The Met Gala, formally titled the Costume Institute Gala, commonly referred to as The Met Ball, and widely regarded as the fashion world's biggest night, had people scratching their head about this year's theme. Sitting in bed in our sweatpants, the followers of the fashion world watched as their favorite celebrities, models, and designers graced the red carpet in clothes catering to the theme.
This year's theme was entitled "Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology." There are always varying degrees in which the lucky guests follow the theme. This year, I noticed a very clear split in the way people dressed according to the theme of the evening (although it is not required, only encouraged to dress in theme).
There were those who took the theme to an extremely surface level. Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik in robotic inspired accessories. The Kardashians wore their signature blindingly bedazzled Balmain ensembles (with Kanye in ripped light wash jeans ??) and new to the metallic scene were stars like Taylor Swift and Ciara, who even sported silver hair.
Although these looks weren't necessarily bad, they just took the theme as an excuse to dress as an overdone futuristic cliche. There was a surprising lack of designers actually using the theme to portray how the future of fashion will be shaped in an increasingly technological world, not just how it might look. Calvin Klein dressed Emma Watson, Lupita Nyongo and Margot Robbie in gowns that did not look from first glance like they took any consideration to the theme at all.
That's only because the gowns were not meant to make these women look like they were going to a sci-fi event, they were meant to make you wonder how they were made and how their manufacturing fits into the intersection of fashion and technology. Calvin Klein embraces the Green Carpet Challenge with these looks and truly embodied the theme of the night in a deep and meaningful way (plus they were easy on the eyes as well).
Margot Robbie's dress is made from Italian organic silk and uses recycled materials for the zippers.
Emma Watson's 5 piece ensemble is made from Newlife fabric, which turns recycled plastic bottles into materials for clothing, and organic cotton. The look is designed to be able to re-wear the pieces separately as to reduce wastefulness and comment on the problem with using resources to make something these celebrities will only ever wear once.
Lupita Nyang'o's dress was hand crafted in Calvin Klein's New York atelier.
Although The Met Gala is a primarily superficial affair, this year's theme provided designers and attendees with a chance to truly push the limits of fashion and comment on the environmental issues facing the fashion industry, Calvin Klein took this chance, most others did not.
