautiful blooms reside in Boston Flower Co., a floral and workshop studio by Yanique Shaw. Custom floral design has long been her forte. Now there is a brick-and-mortar space for everyday access to stems that blossom with joy. Learn more at What makes your life a beautiful resistance? Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
New Jonathan Demme biography spotlights director's clashes with powerful stars — and his humanity
Before he set his sights on Hollywood, Jonathan Demme studied to become a vet. Movies may have mesmerized him since childhood, but animals were his 'parallel obsession,' writes film journalist David M. Stewart in 'There's No Going Back,' an uneven biography of the Oscar-winning director of 'The Silence of the Lambs.' In the end, chemistry classes proved too hard, and only one animal sustained Demme's interest long enough: the Alligator, the University of Florida newspaper that let him contribute film reviews. A career as a veterinarian was abandoned in favor of the movies. Demme, who died in 2017, forged a career defined by films that centered voices from society's ever-shifting margins. He spotlighted women ('Swing Shift'), Black people ('Beloved') and HIV-positive gay men ('Philadelphia') in narratives that celebrated their trials through an empathetic camera lens. Interspersed among Hollywood projects were documentaries such as 'The Agronomist,' on Haiti's only independent radio station; 'Right to Return,' about Hurricane Katrina victims fighting to access their homes again; and 'Stop Making Sense.' Demme himself witnessed the difficulty those at society's fringes faced entering spaces men (often white) had claimed and refused to relinquish. His grandmother retold rose-tinted stories of building aircraft equipment during World War II before being forcibly relegated back to her domestic life. Growing up Miami's Overtown neighborhood, Demme saw how Black people created their own unique 'music and communal energy' during segregation, a culture he would repeatedly honor in his own films. After college, Demme landed a publicity job at United Artists. During a chance encounter chauffeuring François Truffaut around, the master auteur told the desperate factotum that he had an eye for directing. Demme insisted he wasn't interested in being a director, even after the French filmmaker inscribed his copy of 'Hitchcock.' 'Yes, you are,' was Truffaut's reply. Despite these early protests, Demme moved west to Hollywood, working for B-movie producer Roger Corman on films such as the 1971 bike picture 'Angels Hard as They Come' and the salacious 1973 prison escape story 'Black Mama White Mama' before he directed 'Caged Heat' with a feminist take on the women-in-prison film that embraced satire and progressive politics. Demme directed socially conscious projects during the 1970s, tackling the disenfranchised and forgotten through action and comedy tales. 'Crazy Mama,' about a housewife intent on exacting vengeance on the men who murdered her husband, highlighted Demme's desire to recognize women's ongoing struggles against a patriarchal world. 'Fighting Mad' and 'Citizens Band' (subsequently titled 'Handle with Care') touched on corporate greed, ecological destruction and finding human connection in small-town America. 'Melvin and Howard' won two Oscars and was nominated for a third. But in an experience that would unfortunately repeat itself, the Goldie Hawn-produced 'Swing Shift' was a deeply demoralizing project for Demme. He had wanted to make a 'feminist perspective of women during wartime,' writes Stewart, while Hawn had imagined the film as a sugary rom-com. The veto power Hawn had meant the entire ending was reshot, mostly sapping Demme's dream of its political message. A decade later, Demme would suffer similar strife on the set of 'Beloved,' quarreling with Oprah Winfrey over aspects of characterization in the supernatural slavery epic. ( Winfrey told Stewart that she was banned from viewing the dailies for a brief period.) But creative comfort was found, as Demme repeated over the years, in music. There was his Talking Heads concert film 'Stop Making Sense' and several Neil Young concert films; 'Something Wild,' a Melanie Griffith movie he made after 'Swing Shift,' prominently featured Jamaican singer Sister Carol and her cover of 'Wild Thing.' Still, it was his passion for female protagonists who were 'reliable in a world of lying men' that also fueled his output, if only partly dealt with in Stewart's shorthand approach. 'The Silence of the Lambs,' 'Rachel Getting Married' and 'Ricki and the Flash' each etched, in equal parts, the strength and vulnerability of a different women — battling the criminal justice system, besieged by addiction and estranged from family — who reject victimhood as an option. 'There's No Going Back' stresses it's not a definitive biography but an effort to 'understand Demme as a filmmaker.' If Stewart can be forgiven for the light detail on Demme's upbringing for this reason (only a few pages), he is less absolved for his inconsistent, often abridged, treatments of Demme's films and what messages to glean from a long view of the director. Patchy approaches — 'Rachel Getting Married' gets some dissection with minimal production detail, while 'The Silence of the Lambs' gets extensive production detail with no film analysis — doesn't help extract Demme's thematic throughlines as a filmmaker. To end the book with his passing and without any final remarks only compounds this problem. What does somewhat redeem 'There's No Going Back' is the detail given on Demme's lifelong activism. Starting first with the freedom of expression movement, Demme moved to documenting Haiti's transformation from a dictatorship to a democracy in several energized documentaries. If political connections aren't always made back to his dramatized films, appreciating how Demme championed voices from the likes of Haiti and in the aftermath of Katrina does at least highlight his lifelong advocacy of society's most forgotten — on- and off-screen. When Demme was a young boy, his mother told him to write about the movies he so ardently watched 'to uncover the secrets behind the magic.' It may be an unfortunate irony then that this same advice Stewart recounts proves largely absent in 'There's No Going Back.' While well-intended and admiring, the biography often proves facile, showing difficulty reckoning with Demme's oeuvre and its deeper political and cinematic lessons. The book has still set some of the groundwork for a future project that may more adeptly synthesize life with art. Smith is a books and culture writer.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
