The Metropolitan Museum of Art heads underground to raucous clubs and mosh pits for its 2013 Costume Institute exhibition, “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”. The show will explore punk’s beginnings in the 1970s through to its continued impact on today’s designers and their work. And with recent S/S 13 collections from the likes of Anna Sui and Duckie Brown showing heavy punk influences at New York Fashion Week, this movement will continue to be a strong influence and a fierce muse.
“Punk’s signature mixing of references was fueled by artistic developments such as Dada and postmodernism,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, “so it makes sense to present this exhibition in a Museum that also shows the broader output of those movements.”
The Met’s previous exhibitions have included Alexander McQueen’s “Savage Beauty” and Prada and Schiaparelli’s “Impossible Conversations” – “Punk” looks posed to follow in their footsteps with themes of rebellion and individuality, while examining a darker, crustier world fueled by the rock music genre that spawned it.
The exhibit will be organized thematically: Rebel Heroes follows the pioneers of punk in the 70s, including bands like the Sex Pistols and designers like Vivienne Westwood. Pavilions of Anarchy and Elegance brings together the disparate, yet intertwined worlds of haute couture and DIY punk designs, while La Mode Destroy looks into punk’s influence on deconstructionist fashion. Designers in the exhibit will include Azzedine Alaïa, Rei Kawakubo, Rodarte, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, and Jeremy Scott, among many others. Expect plenty of studs, shredding, perversion and a multisensory experience, as the sounds and sets of the exhibit are sure to be just as important as the designs on display.
The Costume Institute Gala Benefit will be held May 6, 2013.
PUNK: Chaos to Couture runs from May 9 – August 11, 2013
(Images courtesy of WWD, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
