I don’t consider myself to be tech-savvy, but I’m sure not complaining if my clothes are.
From laser-cut shoes to dresses that physically move to fit your body’s unique shape, the Museum of Fine Art’s #techstyle exhibition, on display until July 10, shows what happens when you combine fashion designers and scientists and let their wildest dreams run free.
The introductory space (part one of three of the exhibit) features pieces by well-known designers daring to innovate by using technology in their garments. The late Alexander McQueen’s “Alien Shoe” (2010) and Hussein Chalayan’s “Remote Control Dress” (2005) do more than just sit pretty up front—they invite the visitor into a collection that’ll leave them in awe of the future of fashion.
To the left stands “Production,” a room dedicated to explaining the ways designers incorporate and experiment with new technologies. Method meets execution as computer-aided design produces stunning and revolutionary forms of dresses, skirts, tops, and shoes. The room’s centerpiece, Iris van Herpen’s “Anthozoa” cape and skirt, is covered in 3D-printed “barnacles” and is so immaculately crafted that it leaves little room for questioning why she is considered one of the leading forces in tech-inspired fashion.
To the right of the introductory space is “Performance,” a gallery of garments designed to interact with the wearer and its surroundings in visionary ways. One dress, crafted by CuteCircuit and bedecked in 10,000 micro-LEDs, allows visitors to send tweets from an iPad attached to the display that will then flash across the dress’s surface. Like they say, fashion speaks.
Technology is taking over, but this time, I think I’ll embrace it.