Janelle Monáe Gets Ready for the Met Gala

[audience cheering] [upbeat music]

Hello.

What's up Allure?

It's Janelle Monae

and I am getting ready for MET Gala 2025.

[upbeat music]

This particular MET Gala is giving me

the same excitement that I have about Halloween.

Like I'm ready to transform.

I think this is my 11th MET Gala.

I'm super honored to always be invited

and with this particular theme, Black Dandyism,

super fine tailoring.

I wanna stay in constant gratitude

of those who have come before me.

So I'm holding space to honor all of that visually.

And that's all I'll say.

Okay, so when I first heard the theme,

they sent me the article.

They were like, this is so you, this is so you.

And I was getting text messages and then I was trending

and that was just how I dressed.

You know, that's what I wore on stage.

You know, I've been doing my best through fashion

to honor my working class parents

who were servers of the community

from doing janitorial work to being trashmen.

My grandmother cooked for our community,

and so I grew up watching them

put on their uniforms

and make our communities better.

And so my dandyism is through the lens

of the working class and honoring my family.

I'm showing up as my time traveling self,

where I'm gonna really honor, you know,

the past, present, future through style.

It was a collaboration.

We're always on the phone, just rambling, chatting,

going in and out of looks for the future.

I saw the piping on the suit

and it just remind me of the lines

and the hair and it's so now.

It flows.

And then she brought up the point of like,

we all did this.

I remember being a little, little, little kid

and my auntie braiding my hair

and then my mom sharing with me

that she's used to get her hair cornrowed.

And then my grandmother got her hair cornrowed,

and then my great-grandmother,

like, it's such a timeless hairstyle.

It's, it can be a protective hairstyle,

but it also shows up on the red carpet.

And it's chic and it's fashion.

Not because it was told to be chic in fashion,

but it's because we did it.

Mm, I feel like I'm taking a piece of my family

with me when I think about my hair.

Nikki and I were on the phone just casually talking,

and once she saw the look, she was like,

oh, this would be so cool

if within the cornrows we had some stitching

to continue the stitching on the outside of the jacket

and the suit and the skirt.

And I was like, done and done.

My name is Keita Moore.

I am Janelle Monnet makeup artist

for this year's a MET Gala.

We're going for something that is effortless.

It's Janelle Monnet, eternal Glam.

Something that lasts forever.

Based on this theme this year is about Dandyism.

You know, when you think of Dandy,

you think Janelle Monnet.

Well, my initial thought was to play on her eyes.

Some of a timeless glam when you think of

like a Eartha Kit or like a Dorothy Dandridge,

you know, that type of moment

that we're gonna be having on this carpet this year.

If you look back in time,

those looks are still being amplified and beauty.

And that's what we want to do,

something that's gonna last forever.

Janelle has amazing skin.

This year we wanted to go for sort of like an inner glow,

like she's radiant and beaming from the inside out.

I gotta give it up for Angie

since we're the time traveling Dandy today.

Get into that clock.

Yeah, we built it around the look.

Like once she saw what Paul and Tom

and I came up with for the look,

she was like, bam, she worked so hard on these.

She was up all night.

We have buttons, we have more buttons,

love, and we have another spinning clock

and we have more buttons.

So buttons, spinning clocks, black and white, red.

Ah.

To me a dandy represents a lifestyle

and a dedication to fashion.

On the flip side of that, this is her for real.

Like on a off day that nobody's,

she's still getting dressed, she's still suiting up.

Even when I'm like, girl, just throw some sweats.

We just run into the store.

She's like, one moment, please.

Not that voice, no I don't talk like that.

Putting your tie on.

And I'm like, I like that.

That's who she is.

And that is what Dandyism is to me.

Growing up, seeing Janelle Monet

was something that was out of the ordinary.

It was a style that was her own.

And you know, it was a time

where women weren't wearing suits, you know,

and she stood on that for years

and made people pay attention to it.

And you know, that's, you have to be an incredible person

that you know is defined by, you know,

the whole dandy style

to keep that type of energy flowing and going.

And this year is definitely her MET Ball.

Hello?

Ooh.

The time Traveling Dandy has arrived.

Hello, MET Gala 2025 with my date.

We have made this. - I love you.

Thank you so much for helping design

this look being the dandy that you are.

You look dapper, amazing.

Having this moment between Paul, Tom Brown

thank you so much.

And myself, the kid in me is so thankful

and excited to be with the Best Dandy.

This is just a huge privilege for me

to have a part in dressing

the amazing American Dandy.

My clock is rewinding.

But I'm definitely ready to time travel.

Yes, we are.

It takes a lot to build something,

to tailor something, to stitch something together.

I mean, you see the stitching alongside here.

And then even the stitching in my hair.

Like all of it.

When I'm walking around, I'm carrying so much with me

and I'm carrying so many people

whose shoulders I stand on.

And hopefully more people will get reeducated about us,

our people, where we come from, where we're going.

And tonight's just gonna be so incredible.

Let's do it.

Bye-bye.

See you.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music continues]