Before the Met Gala made it a theme, Black Dandyism was already a movement

Long before Black Dandyism appeared on the world’s biggest red carpet, Shantrelle P. Lewis — scholar, curator, filmmaker, and author — spent over a decade building the intellectual and cultural foundation that many institutions now celebrate. Her work brought global attention to the political, historical, and aesthetic depth of Black sartorial resistance, years before it entered mainstream fashion conversations.

In 2010, Lewis launched The Dandy Lion Project with a pop-up exhibition titled Dandy Lion: Behold a Gentleman in Harlem. Drawing partly from the creative energy of OutKast’s The Love Below, the exhibit showcased striking portraits of Black dandies — but more importantly, it challenged rigid ideas about masculinity, identity, and style across the African Diaspora. As she later wrote, she dedicated 15 years to “making the invisible visible,” highlighting cisgender men, masculine-of-center women, non-binary folks, and trans men as part of a broader, nuanced conversation about Black masculinity and self-expression.

The project quickly gained traction. It was invited to the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn, then traveled to Newark, Amsterdam, and a growing list of international destinations. In the Netherlands, Lewis collaborated with journalists, filmmakers, activists, and curators including Nicole Terborg, Bouba Dola, Jerry King Luther Afriyie, and Charl Landvreugd — all instrumental to the project’s early evolution.

From there, The Dandy Lion Project toured widely: the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MOAD in San Francisco, spaces in Miami and Atlanta, exhibitions in the UK, and most recently the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Her work received coverage from major outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, BBC, The Cut, Nylon, and OkayAfrica, while she continually honored peers and predecessors like Daniele Tamagni, Rose Callahan, and Dr. Monica Miller.

In 2017, Lewis published Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style through Aperture — a vibrant and meticulously researched volume that inspired readers worldwide. The book was even optioned for television by Viola Davis and Julius Tennon through their production company, 44 Blue. Lewis noted that her work has taken many forms — essays, papers, short films, performances — and that a growing community of scholars and artists have continued the conversation she helped ignite.

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The Met Gala spotlight — and the erasure behind it

As the 2025 Met Gala announced a theme centered on the Black Dandy aesthetic, many assumed Shantrelle P. Lewis would be central to the event. After all, The New York Times described her work as the most comprehensive body of scholarship on the subject in a 2016 feature. Some also believed she would be involved alongside Dr. Monica Miller and even celebrity co-chairs like Colman Domingo, who appeared in her book.

But when the Gala rolled out its programming, Lewis was nowhere in the narrative.

Before the event, she spoke out — not to demand recognition, but to remind the world of the roots of the movement and the importance of grounding the conversation in authenticity and expertise. She expressed exhaustion and disappointment, stating that once again, those who built and lived the movement were being erased.

A widely circulated critique reposted by Lewis summed up the frustration: the Gala was a “flaunting of aristocracy and stolen wealth,” and erasing a Black woman’s foundational scholarship was “diabolical,” reflecting that institutions want the aesthetic without the political indictment that comes with Blackness.

The public responded swiftly. Users across social media flooded Lewis with gratitude, admiration, and praise. BLK MKT Vintage shared a carousel of favorite Dandy Lion images, while others jokingly proposed making May 5th “Shantrelle P. Lewis Day.” Activist and author Brittney Cooper wrote simply, “I always think of you first.”

Speaking to Because Of Them We Can, Lewis said the moment felt like “erasure. Period.” She quoted Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye:
“But what they do not know is that this plain brown girl will build her nest stick by stick, make it her own inviolable world, and stand guard over it.”

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Why Lewis’s scholarship still matters

While many accounts of Black Dandyism trace it to slavery or the European Enlightenment, Lewis argues that its roots stretch back to Africa, where sartorial traditions long predate colonial narratives. Her work asserts that Black Dandyism is not just fashion — it is identity, resistance, heritage, and power.

She warns that when mainstream institutions adopt visually appealing elements of Black culture, they often strip away the politics, history, and people behind it. When that happens, Black Dandyism becomes a trend instead of a living archive of resilience.

For Lewis, Black Dandyism has always been deeper than garments:

“It’s about resistance. Identity. Self-definition. Heritage. Power. Pride.”

Despite the Met Gala’s oversight, she remains committed to pushing the work forward, educating audiences, and preserving the integrity of the movement. She encourages supporters to read her book and follow ongoing work through The Dandy Lion Project.