Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Won a Pulitzer Prize While Getting Ready for the 2025 Met Gala

Equally as next level? Jacobs-Jenkins’s elegant outfit for the night. Styled by Ian Bradley, the playwright wore a Michael Kors Collection black wool broadcloth reefer coat with hand-embroidered sequin fringed sleeves. He paired it with a black wool broadcloth vest and trousers. “I was excited to have a big conversation about American design, and how it can intersect with the exhibit itself,” Jacobs-Jenkins says of his look. “I love a coat, and I really loved the hand-embroidered sequined fringe sleeve details.” The artist adds that the tailored outerwear felt like the perfect nod to dandyism. “When I think about dandyism, I think about self-consciousness and flair, a little camp, a little color,” he says. “I tried to find a version of that that lived in my zip code in 2025.”

His jewelry for the night was just as special. “I love a pin and a brooch, and Ian pulled some really incredible vintage pieces from Stephen Russell,” explains Jacobs-Jenkins. “I liked that was a bunch of American makers, during an interesting time to be an American. And I feel like what was also at the heart of this exhibit was a reminder of how absolutely American Black style has been for centuries.”