Posts in category: Life Style

When guests arrive at the 2025 Met Gala for “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”—the spring 2025 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute—they’ll do so having considered the dress code, announced today as “Tailored for You.” Per the Met, the dress code is a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and is “purposefully designed to provide guidance and invite creative interpretation.”

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” will explore the role of sartorial style in forming Black identities, focusing on the emergence, significance, and proliferation of the Black dandy. Composed of clothing, photographs, fine art, historical texts, and artifacts, it’s the first Costume Institute exhibit to focus on menswear since 2003’s “Men in Skirts,” and was inspired by Guest Curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.

“Dandyism can seem frivolous, but it often poses a challenge to or a transcendence of social and cultural hierarchies,” Miller said in today’s statement. “It asks questions about identity, representation, and mobility in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, and power. This exhibition explores dandyism as both a pronouncement and a provocation.”

The show also reflects The Met’s ongoing commitment to authentically diversifying its exhibitions. “What makes it possible to translate Monica’s book Slaves to Fashion into an exhibition,” said Costume Institute Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton, “is our collection of high-style menswear, which serves as a foundation for imagining and realizing a sartorial history of Black dandyism.”

André Leon Talley 5th Avenue, Arthur Elgort (American, born 1940), 1986; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library.

Suit, Morty Sills (American, active mid-to-late 19th century), 1986; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2023 (2023.784a–c). Photo © Tyler Mitchell 2025

Now, about the dress code: “Tailored for You” can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, but mostly means embracing looks reflective of one’s personal style. We can surely expect inspired takes on suiting—from versions of the zoot silhouette popularized by jazz musicians in the 1940s, to the bold, colourful styles worn by Congolese sapeurs—though other menswear staples, such as hats, ties, and perhaps canes, brooches, and pocket squares, are likely to have a strong showing, too.

Indeed, attendees might look to Met Gala co-chairs Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams—along with honorary chair LeBron James—for inspiration. Think Domingo, arriving at the 2024 Critic’s Choice Awards in a mustard yellow Valentino suit and textured gold coat, or Hamilton en route to the Miami Grand Prix paddock in a diamanté tank top and sleek black shades. We’ve also seen Rocky adorn his braided hair with silk scarves and beaded clips; Williams in Billionaire Boys Club graphic tees and Louis Vuitton leather flares of his own design; and James in custom Thom Browne during the 2018 NBA Finals.

Beyond the world of luxury, performance-wear brands like Patagonia and North Face have in-house repair services, while trainer brand Veja even offers to fix shoes from other brands in many of its stores, including in London. As well as being the right thing to do from a sustainability perspective, Save Your Wardrobe’s co-founder Hasna Kourda–whose aftercare platform connects a global network of vetted repair service providers for brands like Loro Piana and Maje Paris–points out that when “customers feel they can repair their items through the brand, it strengthens loyalty and trust.”

At the start of my self-imposed challenge, the goal of repairing and restoring my wardrobe felt like uncharted territory. I wasn’t even confident in my ability to sew on a button or stitch a hem–I’ve since learned to do both, but generally speaking, that once commonplace skill hasn’t been passed down. For many of us, it just seems easier to buy new.

An initial audit of my wardrobe revealed a surprising number of items that I had either forgotten about, no longer suited me, or I’d left to repair. These totalled over 20 items, including four pairs of trousers with torn hems and a beige dress with two loose buttons. Plus, there were countless tiny, moth-eaten holes requiring invisible mending by my tailor.

The Chanel flats before.

Courtesy of Emily Zak

The shoes after they were cleaned and re-dyed.

Courtesy of Emily Zak

I also sent four pairs of shoes to the 60-year-old specialist service, including a pair of Chanel ballet flats that were cleaned and re-dyed, Chanel suede boots in need of a clean and a new satin toe, and Aeyde ankle boots that needed re-heeling. Then there were my much-loved Jimmy Choo boots. The cost of repairing the inner lining (arranged via the brand’s aftercare service) was ₹26,000–expensive due to the nature of the damage and the need to unstitch them, but with a retail price of ₹1,40,729, 10 years of hard wear, and hopefully more to come, this seemed fair. I don’t think twice about paying for dry cleaning, so I decided to think of these repair costs as a kind of fashion MOT.

When it came to alterations, I rediscovered my Stella McCartney tweed trench coat, which I had bought eight years before, but was too long for me, and got it altered. Another focus was several of my late father’s Richard James suits, which I had never planned on wearing. They sat mostly untouched in my wardrobe as nostalgic reminders of him; I’d occasionally drape one of the blazers over my shoulders, as it made me feel close to him. As part of this challenge, I decided to alter the trousers, which were several sizes too big, to wear the ensemble as a suit. My usual tailor at my local dry cleaners (top tip: they are often very good) altered the trousers for much less than the cost of a new Richard James suit. And though I often wear the jacket on its own, when I wear the full suit, it feels like a lived memory.

The Jimmy Choo boots before.

