Apple is taking its next step into the fashion world by sponsoring the 2016 Met Gala, the annual star-studded event held in New York to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute.
The theme of next year’s event — set to take place on May 2 — is “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” Jony Ive will represent Apple as co-chair of the event, alongside other luminaries including Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, and Anna Wintour.
“Traditionally, the distinction between the haute couture and prêt-à-porter was based on the handmade and the machine-made,” Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute, told Vogue. “But recently this distinction has become increasingly blurred as both disciplines have embraced the practices and techniques of the other.”
An accompanying exhibition will show off machine-made creations based on technologies such as laser cutting, thermo shaping, 3-D printing, and circular knitting.
As a company which has always walked the line between designer luxury and high-tech, Apple is perfect to sponsor the Met Gala. Even having shown enthusiasm for the fashion world in the past, however, Apple has stepped up its focus in recent years.
Apple’s retail guru Angela Ahrendts joined the company in 2013 from luxury clothing brand Burberry. The Apple Watch also received coverage in fashion magazines such as Vogue, while the iPhone 6s got an early outing snapping photos at last month’s New York Fashion Week, and Apple recently introduced the first products to come out of its team-up with Parisian luxury brand Hermès.
Jony Ive seems to be a major driving force behind this increasing fashion consciousness on Apple’s part, so his position as co-chair of the 2016 Met Gala makes a whole lot of sense.
Now where are our tickets?
