The city of New York roared a sartorial rebel yell last night with
the opening of Punk: Chaos to Couture. The legendary Met Gala thrown by
the Metropolitan Museum of Art brings the most elite of the fashion crowd up
the red carpeted steps to see the exhibit.
The punk movement
was born in the mid 1970's both in New York at clubs like CBGB's and in London
with Malcolm McLaren and then girlfriend, Vivienne Westwood. The first section of the exhibit had
reproductions of the gritty CBGB bathroom (I’m sure the socialites and Anna
Wintour can relate to this) and simulation of iconic punk fashion boutique Seditionaries’
from Great Britain. Degraded t-shirts
with subversive messages, bondage inspired outfits held together with safety pins
were in full display from Westwood and McLaren .
Speaking of safety pins, it’s hard to imagine punk fashion without
the metal hardware. If you haven’t
overdosed on the volume of spikes in the retail scene the past two years,
prepare for another onslaught. Pins,
studs, spikes, grommets, staples and logo embossed metallic trims were
showcased on the designs of Balenciaga, Gianni Versace, Victor & Rolf,
Givenchy, Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana.
Doesn’t sound very anarchistic?
This exhibition is the ultimate example of street style influencing haute
couture. There is a room of graffiti
influenced fashion from the likes of Stephen Sprouse to Ann Demeulemeester. The Alexander McQueen dress that was famously
spray painted with robotic air nozzle guns on the runway was on display as
well.
There was always the basic culture of DIY and artistic expression
in punk fashion. There was an
interesting gallery, “Bricolage” that focused on style that was created from found
objects, fashion from garbage from designers like Martin Margiela, John
Galliano and Prada. While scholars referenced this as punks’ “violent”
tendencies in the cutting up of materials, I saw this as contemporary and eco-friendly. The dresses made from garbage bags, broken
dishes and postage fashion is very “green”.
To me, I interpreted this as a message against mass consumption.
The last gallery was “Destroy”.
Imagine it being screamed from the Nick Knight-made films all over the
show featuring Sid Vicious. I thought it
would show lots of fashion and prestige labels being torn down from social
upheaval throughout the decades. Nope,
designers like Balmain, Chanel and Yohji Yamamoto were displayed showing
outfits with different techniques of distressed fabrics or deliberate sabotage
in embellished holes.
“Destroying” incredibly expensive clothing with intent with the
idea that it will appeal to the young market is not very punk to me. The youth culture that started the movement was
poor and was protesting the elite establishment. However, the designers curated for this show
are all incredibly successful, prestigious global brands that the 99% of the Occupy
Wall Street movement cannot afford. This
also reflects the entire guest list attending the evening’s gala.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved this exhibit and these are all
designers that I grew up idolizing. In
the spirit of the subject though, I would have liked to see representation from
modern unknown fashion labels or designers who truly DID do business in a way
that went against the grain since McLaren and Westwood.
The couture “punk” references the themes of the 70’s and 80’s aesthetic
but doesn’t ask what today’s “punk” is?
Would that be a coat made of Guy Fawkes masks? Would it be a sculpted dress made of melted
water bottles? Is it just a naked person wearing the ashes of their pink
slips? What is YOUR idea of punk?
The exhibit runs until August 14th, 2013.
(All photos by Mariana Leung)
