Two Springs ago, my graduating 8th grade class took a very anticipated trip to the fabulous New York City. While my classmates were all looking forward to this adventure, I was the most excited by far. About a month before the trip, I was talking to my art teacher about the activity options. and I promptly suggested visiting the one and only Metropolitan Museum of Art on the one and only 5th Avenue. And, there was a specific exhibit I had my eye on: Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology.
While this was certainly not my first time at the Met, it was my first time seeing an exhibit that happened to open on the first Monday of May, in other words, the Met Ball feature. I remember walking in with my best friends whom I talked into signing up without a clue of the emotions that would soon bring me to tears. I was welcomed by the ever so famous Karl Lagerfeld wedding dress for House of Chanel’s 2014 couture collection, which took 450 hours to embellish the train alone. I then walked around various displays highlighting the most incredible collections from well known designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Raf Simons for Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, and Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons who was honored in this past Met Ball's exhibition. As people were crowding the halls, taking pictures, and providing their opinions on each look, I quietly lost myself in the wonders fabrics carry as I slowly walked around the floors speechless and amazed. Not only did I read about the work various designers are remembered for, but also the work that goes into creating art worth remembering.
While fashion is not an apparent form of art for some, to me, it is the most powerful. While a painting can be looked at for hours by hundreds, a song's words can be sung over and over, and sculptures can seem like a scene frozen in time, fashion is too an art of freedom that speaks more than words and connects physical beauty to inner character.