Disney Ambassador Program Marks 60th Anniversary. Why It's Still Vital For Disney
Global Disney Ambassadors for the 2024-2025 season. If you were able to flashback to Disneyland in 1965, you'd be celebrating the park's 10th anniversary, but it was also a busy time for Walt Disney. Not only was he enhancing his current park in Anaheim, California, but he was also secretly buying land in Florida for what would become Walt Disney World, working on new feature films, and more. His time was spread thin. This very moment sparked an idea in Jack Lindquist, director of marketing for Disneyland at the time, to have a Cast Member (what The Walt Disney Company calls employees) represent Disney around the world, showcasing Disneyland and its 10th anniversary. This was the start of what's now known as the Disney Ambassador program, where selected Cast Members from each of Disney's theme parks around the world, plus its resort in Hawaii, Aulani, embark on a two-year temporary role at their corresponding theme park to highlight the work of Cast Members, talk to media, and make official appearances as representatives for Disney Parks. Steven Miller and Disney Legend Marty Sklar in 2002 while Miller was a Walt Disney World Ambassador. ... More According to Steven Miller, former Disney Ambassador from 2001 to 2002, and current lead of the Walt Disney World Ambassador Program, 'A lot of times the ambassador program grew out of the VIP, like tour guides or the Guest Relations team.' And in 1964, the very first rounds of interviews of Disneyland's first ambassador took place with six final candidates. In the end, Julie Reihm Casaletto became the first Ambassador of Disneyland in 1965. 'The world is introduced to Julie as Miss Disneyland tencennial on a broadcast for Disneyland's tencennial celebration,' explains Miller. 'Julie ends up spending a year, you know, going around, traveling and telling the world about all the exciting things that are going on at Disneyland. And in essence, she was representing Walt in many of those capacities.' After Casaletto's successful stint as Miss Disneyland, the program continued, though with the title of Ambassador. For years, the role was filled by a single person, but today each Ambassador team has two Cast Members, except for Aulani, which has a single Ambassador each season. Stories from a former Disneyland Ambassador Andrae Gill learning she would be a Disneyland Ambassador during the resort's 50th anniversary. Andrea Gill, director of event planning, operations and strategy at the Disneyland Resort, is a former Disneyland Ambassador during the 50th anniversary of the resort. Gill first became a Cast Member in 2000, working in food and beverage, and took on the Ambassador role from 2004 to 2006, noting it was a highlight of her Disney career. 'To be able to represent not only our cast members and put a voice for them, but also go on to community events, the business events, all of that, and be the official representative, which is, again, something completely unbelievable,' she explains. Gill recalls getting selected during a ceremony at the train station at Disneyland Park. 'I remember that day, so it's a big moment, Mickey and the characters all come out, and it was almost like a Miss America moment, where all the candidates are up on stage, and then our president comes out, the current ambassador, they invite all the former ambassadors to come out, and then on stage, it's revealed.' Andrae Gill with executives for The Walt Disney Company in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at ... More Disneyland. Meeting people and learning about all the facets of the company was a highlight for Gill. Her Ambassador role also opened new career doors for her, and she feels like being an Ambassador even helps her with her current job in event planning. 'We do a lot of events company-wide, and I feel I know a lot of how the company operates because of my experience as an Ambassador.' One of Gill's lasting legacies as Disneyland Ambassador was creating a program called Ambassador 101, a training program for Cast Members interested in becoming an Ambassador. It still runs 20 years later. 'It's a five-week program where Cast Members can come in and learn how to build a resume, do mock interviews with recruiters to get comfortable with the interviewing process, and meet with show directors to teach them about poise and how to speak in front of people,' she explains. Disney Ambassadors today Steven Miller with current Walt Disney World Ambassadors at EPCOT. Today, Disney Ambassadors talk to media, fan sites, and bloggers, represent the company at events around the country, take to social media to highlight the work of individual Cast Members, and take what's known as 'Walt Walks,' where they walk the park to observe and talk to guests and Cast Members about the day. Each Ambassador role is a two-year position. 'I think it works out great, because that first year they're just figuring out what's going on, trying to get their feet, and then by the second year, they're really making some significant impact with our cast and our company,' explains Miller. The program encourages all types of Cast Members to apply. The only limitations are that you must be at least 18 years old and have worked for Disney for at least two years in a part-time or full-time role. There's also no limit to how many times someone can apply to be an Ambassador until they are picked. For Miller, along with his current role as the lead for the Walt Disney Ambassador Program, he's also on the corporate social responsibility team. He can see that his Ambassadorship from 2001 to 2002 was a foundation for elevating his career. 'I can trace back to the foundation of the ambassador program, being able to deliver on key messages in a succinct manner, being able to write, being able to have the confidence to just pick up the phone and call somebody you know, and and having a big picture view of all the different pieces and parts of how Disney works.' Even after 60 years of the Disney Ambassador program, the role is just as important today as it was in 1965. 'Your job is to shine the light on everybody else, [to] recognize and celebrate our Cast Members, bring that Disney magic into our community, and to create happiness for people who need it,' Miller says.