Courtesy of Emily Zak

The same boots after being repaired.

Courtesy of Emily Zak

In many ways, working out how to extend the life of a pre-existing item in our wardrobe requires more imagination than buying something new. Fellow industry insider Tiffanie Darke, who has pledged to buy only five new items of clothing a year, has also found joy in repairing old pieces in her wardrobe. “Being more intentional about what we buy, and how we take care of our clothes can be incredibly creative,” she tells me over the phone, recalling how she sent a ripped pair of jeans for repair via Save Your Wardrobe, using the Japanese embroidery technique of sashiko.

While Bollywood celebrities including Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone usually prefer tamping down their baby hair for a more put-together look, many Hollywood stars–from Bella Hadid to Tyla–are known for being more experimental with styling their baby hair, creating swirls and intricate designs. In fact, singer FKA Twigs’ album covers–from LP1 to M3LI55X–are characterised by their complicated, serpentine styling of baby hair to make the musician appear more otherworldly.

An easy trick

“If you want to be adventurous, you can follow up by applying hair gel, using a fine-toothed tail comb to create some baby hair swirls,” suggests Shell. For those who would rather stick to the basics, the hairstylist has another hack: “There’s plenty of brands that make clear gel-based mascaras. The mascara wand will help you with an even application of the product.”

For those with sensitive scalps or skin, however, Mehta suggests being cautious about the products you use. “Find hair gels that don’t have fragrances or harsh chemicals,” the makeup artist recommends, “If you don’t know how your skin will react to a product, make sure you do a patch test near the hairline and keep an eye out for any skin reactions. It’s the simplest way to avoid more major issues.”

If the skin is sensitive, so is baby hair, Shell reminds me.

She advises against using any heat to tame the frizz. “Baby hair is fragile and needs to be handled with care. You will only end up breaking it with constant heat use.” She explains that it is best to stick to gel-based products when styling this fine hair. “Oil and serums will only make your life tough because they have no hold,” she concludes.

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In addition to the pieces inside the Library, Chiuri and Swali, in collaboration with Italian musician Jovanotti, created three torans that hang at its entrance, welcoming visitors. The central toran is inspired by the musician’s global travels through 31 countries, while the two torans on either side draw inspiration from ancient musical notations preserved in the Vatican Library. “For us, the toran has always been a way of welcoming people into our homes,” states Swali. “In India, it is not only a symbol of hospitality but also an integral part of our architectural heritage. Through this prestigious exhibition at the Vatican Library, we wanted to celebrate this cultural bridge between the past, present and the future.”

En Route. © BIBLIOTECA APOSTOLICA VATICANA

Do the karigars working in the tree-filled compound in Byculla that houses the Chanakya School of Craft know how far their art has travelled—beyond Dior runways and into cultural spaces where Indian art has seldom gone? They do—and it means everything to them. “One of our artisans told me, ‘I may never leave India, but my hands will travel the world.’ I think that really encapsulates everything because for us, for them, craft is a movement, sure, but it’s also a passport to stories beyond borders and time.”

En Route opens to the public on February 15^th 2025 at Cortile del Belvedere, Città del Vaticano, and will be on view until December 20^th 2025.

Khushi Kapoor may have just coined a new fashion term–’dramatic elegance’, given her latest streak of thematic looks that are statement-worthy but also wearable. Leaning into the more couture side of themes, Kapoor’s latest little black dress is far from ordinary. Usually, an LBD is a sign of wardrobe exhaustion, worn to slowly self-startle out of a creative block of sorts. Kapoor, styled by Tanya Ghavri, exhibited otherwise through a sleek LBD from Vietnamese brand Montsand.

The dress is from the brand’s ‘La Pureza’ collection, centred around a narrative of ephemerality as well as the mythical udumbara flower said to bloom once every 3,000 years. The design ethos is one of the fleeting nature of beauty and how it can only be enjoyed momentarily before its transcendence. Beyond the esoteric vibe of the look, the main inspiration comes from Ghavri’s caption alluding to the Black Swan, further playing into the trope of transience.

The simple peplum-style dress was paired with tulle gloves featuring long dangling florals meant to be swayed and twirled around. Dainty diamond studs, and Louboutin pumps, along with a bouffant-style French knot, completed the trimmed-down classic appeal and made for an ideal soirée ensemble.

From Vogue‘s fashion desk:

“Khushi Kapoor’s Montsand black corset LBD, with its sculpted design and artistic gloves, is quite the statement. But to truly make it your own, take the sculptural elegance and twist it to fit your personality. The LBD gives you structure, so lean into that—add a piece that feels equally sharp, like a metallic or matte leather jacket with interesting lapels. Ditch the typical sleek pumps for something with more drama like a strappy metallic studded heel or boots. Let’s not forget the gloves, so opt for embroidered transparent black gloves that peek under your jacket to tie your look together,” says Vogue India’s Associate Fashion Editor, Divya Balakrishnan.

