In 1956 architects Alison and Peter Smithson displayed for the Daily Mail Jubilee Ideal Home Exhibition a project entitled "House of the Future". This model of a dream house for 1981 was filled with a series of intriguing objects that were important not for their looks but for the "idea" of the future they represented. The house was indeed a container presenting a fantastic vision of a possible future.
In many ways this is how the current events revolving around technology and fashion should be conceived – chances to step back, consider the technologies available at the moment and maybe forecast through them what the future of fashion will be like.
Museums all over the world are paying attention to the impact of technology on fashion, a theme that seems extremely relevant to younger generations of visitors who easily relate to innovative technologies such as 3D printing.
Some institutions are also actively encouraging visitors to interact with the clothes on display. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA) is working along these lines with the current exhibition entitled "#techstyle", featuring over 60 works by 33 emerging and established designers from around the world.
On view in the Henry and Lois Foster Gallery, "#techstyle" is co-curated by Pamela Parmal, Chair of the MFA's David and Roberta Logie Department of Textile and Fashion Arts; Michelle Finamore, Penny Vinik Curator of Fashion Arts; and Lauren Whitley, Senior Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts.
The event features garments, accessories, photography and multimedia installations capturing live fashion shows and 3D printing processes, while presenting also garments in action to show how technology is changing the way fashion is created.
Some of the pieces on display - the "Ricky Bag", Ralph Lauren's handbag that can charge a cell phone, or the black spiked artificial leg donned by Latvian-born bionic pop star and artist and MIT Media Lab fellow Viktoria Modesta in the music video "Prototype" - are more commercial or should be filed under the "popular culture icon" label.
One of the most interesting aspects tackled in the exhibition is the integration of new technologies in conceptual pieces by Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo. This part forms a sort of introduction to "#techstyle".
The event is also enriched by five commissions created by Hussein Chalayan, Kate Goldsworthy, London-based CuteCircuit, Francis Bitonti and Somerville-based Nervous System (the latter's co-founders, Jessica Rosenkranz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg are graduates of Harvard's Graduate School of Design and MIT).
The rest of the show is organised in two themes - "Production" and "Performance". The former focuses on manufacturing processes, from digital to 3D printing techniques that have revolutionised the way clothing is designed and constructed.
Mary Katrantzou's "Expandit dress" (2012) is accompanied by an image made in collaboration with photographer Erik Madigan Heck, which presents a surrealistic melding of Katrantzou's fashion with backgrounds that heighten the color saturation important to both artists' work; Viktor & Rolf's digitally printed "Werable Art" dress from their Haute Couture A/W 2015 collection, reintroduces instead the debate revolving around the often unanswerable question "is fashion art?".
The power of 3D printing is represented by Noa Raviv's graduate collection, Iris van Herpen's "Anthazoa" cape and skirt ("Voltage" Haute Couture Collection, 2013; recently acquired by the MFA) designed in collaboration with MIT Professor Neri Oxman; and threeASFOUR's "Harmonograph Dress" (2016), a garment that follows the geometry of the Fibonacci sequence. The 3D printed accessory section features instead quite a few examples of footwear including Bitonti's "Molecule" (2015) and United Nude's "Highrise" (2015).
Yet it's not all about computerised processes and synthetic materials: the exhibition looks indeed also at sustainable textiles and manufacturing methods. That's why curators decided to include the origami-inspired designs from Issey Miyake's "132 5." collection, made in a polyester fibre generated by Teijin Limited from chemical recycling by pulverizing, melting and spinning threads out of polyethylene terephthalate, and clothes from "G-Star Raw for the Oceans" - a clothing line made of denim created from recycled plastic bottles recovered from the oceans, a collaboration between musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams and Bionic Yarn, a company dedicated to repurposing ocean waste.
Designer Kate Goldsworthy is developing laser technology to cut and bond cloth in an effort to replace the chemically toxic process of dyeing, as seen in her "Zero Waste Dress" (2016).
Further sustainable examples - Pauline van Dongen's "wearable solar" dresses that can charge a cell phone and Akris' tuxedo suit embedded with "e-broidery" of small LED lights - introduce visitors to a world in which the form of fashion will be revolutionised by its function.
Clothes "perform" in the other section "in both practical and conceptual ways," states co-curator Lauren Whitley. Through their choices the curators emphasised the future possibility of behavioural garments: new technologies may indeed improve athletic performances, turn into medical monitoring devices, or simply guarantee better social interactions thanks to striking visual effects.
The interactive "MFA Dress" (2016) by CuteCircuit is the centerpiece of this section: it features a fabric incorporating more than 10,000 MicroLEDs to create animations. Visitors can select images from the MFA's art collection via an iPad and see famous pieces such as Hokusai's "Great Wave" or Ellsworth Kelly's "Blue Green Yellow Orange Red" being displayed on the dress.
