So nice we’re sending it twice — The Group Chat: The Met Gala, but make it sports

Sorry if this hit your inbox on Friday — we had a little tech hiccup (classic). For the second time…or if you missed it the first time, here’s this week’s edition of The Group Chat.

Tomorrow is The Met Gala, aka fashion’s biggest night out, and this year’s co-chairs are bringing the sports crossover you didn’t know you needed. So we asked Vinciane Ngomsi, staff writer at Boardroom and expert on the intersection of fashion and sports, to share her takes on this year’s event. Excited doesn’t even begin to cover it.

• P.S. In next week’s Mother’s Day edition, we’ll chat about elite athletes training through and beyond pregnancy. If you’d like to opt out of receiving our Mother’s Day content, click here, and take care.

This year’s Met Gala theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” celebrating Black men’s cultural impact on fashion — and by naming F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton and NBA legend LeBron James as co-chair and honorary chair, respectively, the organizers highlighted the unique and ubiquitous way this influence is mediated through sports.

When it comes to fashion’s biggest night centering the intersection of style and sports, Ngmosi said, “It was almost inevitable. It wasn’t really if, but when…. It’s important that we recognize that [fashion is] just another facet of sports.”

• She remarked that the relationship between sports and style has significantly evolved in the past two decades. Athletes rarely stepped outside the bounds of conventional dress (see: USWNT star Kelley O’Hara’s 2010 draft ’fit), but now regularly use their clothing as a platform for self-expression.

• “Fifteen years ago for Milan Fashion Week, [athletes] weren’t allowed to sit in the front because they…didn’t really take basketball players or other athletes seriously. Fast-forward to 2025, now they’re begging for these athletes to sit front row.”

When athletes integrate their personal style into their public persona, they bring a new element of themselves to their work — and that self-expression, Ngomsi says, is crucial to their experience: “I think people just want to look good at all times. Just because you’re in a matching jersey and shorts [doesn’t mean] you don’t deserve to look the best you can pre-match.”

• And when athletes bring their authentic selves to the court, field, or pre-game tunnel, they also connect on a new level with existing fans and attract new ones. “Not everyone is going to understand what a foul is or what [an] offside is in soccer, but we all know when an outfit makes you look good.”

• She credits James for blending high fashion with accessible elements: “He is just so fun with fashion. He’s more of a sneaker type person, but...he does a good job of playing with prints and fabrics and tailoring. His ’fits are one of my favorite parts of watching him work.”

Hamilton, in particular, is as famous for his personal style and impact on the fashion world as he is for his accomplishments on the race track. From his viral paddock walks to his partnership with Dior, Hamilton’s style has brought more and more fashion fans to sports, and vice versa.

• But Ngomsi pointed out that Hamilton doesn’t just make personal statements with his style — he also uses it to uplift Black designers and Black culture at large, making him the perfect co-chair for this year’s event.

• “As a Black man, he noticed that there was a gap in the recognition of Black designers, so several years ago at the Met Gala, he purchased a table for a lot of Black designers to be able to go to the Met Gala and get inspired. Not only is he contributing to fashion just in a ‘style icon’ sense, but he's really putting that diversity forward.”

• She also notes that his Dior partnership is a study in Afrofuturism, an example of how fashion can be used to educate people about different cultures and subcultures.

Of Black culture’s moment to shine on The Met Gala’s red carpet, Ngomsi said, “Black people are the blueprint for a lot of fashion.” She cited the racist history of Black people being held to near-impossible standards — “If I were to step out and not look my best, people would think that I was automatically dirty or disheveled” — as inspiration for the evolution of Black style.

• She continued, “We’ve always been made to feel small. I think fashion is a way where we can just be ourselves, and the Met Gala having us at the forefront is just validating. It’s so validating, it’s so refreshing, and I hope it’s educational.”

As for which athletes she’s hoping to see at the main event tomorrow night, Ngomsi thinks that women’s sports will steal the show. “I hope we get to see some WNBA players…Especially being in New York, it’d be cool to see some Liberty players up there.” She also called out Olympians like Sha’Carri Richardson and her favorite athlete and style muse, Serena Williams.

Feeling motivated to level up your style game? Ngomsi suggested, “Allow athletes to serve as inspiration, but remember, it’s all about how you feel and how the clothes feel on you…Don’t [make yourself] a monolith. These athletes are so successful away from their respective sports because they are not afraid to be daring.”

• She also recommended doing deep dives into the themes you see on the red carpet that you might want to incorporate into your wardrobe. “Just make sure to educate yourself. It's a lot easier to embrace a trend if you understand the origins of it.”