On the eve of the Met Gala 2025, the musician and actor revealed her Thom Browne look, created in collaboration with Oscar-Winning Costume Designer Paul Tazewell, and why she was never going to show up in a regular suit.

Janelle Monáe stepped out for the 2025 Met Gala wearing a Thom Browne two-piece look. The trippy look was almost an optical illusion, with a trompe l’oeil, lapel and briefcase designed on the overcoat.

For her Met Gala look, Monáe hoped to play a character she conceived, as she does every year for the event, she said. This year, it was “the time-traveling dandy,” a visual representation of how she is informed by her past while considering herself a staunch Afro-futurist.