14 weird and wonderful gowns from Apple’s fashion exhibit

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This 3D printed dress will be part of Apple's Manus x Machina exhibition.
This 3D printed dress will be part of Apple's Manus x Machina exhibition.
Photo: Nicholas Alan Cope/The Met

Apple’s upcoming fashion exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to open in May, but if you can’t make it to the Big Apple to see which designer pieces Jony Ive and Co. hand-picked as examples for how technological advancements have altered fashion, the museum has given a sneak peek at some of the weird and wonderful gowns that will be on display.

The exhibit will feature over 100 pieces made from the 1880’s up to 2015, including gowns from icons like Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Dior, Miuccia Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, and more.

Take a look at some of the pieces coming to the Manus x Machina exhibit:

Christopher Kane dress

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Kane 3D printed the flowers on this dress from his 2014 spring line.

 

Ensemble by Karl Lagerfeld

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Lagerfeld used 21st century technology to put a twist on the 20th century’s most iconic jacket. Using a technique called laser sintering, Lagerfeld created a new look by binding powered material via a laser.

 

Ensemble by Iris van Herpen

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Herpen’s 3D-printed debuted in her 2010 haute couture line.

 

Flying Saucer Dress

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Created by Issey Miyake for her spring/summer 1994 collection, the designer used a heat press to pleat the dress, which can collapse into a circle, just like a slinky.

 

Dress by Iris van Herpen

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No flamingos were harmed in the making of this dress. The Dutch designer used Silicone and cotton as materials for this 3D-printed from her Wilderness Embodied 2013-14 haute couture line.

 

Iris van Herpen 3D-printed dress

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This other-worldly gown was based on zoomed-in pictures of microorganisms taken by photography Steve Gscheissner.

“Kaikoku” floating dress, by Hussein Chalayan

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Hussein designed this dress with 50 Swarovski Crystal pollens. When released, the pollens can fly out from the dress, signifying new beginnings.

Ensemble by Raf Simons

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Raf Simons-designed this dress as part of Christian Dior’s Haute Couture collection, which Vogue dubbed “absolutely exquisite and electric.”

 

Suit by Coco Chanel

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French legend Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel designed this suit made of wool and silk back in 1963 for her haute couture collection.

Vilmiron dress by Christian Dior

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A silk and nylon dress from Christian Dior’s 1952 haute couture line.

Wedding ensemble by Karl Lagerfeld

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Lagerfeld’s bizarre wedding dress debuted in 2005 as part of CHANEL’s Patrimoine Collection.

 

Wedding Ensemble, by Karl Lagerfeld

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This wedding dress train was hand made for Chanel’s 2015 Patrimoine Collection, but the pixelated baroque pattern was created by Lagerfeld using a computer.

Evening dress Yves Saint Laurent

Evening dress, autumn/winter 1969–70 haute couture
French
Silk, bird-of-paradise feathers

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Yves Saint Laurent used silk and bird-of-paradise feathers to create this unique evening dress back in 1970.

Dress by Nicolas Ghesquière

Courtesy of Balenciaga Archives, Paris
12

Ghesquière designed this dress for House of Balenciaga’s 2003 spring/summer collection.

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