DANDY LAND

To celebrate “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the Met Costume Institute's new exhibition, GQ collaborated with Vogue for a fashion portfolio that pays homage to the Black dandy, starring some of the most influential cultural figures of our time.

- PHOTOGRAPHS BY TYLER MITCHELL STYLED BY LAW ROACH

For decades, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has opened its blockbuster spring exhibition with the Met Gala, a benefit that has since morphed into a global spectacle all its own. This year we're set to witness men’s fashion’s biggest night. The Costume Institute exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” tells the story of the Black dandy, the rakish figure who turns suiting into his own waggish coat of armor. This fashion portfolio brings together over 30 Black trailblazers—actors, musicians, athletes, artists, and more—to pay homage to the Black dandy, styled by image architect Law Roach and shot by photographer Tyler Mitchell. Here, Roach takes us behind the scenes of this monumental project. —SAMUEL HINE

CHURCH WAS MY first fashion show, and my grandmother was my first client. She is one of the reasons that I fell in love with fashion and style. My cousins and I had clothes we could play outside in, then we had church clothes. There were always eccentrics in church. I got really familiar with the word peacocking.

When I was growing up, André Leon Talley was the epitome of a modern-day dandy. I looked at him and understood the way he spoke about his love for clothes and tailoring, and being eccentric.

Am I a dandy? I think so! I do live the lifestyle, and there's an eccentric part to my persona.