photograph
and copyright Alan Cope – courtesy The MET
“Traditionally,
the distinction between the haute couture and pret-a-porter was based on the
handmade and the machine-made, but recently this distinction has become
increasingly blurred as both disciplines have embraced the practices and
techniques of the other, Manus x Machina challenges the conventions of the
hand/machine dichotomy and proposes a new paradigm germane to our age of technology.”
Andrew
Bolton
Curator
in Charge – The Costume Institute
New York:
Fashion - The MET - Manus x Machina:
Fashion in an Age of Technology. At the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, until August 14, the exhibition Manus x Machina:
Fashion in an Age of Technology which explores how fashion designers are
reconciling the handmade and the machine-made in the creation of haute couture
and avant-garde ready-to-wear. Exhibiting more than 170 ensembles dating from
the early 20th century to the present, it addresses the founding of the
haute couture in the 19th century, when the sewing machine was invented, and
the emergence of a distinction between the hand (manus) and the machine
(machina) at the onset of mass production.
Above. Karl
Lagerfeld - House of Chanel - Wedding ensemble -back view - autumn/winter
2014–15 - haute couture.
“Perhaps
it used to matter if a dress was hand-made or machine-made, at least in the
haute couture, but now things are completely different…The digital revolution
has changed the world.”
Karl
Lagerfeld - House of Chanel
Wedding
ensemble - autumn/winter 2005–6 - haute couture
detail
Manus
x Machina
Hubert
de Givenchy – House of Givenchy
Evening
Dress – 1963 – haute couture
Sarah
Burton - Alexander McQueen
Dress
– spring/summer 2012 – pret-a-porter
“This
dress was 3-D printed. It was built
layer by layer in a vessel of liquid polymer which hardens when struck by laser
beam.”
Iris
van Herpen
Dress
– autumn 2012 – haute couture
“This
dress made from cast fiberglass, was machine spray painted and
hand-embroidered with crystals and pearled paper. It is accessed through a rear
panel, is on wheels and operated via remote control. Each ‘pollen’ during a
peak moment is released into the air and swirls around the wearer. It is intended as a poetic gesture, meant to
symbolize new beginnings.”
Hussein
Chalayan
"Kaikoku"
floating dress - autumn/winter 2011–12 – pret-a-porter
Manus
x Machina
Paul
Poiret
Coat
– ca. 1919 – haute couture
“Often
when I use laser cuttong, I also employ the techniques of bonding or
laminating, as in my autumn/winter 2012 collection when I bonded laser-cut pony
skin to leather.”
Sarah
Burton - Alexander McQueen
Ensemble
– detail – autumn/winter 2012-13 – pret-a-porter
“This
dress shows the process of construction not deconstruction. What sets apart couture from ready to wear is
the ateliers, the workmanship, and the amazing attention to detail, nothing is
impossible, and imagination becomes even more beautiful. For this look I wanted
to show the magic of the draping on the form, how the block to the toile to the
final gown is created, and all the stages in between.”
John
Galliano – House of Dior
Ensemble
– autumn/winter 2005-06 – haute couture
Charles
James
Muslin
– Ca. 1950
“I
express a concept to patternmakers in words on or through nuance. Design starts with how my staff interprets
the concept. The patterners are in fact
designing. We don’t apply the usual
patterning routine to our conceptual making process. It is cumbersome.”
Rei
Kawakubo – Comme Des Garcons
Ensemble
– spring/summer 2013 – pret-a-porter
Viktor
and Rolf
Ensemble
– spring/summer 1998 – haute couture
“While
working with 3-D software I was fascinated by the grid shown on the 2-D screen
and by the way black repetitive lines define voluminous objects. I have translated those lines into textiles
that create this sort of optical illusion.”
Noa
Raviv
Ensemble
and Dress – 2014 – pret-a-porter
Center
and right
“It
is very rare for me to make an item of clothing in which the hand is absent
entirely, but this dress, made from EVA foam, but designed to look like
leather, was cut by a machine, sewn by amachine, and finished by a
machine. I love the precision and
perfection of machine-made clothes just as much as I love the imprecision and
imperfection of hand-made clothes.”
Thom
Browne
Dress
– spring/summer 2013 – pret-a-porter
Detail
“The flying saucer was a search for what
could be done with different sorts of pleating, in this case, accordion pleats,
and to see what could be done combining fabric, design, and movement. Why not make a brightly colored wearable
accordion.”
Issey
Miyake - Miyake Design Studio
"Flying
Saucer" dress - spring/summer 1994 – pret-a-porter
Manus
x Machina
Artificial
Flowers