Was Lisa Manobal’s Met Gala outfit a NSFW tribute to Rosa Parks or a cultural misstep? |

Alright, let’s discuss Met Gala 2025. The theme? “Superfine: Tailoring Black Model.” A giant, daring celebration of Black vogue, tradition, and artistic legacy. An opportunity to highlight icons, tales, and statements that formed model—and historical past.
Enter Okay-pop famous person Lisa Manobal, making her much-hyped Met Gala debut. She walked the carpet in a customized Louis Vuitton lace bodysuit that includes portraits by famend artist Henry Taylor. Identified for portray folks near him—pals, household, muses—Taylor’s work is layered, emotional, and sometimes uncooked.
However then issues bought messy.
One of many portraits, positioned on the decrease a part of Lisa’s bodysuit, bore a powerful resemblance to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. And the web, as anticipated, didn’t take that calmly.
“Why does Lisa have Rosa Parks in her pants? One of many historic girls who fought in opposition to racism,” one consumer wrote on X. “I don’t assume her designer thought this via… it’s positively a cultural misunderstanding,” one other added.
And identical to that, what was meant to be a tribute changed into a speaking level—for all of the unsuitable causes.

When artwork meets vogue

Louis Vuitton later clarified that the portraits had been drawn from Taylor’s personal world, not essentially well-known faces. However that’s the difficult half: the resemblance was there. And when the general public thinks they see Rosa Parks on somebody’s crotch at an occasion meant to honor Black excellence, you higher consider it’s going to spark a dialog.
Right here’s the factor—vogue and artwork are each about pushing boundaries. However push too far with out context, and it stops being edgy and begins wanting careless.

The legacy of Rosa Parks

A fast rewind for individuals who solely know her as “the girl who didn’t quit her bus seat.” That second in Montgomery in 1955 wasn’t nearly being drained. Rosa Parks was an activist, lengthy earlier than that headline-grabbing act. She was the secretary of the Montgomery NAACP, investigated racial crimes, and stood up—quietly however firmly—in opposition to a system designed to crush folks like her.
Her refusal to maneuver on that bus launched the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal chapter within the civil rights motion. And even after that, life didn’t precisely get simpler. She and her husband misplaced their jobs and needed to go away Alabama. However Rosa saved preventing—from Detroit, in Congress, and thru the youth-focused Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute.
She wasn’t only a image. She was a strategist, a pacesetter, and a girl who lived her ideas even when the highlight light.
So yeah, folks had been upset. And understandably so.

Trend will be daring and courageous, however not careless

Now, let’s zoom out.
Trend has all the time been borrowed from historical past. Designers love remixing the previous—there’s drama, class, nostalgia, and iconic imagery to play with. And that’s not a foul factor. Reimagining historic figures in fashionable design could make them really feel extra relatable, extra human. It’s an ideal storytelling machine if executed proper.
However here is the place it will get difficult: there is a nice line between artistic homage and cultural insensitivity. You may’t simply seize a face—particularly one so symbolic—and place it someplace provocative only for shock worth. That’s not daring. That’s clumsy.
Rosa Parks isn’t an “aesthetic.” She’s not a graphic tee or an artsy bodysuit embellishment. She’s a girl who modified the world. So, if you happen to’re going to make use of her picture—and even one thing that resembles her—you higher take into consideration what message you’re sending.
Let’s be actual. If that very same portrait had been positioned close to the guts, and even styled as a part of a strong again piece, this dialog may need gone very in a different way. However context is every part in vogue—particularly when historic and cultural legacies are concerned.
Designers and stylists must ask the exhausting questions earlier than sending a glance down a carpet:
Who’re we referencing?
Why are we referencing them?
And the way are we doing it?
If the solutions aren’t clear, considerate, and respectful, possibly rethink the look.
This entire second with Lisa on the Met Gala? It’s a masterclass in why cultural consciousness isn’t non-compulsory in artistic industries—it’s important. You will be experimental. You will be daring. However you’ll be able to’t be blind.
As a result of when vogue forgets to respect the load of historical past, it stops being artwork—and begins being a headline for all of the unsuitable causes.