The haunting whistle of a single flute brought the historic Ganga Ram Mansion to life as Rano Usman unveiled fourteen timeless ensembles from her latest collection, ‘Kayee Chand’ (Many Moons). Three decades of work wove through the art and architecture of Lahore while it travelled to the Himalayas through Srinagar, Banaras, Lucknow and even the film studios of Bombay. As an ode to the history and grandeur of the subcontinent, Rano Usman—a revivalist at heart—recreated the ritual of sehra bandhi where the groom is adorned by his sisters before he sets off on horseback to bring his bride home. It’s in traditions like these that lies the ethos of Usman’s brand Rano’s Heirlooms.

The show was truly magical. The flute made way for the majestic dhols and a live choir that sang retrospective tunes of Ghorri (the songs women sing during a wedding procession). Nostalgia took over as the groom walked in under the protective embrace of an elaborately decorated canopy carried by the procession of girls, an interesting mix of models, dancers and friends for authenticity. “True beauty has to be authentic,” Rano laughed. “I’d like to see brides as they used to be before their wedding, with slicked-back braids and just a red lip for colour.”

Rano explained how every garment was sketched by hand before the crafting process began. She’d sit like a sculptor surrounded by her clay being the fabric, the embellishments and bring it all together bit by bit. One of her favourite pieces from the collection, she explained, was ‘Hema’. An almost icy blue lehnga paid tribute to the word for snow in Sanskrit, also referring to the goddess of snow as she rose from sun-kissed Himalayan peaks. Like Hema, all of her creations adapt more than twenty handcrafted techniques, taking over five hundred hours to complete.

“I was trained by a French nun at the Convent for ten years,” she smiled. “As I’ve grown older, I’ve strived for unmatched excellence that we learnt. It took me 25 years to perfect my embroidery and I did it with commitment, without shortcuts. We also worked for Italian designers for four years; learnt the craft there.”

Throughout history, designers have celebrated their muses in their designs and concepts. Think of Amanda Harlech for Karl Lagerfeld and Audrey Hepburn for Givenchy. In the Indian context, we can now associate Sodhi with Gupta, too. And while they’ve been mislabelled as husband and wife in popular media, the designer reveals that their relationship defies definition. “I am gay and she is straight, but we’ve been living together for 25 years. We met in high school and fell in love, so we decided to be each other’s primary life partners,” revealed Gupta.

Their connection not only speaks to unconventional forms of love but also serves as the root of their interspersed life-partner and designer-muse dynamics. On the personal front, after the incident, Gupta realised what it meant to be a true caregiver, “I would hold her hands while the dressing was done daily, it was the most painful and traumatic thing for her every day. She’s my twin flame, that’s the least I could do,” he added.

After countless prayers and spiritual healing sessions, the duo channelled their heart and physical ache into something creative on the professional side. “I’ve been in a state of shock and haven’t really had time to process anything because I’ve had to immediately dive back into work. But the thought process behind this collection and the response make it worth it. So many people reached out sharing their accidents and relating to the suffering, it’s much bigger than us now. We’ve become examples of hope,” he said.

Fresh off his show, Vogue India connected with the designer live from Paris and talked about everything between catharsis, crying and couture. Ahead, read excerpts from the interview.

Vogue India: Was there anything you were nervous about before the show?

Gaurav Gupta: Navki’s itching fits. Between the chaos of getting all the models ready, my focus was still on her comfort, so I had my best friends keep an eye on her. Since she has to wear compression garments at all times, we decided to only remove them and get her dressed ten minutes before everyone was seated including Megan Thee Stallion. Luckily, everything went amazingly right from the moment she stepped out.

VI: What was the energy like post-show backstage?

Was Sunday the ideal time for a massive industry award show—the Grammys 2025—in Los Angeles? Not necessarily, given the series of wildfires that devastated entire LA neighbourhoods were only just contained. That said, the fact that the city is still struggling to rebuild was reflected throughout the Grammys 2025, with host Trevor Noah and musicians from and associated with LA—including Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars—delivering energetic performances that didn’t feel mournful, so much as like tributes to the resilient spirit of Angelenos. (Chappell Roan’s rendition of her hit song ‘Pink Pony Club,’ with its refrain of “I’m going to keep on dancing,” felt particularly apropos.)

Indeed, there was plenty to love about Sunday night’s Grammys (and, of course, some less-than-perfect moments, but why dwell on those?). Below, find a roundup of everything you missed.

The Grammys’ spotlight on LA’s fire-affected small businesses

I, for one, am always thrilled to see Doja Cat—never more so than when she’s lending her star power to a commercial for a small business impacted by the LA wildfires. The Grammys’ commitment to spotlighting some of the city’s hardest-hit businesses felt like a genuine and tangible measure of support, and it didn’t go unappreciated. (Neither did Charlie Puth’s cameo in an ad for a local martial arts studio, for that matter.)

Sabrina Carpenter’s extremely theater-kid-energy performance

Photo: Getty Images