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Earlier this month ‘Fashion and Technology’ opened at the FIT Museum on 7th Avenue at 27th Street in NYC. The exhibit explores the impact of emerging technologies on the nature of fashion design and production over the past 250 years; focusing on innovations that have influenced the materials, aesthetic, and function of fashion.
The show is arranged chronologically, starting with garments and accessories from as early as the 18th century, all the way up to next spring’s collections. Highlights include a Paco Rabanne chainmail dress, a yellow PVC dress from YSL, and a cyberspace inspired digitally printed jumpsuit from Gautier. As you enter the hall there’s footage of Hussein Chalayan’s spring 2007 runway show featuring mechanized robot dresses that set the tone, as well as video from the pioneering 3D printing firm Freedom of Creation.
Hussein Chalayan’s Spring 2007 Runway Show courtesy Style.com
The show has some remarkable examples of textiles and fashions that seem light-years ahead of their time including a 1929 ballgown made entirely from cellophane by Cecil Beaton and Oliver Messel that predates the 60’s plastic era, and an architectural Pierre Cardin dress which employes a raised 3-D pattern in Dynel. If you’re as interested in textile as I am, you will surely find this show both fascinating and informative.
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