A few days ago, I read about the MET’s latest exhibition and wished I could experience it firsthand.

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
May 7, 2008 - September 1, 2008
“Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear, it reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. “

For some reason, reporters focus on the celebrity guests and not the exhibit. Why? This is an interesting and compelling display of colors, shapes, and designs. As you move through the gallery you can explore the differences between a functional costume and a concealing costume. I think it’s neat. The exhibit is divided into themes by types, focusing on one particular well-known costumed hero as the example. The theme then builds on the example and explores why it works, why it doesn’t work, and how it’s influenced fashion.

So much of the character of a hero is modeled in their costume. Batman’s dark cowl is for fear and concealment. His loaded utility belt keeps weapons and tools handy. His outfit is designed that way because he’s just a man. By looking at the dark figure we can guess he’s a man with money and deep vigilante issues. That’s a fair guess. The MET exhibit explores those kinds of motivations by using costumes and fashion to illustrate the development of trends.

Kinda fun I think. You can use the ideas to create your own hero costumes. There’s no law that says you have to wear a costume for a character some middle-aged man created 40 years ago. Peruse the Project Rooftop blog for excellent re-imaginings of hero gear. Like this redo of Power Girl by Joel Carroll.

So, go to it.

Tags: art, costumes, design, Fashion and Fantasy, project rooftop

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Comics, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.