A few hours before walking the red carpet on fashion’s most important night, Saquon Barkley looks at himself in the mirror, while the stylists of designer Thom Browne prepare him for the event. The windows of his suite offer a panoramic view of the city, with old buildings flanked by even taller structures. The entrance to the hotel on the Upper East Side is across from Central Park, a place that may seem otherworldly to someone who is not from the city.
To the rhythm of the song “Bachelor” by Rod Wave, 28-year-old Barkley sings emotionally, ready to show off his new clothes, which are so striking that they impress him when he sees himself. It’s the feeling of a child getting ready for school picture day, but this time it’s a man on a special night; he feels relieved by the confidence he exudes. His fascination with the world of fashion began when he signed with Nike at age 21, but as he approaches 30, his style has evolved and matured.
He jokes about mentioning his look from the 2019 Met Gala, acknowledging that perhaps the shorts of his suit weren’t the best choice. For this year, he opts for something more traditional, safe, and timeless. He looks elegant, perfect for starring in a cereal commercial on Madison Avenue.
Barkley has reasons to feel good in 2025, even off the field. He sports an $82,500 watch from the Swiss company H. Moser & Cie. A perfectionist, he practices the pronunciation of Moser and its specifications to perfection. On the H. Moser website, they describe the intense black color of the watch’s dial as “the ultimate expression of ‘less is more'”. This also applies to the three-piece tuxedo worn by the Philadelphia Eagles player. It is jet black; the trousers have four buttons instead of a zipper, and the cut, which reaches just above the ankles, allows the $150 socks with Thom Browne’s iconic three stripes to be shown off.
Barkley’s outfit has a nostalgic touch. The theme of this year’s Met Gala is Black dandyism (officially called “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”), which gained popularity during the Harlem Renaissance. Barkley looks like a member of the Rat Pack: a traditional but elegant look, which would not be out of place in a Las Vegas residence. Sammy Davis Jr. would be proud.
Style molded the person I am becoming: clean and defined. I still dare to wear some streetwear, but I like things tailored for me.
Barkley
At the event, diverse personalities mingle, but surprisingly low-key for a star like Barkley. There’s the camera crew, his personal photographer, stylists from Thom Browne and H. Moser, and his stylist, Joshua “Lesus” McPhearson, Barkley’s former teammate at Penn State.
Someone jokes about how tight the suit is, as it was made to measure; Barkley laughs: “I feel like I’m doing it right this time.” He likes that the Gala brings together people from different professions and lifestyles, all gathered at a charity event that celebrates fashion through fame. He quotes Deion Sanders from his time with the Atlanta Braves: “As Deion said, it’s all about how you feel. ‘If you look good, you feel good, you play good,’ and fashion is similar. You choose a look that you love and makes you feel comfortable, so you can go out and be yourself.”
Before Barkley heads up to the second floor for more photos with Thom Browne’s photographers and social media coordinators, everyone gathers in the retro brown hallways, waiting for the elevator. Celebrities also attending the Gala descend from their suites. The “Severance” actor, Tramell Tillman, enters wearing striped pants and a black coat so long that an assistant must hold it, and he nods at me.
Tillman’s humility is astonishing.
The charm of tonight lies in the fact that even some of the most important celebrities are surprised at how regal they look. Walton Goggins, one of the best character actors on the planet, walks the halls in a suit worn inside out and a kilt (one of the hallmarks of the American designer), also designed by Thom Browne. Goggins, an incredibly charming man, enters with a wide, devilish smile. I let myself be carried away by my love of cinema and shout: “No, no, no, you’ve made me talk politics, I’m glad to be alive,” imitating Goggins’ charming and villainous character in Quentin Tarantino’s thriller, “The Hateful Eight.” Goggins responds quickly and enthusiastically, before giving me a hug, appreciating the niche fandom that exists beyond his most recent and popular television roles. “Where’s the party tonight,” Goggins asks, almost encouraging us to tell him what he already knows. “I think at Pharrell’s party,” my editor Justin Bey tells him. They exchange strategies for the event.
Meanwhile, Barkley is in his suite, focused, awaiting his turn in the hallway. In those moments, it’s very easy to understand why the Met Gala has a hold on all lovers of pop culture. Celebrities shouldn’t be put on a pedestal, but they have the ability to embolden our spirit and satisfy our desire for opulence.
Barkley walks with a smooth, confident pose from his suite to where a production team is taking artistic photos of him in a Victorian-style dining room. The chandeliers illuminate the room; the carpet design is something like an exploded leaf, but even that falls short. He strikes a Captain Morgan pose on the step where the photo shoot is taking place.
Someone as successful as Barkley knows when they are being flattered, and these are the nebulous moments when you are doing a photoshoot with someone who is trying to cheer you up because they have a job to do. Barkley smiles shyly when she suggests that he is doing a good job acting. After all, there is no pretense on the football field, when you are flying through an open zone that your offensive line created for you while the defenders try to press your chest against the turf. You can only give it your all when you are on the field; no amount of designer threads can make Barkley forget that a football player’s real job is to be as sincere as possible on the field.
