At The Met: Manus X Machina

During our visit of New York City last weekend, my friends and I had an opportunity to visit The Met Museum's recent exhibit Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. The exhibit opened last May 2nd with a grand party known as the Met Gala, the most exclusive party of the year attended mostly by Hollywood celebrities and famous people from fashion. This exhibit is curated by the talented Andrew Bolton from the The Met. The exhibit presented various clothes, mostly from haute couture from the top luxury fashion houses like Chanel, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen and Dior among others. It showcase the journey of fashion among the centuries using the latest technology from the sewing machine to the use of laser cutting machines to achieve the design using various materials like lace, flowers, beads, jewels, feathers and even straw. It was a dream come true for me to finally come here to view one of the Met's important exhibits during the year. The whole exhibit was magical, educational and inspiring especially to learn that even with the use of machine, it is still the talent of man that creates these masterpieces. 

 

This is a wedding gown designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. The wedding train's intricate beading was designed in a computer then handmade by the couture house using gold beads and crystals. 

Dresses designed by Prada and Louis Vuitton using flowers. 

 

 

This is another Chanel gown designed using the classic camellia flowers. 

 

 

Believe it or not, this is a wedding gown designed by the late Yves Saint Laurent. 

 

Gowns designed using sequins. 

 

This dress is called the Sardines, designed by Yves Saint Laurent. 

He used sequins to give the illusion of fish scales. 

 

Coat designed by British designer, Gareth Pugh using straws.

 

Outfits designed using feathers and straws. 

 

This section pays tribute to Pleats. 

 

Pleated skirt made with ribbons designed by Raf Simons for Christian Dior. 

 

This section is dedicated to lace. 

This black lace dress was designed and donated by Coco Chanel since 1955. 

 

Modern version of lace designed by Prada. 

 

Laser cut lace designed by Alexander McQueen. 

 

The ever classic Chanel tweeds. 

 

 Manus x Machina at The Met through 14 August 2016. 

I use so many processes in my work - some that involve the hand and some that involve the machine. For me, mixing the hand and the machine gives the best results.

- Miuccia Prada