Manus x Machina

Last night the place to be seen was on the red carpet for the annual Met Gala. The Costume Institute event was themed around the dichotomy between traditional handmade haute couture and technology’s growing involvement in fashion and its creation. With Apple sponsoring the accompanying the exhibit and Jony Ive serving as a co-chair of the Gala, the stage was set for last night to be the coming out party for wearable technology. But was it?

Over the past year we have seen amazing integration of technology into statement-worthy clothing. From Rebecca Street’s motion sensitive LED gown, to Chromat’s temperature reacting sports bra, to Zac Posen’s LED dress coded by high school students, we were expecting to see designers embrace this year’s Met Ball as a chance to explore what was possible with wearable tech. Unfortunately the theme seemed to confuse most of the evening’s guests; the majority seemed to opt-out, wearing gowns and tuxedos they would chosen if there had not been a theme. A select few of the attendees had fun with the theme, wearing clothing that was a vintage interpretation of what tomorrow would hold for fashion or looking for inspiration from clothing created from what were once cutting edge machines, such as looms. But wearing a gown that is silver or metallic doesn’t equate to “machine.”  With the theme being “Man versus Machine,” man clearly won the night.