In other cases visitors won't be able to interact with the garments but will see them reacting with the environment: the "Possessed Dress" (2015) designed by Chalayan in conjunction with a video of the Sadler's Wells ballet for which it was developed - "Gravity Fatigue" – can move independently from the dancer because it is remotely controlled (a concept similar to Chalayan's "Floating Dress" from his A/W 2011 collection); ink-coated leather capes by The Unseen can mutate their colours thanks to environment responsive dye, while the "Incertitudes ensemble" (2013), is a kinetic garment by conceptual artist Ying Gao that reacts to its environment thanks to the electronic sensors that activate the dressmaker pins covering its surface, causing them to move in waves.
"#techstyle is a fascinating survey of the current synergy between fashion and science," co-curator Pamela Parmal states in a press release. "Many of today's designers actively seek out collaborations with scientists and engineers to apply new technologies in digital media, sustainability and even biotech to their work. At the same time, scientists and engineers have embraced fashion pushing the boundaries of manufacturing and design. It's fitting that #techstyle is on view here in Boston, a crucible for technology and research."
Visitors at the MFA can also interact on social media using the "#techstyle" and share their experiences about fashion and technology on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (check out the link mfa.org/techstyle for videos and insights on the exhibition). Will we ever manage to 3D print a dress or a pair of shoes one hour before going out? At the moment we can't say, but "#techstyle" offers a glimpse of a possible tech-couture future that may happen in a wardrobe near you, so let's pay attention.
"#Techstyle", Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA, through 10th July 2016.
Image credits for this post
1. "Anthazoa" 3D Cape and Skirt, "Voltage" Collection, 2013 (detail)
Designed by: Iris van Herpen (Dutch, born in 1984)
Designed by: Neri Oxman (Israeli, born 1976)
Printed by: Stratasys
3D‑printed polyeurethane rubber and acrylic, steel cage, and cotton twill inner lining and silk satin lining
Museum purchase with funds donated by the Fashion Council, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
M. Zoeter x Iris van Herpen ©
Photography by Ronald Stoops
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2. Bodysuit from "Hard Copy" Collection, 2014
Noa Raviv (Israeli, born 1987)
Silk plain weave, polyester satin, nylon net, laser-cut cotton braid and beads
Work by Noa Raviv
Garments by Noa Raviv, photos by Ron Kedmi
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
3. Bionic pop star Viktoria Modesta wearing "The Spike" artificial leg
Created by Sophie de Oliviera de Barata, Alternative Limb Project
Styling: Joanna Hir
Picture by Lukasz Schorab
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
4. VIKTOR&ROLF Haute Couture A/W 2015 "Wearable Art" collection
Linen bonded to crepe (Italian manufacture), digitally printed fabric with silvertone film, laser cut jacquard, synthetic, denim, embroidery, applique
Team Peter Stigter
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
5. Image of Mary Katrantzou's "Expandit" dress, 2012
Erik Madigan Heck (American, born 1983)
Photograph Erik Madigan Heck / Trunk Archive
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
6. Engineered "Reptile" Print Dress, 2015
Sally LaPointe (born 1984, Marblehead, MA)
American, New York
Polyester-net embroidered with mylar sequins and digitally printed; silk satin underdress
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Sally LaPointe
Courtesy of Sally LaPointe
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
7. "The Bird", "Air" Collection, 2014, T H E U N S E E N
Lauren Bowker (English, born 1985)
Coated leather
THE UNSEEN 2015 AIR Collection.
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
8. Tuxedo, Autumn/Winter 2014 with LED e-broidery inspired by Thomas Ruff's astral photographs, 2014
Akris (Swiss, founded in 1922)
Polyester satin embroidered with LED lights, silk plain weave blouse, calfskin belt
Copyright: Akris
Photography: Akris
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
9. Raquel Zimmerman wearing ensemble from Alexander McQueen's "Plato's Atlantis" Collection, 2010
Nick Knight OBE (born 1958, London, UK)
Image Courtesy of Nick Knight and SHOWstudio.com
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
10. Highrise Shoe (one of two (right)), 2015
United Nude (Established 2013)
English
3D printed synthetic rubber
Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
11. "Water Splash" Crystallization dress, 2013
Iris van Herpen (Dutch, born in 1984)
Plexiglass synthetic
Image Courtesy of Nick Knight and SHOWstudio.com
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
12. Metallic Leather Fringe Dress, 2012
Giles Deacon (English, founded in 2003)
Leather, Swarovski crystals
Museum purchase with funds donated by the Fashion Council, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Ruby Jean Wilson DNA models
Photograph by Chris Moore Catwalking.com
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
13. "Molecule" Shoe, 2015
Designed by Francis Bitonti (American)
Polyester filament 3D printed with Stratysys Connex 3D Printer, printing software by Adobe Photoshop ©
Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
14, 15 and 16
132 5. Dress, 2010
Reality Lab, Miyake Design Studio 2010
Clothing by Reality Lab, Miyake Design Studio 2010
Photo by Hiroshi Iwasake
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
17. "Ricky Bag with Light", 2015
Ralph Lauren, Inc.
American
Leather, lined with purple calfskin
© Ralph Lauren Corporation 2015
Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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