It may seem fantastic to talk about Barkley’s first season with the Eagles because of how remarkable it was. It’s the kind of year that NFL Films will have a special behind-the-scenes documentary about. Barkley set personal records and broke the Philadelphia rushing record. If you include his postseason stats, he broke Terrell Davis’ single-season record for yards from scrimmage (2,857). He averaged 125.3 yards per game in the regular season and ran for over 200 yards in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams. Everything felt challenging; he took the New York Giants’ decision to let him test the open market so personally that he turned it into the best rushing season of all time. He turned pettiness into technicolor extreme, as Michael Jordan, someone Barkley studies and admires, nurturing his inner strength, would have done.
The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs led by Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. The clock that marked zero to indicate the victory was a mere formality. It seemed that the game had been decided the first time Mahomes was taken down. “For us, we were lucky. It was a pretty good game for the defense,” says Barkley with a smile. “When the confetti fell, it was everything I dreamed of as a kid, so it was great.”
The Philadelphia Eagles, led by Barkley and company, are surprisingly confident. Two of their teammates, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, have even said they felt strangely unsatisfied upon winning the Lombardi Trophy. It’s the pursuit, and not winning the title itself, that gets their blood flowing freely. Barkley smiles slightly when I ask if he agrees with them. He understands what they mean, without minimizing how much the achievement means to him. As a child, he would wake up in cold sweats dreaming of winning the Super Bowl. Now, he knows that all glory is fleeting, and that you immediately return to the fires of the feet and the cone cuts of training camp.
He also achieved one of the most creative and viral moments of recent memory, with his backward barrier of a defender. Next season, he hopes to surpass it and will likely obey his mother’s request that he retire the move. He hasn’t yet had the opportunity to practice it, but he has his sights set on a spin move.
How can I adapt the turn? It was a 180 move, so it would be great if I could do a full 360.
Barkley
In his hunger for another way to stay ahead of his competition and help the Eagles become a new dynasty, Barkley lives in the sweet spot between preparation and divine greatness. Tiger Woods and his dominant career of four Grand Slam championships in 2000 is a burning inspiration for him: a North Star, so to speak. And Barkley is eloquent when talking about Woods. “I don’t know if any individual had a season like that, but in 1999, he also had an incredible season.” Barkley adds: “It’s about how he was able to stack the years.”
The Eagles were so dominant last season that the NFL has considered a rule change: banning their famous “tush push.” The petition was started by the Green Bay Packers, perhaps out of the sour grapes of losing to the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Game. A devastatingly effective move, the “tush push” has helped turn the Eagles into brutal champions, far from underdogs. Barkley is annoyed by the controversy the play has started, and like a father who believes in tough love, he tells the rest of the league to toughen up. “If you don’t like it, get better at stopping it,” Barkley says. “It’s not like a play that only we do. Everyone tries it, we’re just very successful at it.” An air of competitive arrogance lingers as he finishes sentences. Those moments let you know what this Eagles team can become. The team is so offensively stacked that during the 2025 NFL Draft, they selected five consecutive defensive players. This is what dominance looks like.
The fashion world can be competitive, but not for Barkley, someone who doesn’t wear clothes to compare himself to his peers. Questions about who is the best on the team in terms of fashion don’t interest him; he claims he doesn’t do this for others. No, his main support among his teammates is Tyrod Taylor, who has the kind of style he wants to emulate: regal and traditional. Both on and off the field, Taylor remains a veteran presence for Barkley. Often, Barkley will talk to Taylor, who has played 14 seasons in the NFL, and get his opinion on things, a helping hand for a guy trying to learn more about what clothes can best represent him. He is taking small steps to do so in his personal life. Men are often programmed to want to do everything on their own, but he is allowing himself the grace to agree to ask for help, whether from his friends, his parents, or his fiancée. “I feel like when you can let go and let yourself go, you don’t feel like you’re trying to control everything in your life,” Barkley explains. “It’s really helpful for me, and there are still things I can keep improving on.”
McPhearson, Barkley’s stylist, has worked with him since 2021, when the running back requested help for a DoorDash commercial. After the commercial, they had to film more commercials during that week. They never bonded over clothes as teammates in Happy Valley, they were too busy working hard and surviving long practices. Still, after their friendship was rekindled, a partnership blossomed, and McPhearson has been by Barkley’s side ever since. “My main goal is to make Saquon feel comfortable,” says McPhearson. “If you’re comfortable and feel good about what you’re wearing, you can always elevate from there.”
As Barkley exits the hotel, McPhearson is at his side, ready for the night of adventure that awaits them. The rain is falling hard, but the SUV is there, waiting to take the guys eighteen blocks north. It’s around 6 p.m. and the sun is up; the air is humid. Paparazzi snap photos; one mutters about not being able to see Barkley because of the people blocking his view. So many thoughts run through my mind, about the nature of fame, about the excellence Barkley has achieved, allowing him to inhabit a world that is bigger than Coplay, Pennsylvania, the town he finally settled in after his family moved from the Bronx. It’s a world that now includes President Trump, with whom Barkley hopes to play another round of golf, he recently said. But for now, he’s here, just here, standing in the rain. The photos end and he hurries into the SUV, ready for a night of glamour before the grass-stained boots and a referee’s whistle await him this fall.
