NY’s Met extends hit tech-linked fashion exhibit
NEW YORK — New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art said Thursday it is extending the hours of the Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of
Technology exhibition that has drawn near-record visits.
The exhibit in the US museum’s Costume Institute explores handmade and machine-made creation of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to wear in more than 170 ensembles, with the oldest dating to the early 20th century.
Manus — hand — and Machina — machine — has attracted more than 664,000 visitors since its May 5 opening, the Met said.
That has pushed it into the Costume Institute’s second place for
attendance, topping Alexander Mc
Queen: Savage Beauty in 2011, which drew slightly more than 661,000 visitors.
The department’s most popular show, last year’s blockbuster China:
Through the Looking Glass, attracted nearly 816,000 visitors and is the Met’s fifth most-visited exhibition.
The Met said it was adding six more hours of viewing time on Manus x Machina’s final weekend. The museum will close at midnight on Sept. 2 and 3, instead of its normal time at 9 p. m. The exhibit ends on Sept. 5.
The exhibit already was extended by three weeks from Aug. 14.
The signature piece is a 2014 wedding ensemble with a 5.4-meter train by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel made of scuba knit, a synthetic material, and hand-embroidered.
Among the other designers are names from some of the world’s leading fashion houses, including Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Yves Saint Laurent. Manus x Machina was the inspiration for the Met’s annual gala this year, whose star-studded attendees included Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Bradley Cooper and Johnny Depp. —