Scores of paparazzi and fashionistas jammed the entrance of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2 to glimpse the celebrities attending the 2016 Costume Institute Gala, a red-carpet fundraiser heralding the opening of the Institute’s exhibition Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. Yet while some guests were provocatively dressed in sync with the show’s theme (Beyoncé wore a skintight latex affair by Givenchy), none had the sheer impact of the exhibit itself, housed in a haunting environment designed by OMA New York in collaboration with Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute.
On view through August 14, Manus x Machina examines how designers balance traditional handwork with machine- and computer-driven technologies in the creation of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear fashion. The 18,300-square-foot installation, centrally located in the Robert Lehman Wing—a bilevel bump-out on the museum’s west side—is stunning in its simplicity, providing a cocoon-like enclosure for the showcasing of Bolton’s 170 extraordinary case studies, which date from the late 19th century to the present.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.