K11 MUSEA’s (fyi, it’s a shopping centre of the future in Hongkong) Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion exhibition is not just dedicated to designers or the extreme personalities behind the clothes you wear. Instead, it’s dedicated to exceptional craftsmanship. You know, the hands, eyes and minds of the atelier staff that toil on toiles in the world of haute couture and prêt-à-porter. However, as much as it is fantastical (it helps too that its curated by the Carine Roitfeld) to both fashion fanatics and the public, the exhibition is sort of a thread that spans across 30 years and five categories.
Stand in wonder (ok, virtually doing so if you’re still in Malaysia) at Extreme Craft, a section dedicated to sculptural manipulation or gawk at Tales From the Runway where fairytale gowns spring to life. But you know, not in that scary Doctor Who-way.
Pictured Above: The Atelier Tailleuer (it translate to Tailoring Workship) section of the exhibition is dedicated to the mastery of suits and how futuristic is has become. The latter, Alexander McQueen’s deconstructured pattering iterations and the former, housed in a black Parisian salon like they did in the past.
Tales From the Runway: Couture is the pinnacle of fashion perfection and in layman terms, can be dissected down to iconographies like embroidered flowers, organza ruffles and constellations of sequins and jewels. However, K11 MUSEA’s Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion goes one step further by expanding the fairy tale to include Tim Burton-esque visions and sci-fi fantasies.
Modern Reinvention: How do you take age-old silhouettes and techniques (and especially old world Victorian or Medieval fashions) by the scruff of its neck and hurl it into the future? You place it into the talented hands of some of the world’s best designers who put their own stamp on the remixing. For example, the Chanel tweed suit above that has been restructured and remixed by the late Karl Lagerfeld.
Extreme Craft: K11 MUSEA’s Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion is also a lens into how fashion can pose a question and in this section’s case, it’s about how the concept of beauty is constantly shifting as time goes by. And most importantly, how fashion can be sustainable today to eliminate waste straight from the designing process.
Bridal Couture: The wedding dress is often the closing look of couture shows but at K11 MUSEA’s Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion, the wedding dress comes in many forms. Irreverently designed, maximalist or frankly, just beautiful: each comes with its own savoir-faires courtesy of the Houses they come from.
The exhibition opens at the K11 Art and Cultural Centre, 6th floor, Victoria Dockside and if you’re in Hong Kong, advance ticket bookings are available here.