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Couture Craft and Technology Meld at The Met’s “Manus x Machina” Exhibition  

The Costume Institute’s exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology explores how fashion designers are finding innovative ways of reconciling the dichotomy between hand (manus) and machine (machine). Rather than posit the two poles against each other, the show presents compelling examples in which traditional craft techniques and cutting-edge technologies are deployed as equal partners to stimulate the future of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear.

Curated by the Head Curator of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton, the show features more than 170 ensembles dating from the early 20th century to the present, organized around the traditional métiers (trades) of dressmaking as outlined in Diderot’s encyclopedia of 1751: embroidery, featherwork, artificial flowers, lacework, leatherwork, pleating, tailoring, and dressmaking. 

From Karl Lagerfeld’s show-stopping embroidered wedding dress, Iris van Herbert’s magnet-formed iron filigree ensemble, Hussain Chalayan’s remote-controlled dresses on wheels and Issey Miyake’s elaborate pleated structures—each example is shown on simple dress forms (like those you would find in a working atelier) which highlights the exquisite craftsmanship of each piece. 

The case study pieces are set against an ethereal installation by OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu, a transparent scaffold that wraps around the circular Robert Lehman galleries creating the experience of a “translucent ghost cathedral"—a transcendental experience which is further augmented by a looping Brian Eno soundtrack. 

"Manus x Machina” is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through September 5, 2016.

Installation View

The exhibition design by OMA New York cloaks the Met’s circular Robert Lehman wing in scaffolding wrapped with a white perforated PVC fabric to create the effect of being in a “translucent ghost cathedral,” as lead architect Shohei Shigematsu describes.

Photo credit: Core77

House of Dior “Juno” Dresses (left), 1949-50, and Alexander McQueen evening dress (right), 2012-13

Elaborate embroidery work (including featherwork and artificial flowers) is a hallmark of haute couture created by a specialized group of “paruriers” (adornment makers). The process has remained largely the same for more than a century—still largely based on the mid-1860s Luneville embroidery (or tambour beading) technique developed by Louis Ferry-Bonnechaux.

Photo credit: Core77

Detail of Alexander McQueen Evening Dress

This piece combines hand-embroidered silver silk and metallic hand-shredded petals with silver beads, clear crystals and silver plastic feather-shaped paillettes on top of a machine-sewn silk organza base.

Photo credit: Core77

House of Givenchy Evening Dress (left) 1963 and Alexander McQueen dress (right) 2012

These colorful pieces both incorporate embroidery with pieces of coral, shells and glass beads.

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A classic Chanel dress (left) and a set of Louis Vuitton dresses (right), 2016

The Louis Vuitton dresses are hand-embroidered with clear and white sequins and then screen-printed with black pigment to create a layered effect. Lead designer Nicolas Ghesquiére explains: “Whether to use the hand or the machine is never completely apparent…Your decision has to be informed…I think it’s an exciting part of the process, actually, not knowing how you will execute a garment until it says, ‘This is right for now. This is what fashion feels like at the moment.’”

Photo credit: Core77

Louis Vuitton dresses, 2016

“These pieces were very complex in terms of the processes involved. The celluloid sequins were cut into strips by laser, then machine glued onto tulle…As I began to fold and drape the fabric, bubbles began to form, and the sequins took on the shape of a croissant…Because the sequins were too shiny, we had them spray-painted—by hand—to create shadows and to make them look more dimensional…I wanted everything to look imperfect, even the metal eyelets,” says Ghesquiére.

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Proenza Schouler dress (left) 2015-16 and Iris van Herpen (right) 2013-14

van Herpen’s crustacean-like piece is sculpted with the aid of magnets. A soft rubber is mixed with metal powder and placed on top of a cotton base. “When you mix everything together, the rubber has a few minutes when it is still wet and soft. We pour the rubber onto the cotton fabric. Then we place magnets above and below, and you see the metal powder grow piece by piece…before it sets… While the rubber is still wet and soft we add a very thin enamel powder that has iridescent qualities.”

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Gareth Pugh, 2015-16

The British designer has developed a trademark material approach using drinking straws. Each straw is cut by hand and attached individually with a small piece of metal jewelry hardware. The ethereal pieces emit a soft sound as the wearer moves, “like feathers caught in a gust of wind.”

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Iris van Herpen dress (right) 2013-14

This dress doesn’t just look bird-like, it actually incorporates a real bird-head skeleton in the shoulder structure. The complex process includes making strips of laser-cut silicone feathers and hand-applying them to a cage-like base structure.

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Detail showing the internal structure of van Herpen’s dress

Photo credit: Core77