As Apple continues its efforts to break into the fashion scene, it was today announced that the company will sponsor the 2016 Met Gala. For those unfamiliar, the Met Gala is an event held every year in New York to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. Each year has a different theme and the 2016 theme will be “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” with Apple sponsoring the event and Jony Ive serving a co-chair alongside Taylor Swift.
Vogue explains that the event will focus on the “dichotomy between handmade haute couture and machine-made fashion.” Andrew Bolton, curator of the Custom Institute explained that the line between the two spectrums has become increasingly blurred over recent years:
“Traditionally, the distinction between the haute couture and prêt-à-porter was based on the handmade and the machine-made. But recently this distinction has become increasingly blurred as both disciplines have embraced the practices and techniques of the other.”
Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive will serve as a co-chair for the event, alongside other moguls such as Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, and Anna Wintour. Karl Lagerfeld, who wears an Apple Watch with a gold Link Bracelet, will serve as an honorary chair.
The 2016 Met Gala will showcase more than 100 pieces of fashion, both haute couture and ready-to-wear. The event will also showcase 3D printing and give attendees the opportunity to see who the designers take shape.
It makes perfect sense for Apple to sponsor the 2016 Met Gala. The company has had a growing interest in the fashion market since the announcement of Apple Watch. The device was available at launch from a variety of high-end fashion retail locations. The device was also showcased by Vogue two separate times.
The 2016 Met Gala will take place on May 2nd.
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I approve. Apple for a long time has differentiated itself as a design first, quasi luxury brand – similar to BMW (or Dyson :-P). Embracing this will reinforce that.
Steve’s dream right here. “Fashion for everybody”. Or how was it?
Apple is where Hermes Street crosses Karl Lagerfeld Avenue.
This new branding is shallow and misguided. Under Steve Jobs, Apple had a very sophisticated brand, smart and embodying simple graceful beauty. Neither Ms. Ahrendt nor Mr. Cook seem to have an appreciation of such and hence Apple is veering toward a much shallower brand image, that of exclusivity and its relationship to desire. What you’re seeing here is part of the inevitable death of the company that Steve Jobs created, shaped and nurtured. There will come a time when thinner lighter aluminium and glass products aren’t enough. The iPhone and iPad and iMac are just evolving iteratively now and no new disruptive product lines are in the pipeline. The watch is rather a dud, and if you think the Apple iCar is the answer, it isn’t. If anything, the iCar will more likely be the company’s Waterloo.
“no new disruptive product lines are in the pipeline. ”
And you know this how?
You have access to their R&D labs?
The person on the right is possibly the most self-important individual I’ve ever seen. Should not be viewed on any equal footing as Ive. I don’t understand why she and Kanye West had a feud, they’re almost the same person.
The Met Gala I’ve been aware of for years now is the Opera Gala, not this Art event. Hmmm.