This year’s Met Gala theme was “Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” Somewhere between “once upon a time” and “in a galaxy far, far away” were spectacular and original breathtaking gowns.
The two most talked about gowns had the most exciting embedded technology lighting up each gown. In an epic showdown that can compare to any Project Runway challenge, acclaimed designer, Project Runway judge Zac Posen was up against the Project Runway All-Stars designer judge and designer for Marchesa,Georgina Chapman.
Each designer created their own technological vision of the future without losing their personal design esthetic. So, who won the ultimate high fashion technology battle?
While social media was all aflutter with social media influencers preparing for the event, the real surprise belle of the ball was Claire Danes. Lately, she is best remembered for her edgy acting and ugly crying in the popular Homeland, while chasing down terrorists in very basic attire. At the 2016 Met Gala, she surprised the crowd with her shimmery “Cinderella” ball gown, and simple, but elegant, up-do. Danes allowed the dress to do the talking, as she wore simple drop earrings and kept her styling clean with rose-pink lipstick.
The ballgown designer, Dane’s close friend, Zac Posen, aptly demonstrated that we do not need to give up whimsy when we embrace sensors and hi-tech. He shared the magical future of fashion as he deftly created a gown that was stunning on its own, but when the lights went out, then the true magic happened. This glow-in-the dark dress helps that handsome Prince Charming spot his fleeing faery tale princess at the stroke of midnight, even in the darkest corners of the galaxy. This gown lights up!
Best of the #MetGala ? Claire Danes stuns in glow-in-the-dark dress. See all of the fashions https://t.co/3ZbfSuiu34 pic.twitter.com/j0c0nbHhkZ
— Variety (@Variety) May 3, 2016
Here, the actress was seen with the proud designer Zac Posen on her right and her husband, actor Hugh Dancy, on her left.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BE7DeWHj8s7/?taken-by=people_style
Worn by supermodel Karolina Kurkova, the Marchesa concoction was incredible. Without losing even a bit of the fragile brand aesthetic, this etherial gown is enhanced by IBM Watson technology. The sensors in the “ cognitive dress ” turned this gown into a rare and delicate flower. In real-time, Watson used the emotion in social media to change the colors of the dress. For example the gown lights up with meaningful colors such as butter meant encouragement, rose indicated joy, coral was passion, the delicate lavender color was for excitement, and aqua popped up when the social media expressed excitement.
Met Gala: Karolina Kurkova’s dress had 150 LEDs which react to emotions of Twitter followers https://t.co/FL6n6qyZUo pic.twitter.com/hfChlkmJ1c
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 3, 2016
This was another side of the dress that Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig created together with IBM Watson.
#MetGala ready.X @karolinakurkova was electric in our custom #CognitiveDress made in partnership with @IBM pic.twitter.com/QSwB3saikB
— Marchesa (@MarchesaFashion) May 3, 2016
Both high-tech dresses were memorable and spectacular, but social media seemed to prefer Zac Posen’s Cinderella gown that lights up. Posen’s succinct statement to Entertainment Weekly summed up why this dress was such a success.
“I like to make people dream, that’s my job.”
Most of the other 2016 Met Gala attendees wore a lot of metallic colors like silver, or the more stark, Battlestar Galactica shiny black. The press had a lot of fun with this theme, as well. Here, Gigi Hadid and her boyfriend, Zayn Malik, especially had fun wearing their Tommy Hilfiger attire. Zayn’s robotic sleeves and the metal around each of Gigi’s fingers give them a cyborg look that is playful and chic.
Today’s cover: All the celebrity fashions from the #MetGala https://t.co/IAdXV6jMGJ pic.twitter.com/hptKfyL4Pj
— New York Post (@nypost) May 3, 2016
All in all, the fittings, the dieting, all of the sacrifices were well worth it. This year was a spectacular year for the Met Gala. More importantly, this year was a sneak peak into the future of fashion. While many attendees dressed in a stark visions of the future, Marchesa and Posen aptly demonstrated that even with high tech embedded into the gowns, the future looks light and beautiful.
So which Project Runway judge designed the best 2016 Met Gala dress? Did you like the Cinderella, glow-in-the-dark gown, or the social media influenced IBM Watson dress?
[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
