You may have heard of Beau Brummell and his cohort of cash-rich friends in fitted suits and cravats, gallivanting around Regency London. Who you might not know are all the Black men who jolted the very essence of dandyism throughout history, breaking its codes and infusing it with a greater sense of rebellion. They are the ones celebrated in Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York’s upcoming exhibition, which explores the influence, identity and legacy of the Black dandy, as well as his profound and continuous impact on fashion, at a time when the style contributions of Black people are so easily forgotten and shamelessly appropriated.
