Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty Images

For André Leon Talley, attending the Met Gala might have felt like a homecoming. In 1974, two years out of Brown University, he interned at the Costume Institute with Diana Vreeland, who became his “surrogate mother.” In his 2003 memoir, ALT, Talley recalled his first-day-at-the-Met look: “ I’d arrived bright and early, wearing a lemon-yellow V-neck lambswool sweater, which Mama [his grandmother] had bought me back in high school and of which I was quite fond. I hadn’t yet learned about six-ply cashmere. I was also wearing navy-blue alpaca trousers, the sort of pants my grandmother liked me to wear to church. I was as proper as could be.”

Talley—who always cut a dashing figure—joined Vogue in 1983 and soon became the magazine’s first Black creative director. His early Met Gala get-ups were festooned with sparkling diamond brooches. From the mid-’90s Talley began making sweeping statements, topping off his black-tie with magnificent custom-made court capes and coats, in the most luxurious of fabrics.

The editor, who in later years interviewed guests arriving at the Met for Vogue online, has an important presence in “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”—spiritually, historically, and materially. On view will be pieces from his magnificent wardrobe, including a caftan by Patience Torlowei, one of his Morty Sills suits, and pieces of his Louis Vuitton luggage. All of which is more than fitting, as Anna Wintour has written, “André was a dandy among dandies and he radiated joy.”

1983, “Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design”

André Leon Talley with Iman. “The dress was flown over from Paris, just for the evening. The inset panels had glitter that moved inside chiffon windows as she walked,” the editor wrote on Instagram. “That was her floor-length fur I am carrying, not mine.”

Photo: Rick Guidotti / Penske Media / Getty Images

1989, “From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress 1837–1877”

Talley, carrying a fur-lined trench.

Photo: PL Gould / Images Press / Getty Images

1993, “Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style”

Talley with Anne Bass.

Photo: WWD / Getty Images

1995, “Haute Couture”

Talley and Karl Lagerfeld.

Photo: Ron Galella / Getty Images

Talley with Gianfranco Ferré.

Photo: Nick Haddow / Penske Media / Getty Images

Talley with Christian Lacroix.

Photo: Nick Haddow / Penske Media / Getty Images

1997, “Gianni Versace”

Karl Lagerfeld, Cher, and André Leon Talley.

Photo: Sonia Moskowitz / Getty Images

1998, “Cubism and Fashion”

Andre Leon Talley attends the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on December 7, 1998. (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Photo: WWD / Getty Images

1999, “Rock Style”

Talley, in custom Gucci by Tom Ford, with Anna Wintour, in Christian Dior couture.

Photo: Rose Hartman / Getty Images

2003, “Bravehearts: Men in Skirts”

Talley in black-tie and diamonds.

Photo: Penske Media / Getty Images

2003, “Goddess: The Classical Mode”

Talley in a metallic striped court coat.

Photo: Evan Agostini / Getty Images

Talley in a metallic striped court coat.

Photo: Fairchild Archive / Getty Images

2004, “Dangerous Liasions: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century”

Talley, sumptuous in frilled sleeves and taffeta.

Photo: Ron Galella / Getty Images

Talley with Renée Zellweger.

Photo: Ron Galella / Getty Images

2005, “The House of Chanel”

Talley with Patricia Altschul.

Photo:Penske Media / Getty Images

A well-tailored Talley.

Photo: Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic

2006 “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion”

Talley in a cape by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga.

Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty Images

Talley with Naomi Campbell.

Photo: Evan Agostini / Getty Images

2007, “Poiret: King of Fashion”

Talley, a vision in navy, with Jennifer Hudson.

Photo: Fairchild Archive / Getty Images

Talley, putting on the Ritz.

Photo: Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic

2008, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”

Talley with Venus Williams.

Photo: Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

Talley and Williams share his cardinal red Chanel Haute couture cape by Karl Lagerfeld.

Photo: Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

2009, “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion”

Talley wears his heart on his sartorial sleeve.

Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty Images

2010, “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”

Talley with and Whoopi Goldberg.

Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty Images

Talley with and Whoopi Goldberg.

Photo: Bryan Bedder / WireImage for Vogue

2011, “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”

Talley, regal in royal blue.

Photo: Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Talley, regal in royal blue.

Photo: Penske Media / Getty Images

2013, “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”

Talley carries an embroidered coat.

Photo: Michael Stewart / Getty Images

2014, “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”

Talley mixing panache and politics.

Photo: Rob Kim / Getty Images

2015, “China: Through the Looking Glass”

Talley sporting red, white, and blue.

Photo: Andrew Toth / Getty Images

2018, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”

Talley with Edward Enninful.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris / MG18 / Getty Images