Robots on a fashion runway: Vogue World Milano's humanoids set against Alexander McQueen's 1999 spray-painting arms
Vogue World Milano put humanoid robots, built by the Chinese firm Unitree, into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on 22 September, in the act called The Age of Intelligence.
The edition itself was built around Italian handwork set against artificial intelligence, under the title Where The Future Is Made By Hand.
The 1999 comparison is not a stretch the internet invented. McQueen wrote instructions to the car factory describing how he wanted the arms to move, joint by joint, like spitting cobras. Coperni's designers said their robots were there to show people and technology existing in harmony, and built the sequence on a La Fontaine fable.
Both of those had the machines handle the clothes. Milan's waved and asked for applause. More a dystopian parade than a nod to art. And art is what fashion is about, right? RIGHT?
Genuine question, because somebody green-lit this: what would you actually want a robot to do on a runway?
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The post, as it ran
01VOGUE WORLD MILANO PUT HUMANOID ROBOTS INTO THE GALLERIA ON 22 SEPTEMBER, IN AN ACT CALLED THE AGE OF INTELLIGENCE.
02THEY WALKED IN TO L'AMOUR TOUJOURS WEARING NO CLOTHES, WAVED THEIR ARMS ASKING THE ROOM TO CLAP, AND ONE DID A LASSO.
03ROBOTS HAVE BEEN ON A FASHION RUNWAY BEFORE. ALEXANDER MCQUEEN ENDED HIS SPRING 1999 SHOW WITH TWO OF THEM.
04HIS WERE ROBOTIC ARMS BORROWED FROM A CAR PLANT. SHALOM HARLOW STOOD BETWEEN THEM ON A ROTATING PLATFORM IN A WHITE DRESS.
05THEY SPRAYED HER BLACK AND ACID YELLOW. HARLOW HAD TRAINED AS A BALLERINA, AND SHE MOVED WITH THEM.
06IN HER OWN ACCOUNT THE CURIOSITY SWITCHED AND THE MACHINES TURNED "MORE AGGRESSIVE AND FRENETIC".
07MCQUEEN TOOK THE IDEA FROM REBECCA HORN'S 1991 INSTALLATION HIGH MOON, IN WHICH TWO GUNS SHOT RED PAINT AT EACH OTHER.
08IN MARCH 2023 COPERNI USED BOSTON DYNAMICS ROBOTS. ONE TOOK THE JACKET OFF RIANNE VAN ROMPAEY'S SHOULDERS.
09MCQUEEN'S ROBOTS PAINTED A DRESS. COPERNI'S TOOK A JACKET. MILAN'S WAVED.
10VOGUE WORLD MILANO STAGED MORE OF A DYSTOPIAN PARADE THAN A NOD TO ART. AND ART IS WHAT FASHION IS ABOUT. RIGHT?