Talks on Superheroes and Fashion at MMA’s Costume Institute

Last year the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute held an exhibition on Superhero costumes called Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. There were fashion shows and exhibits that caught peoples attention.

The basic comparison between the two is described by the exhibitions curator:

When I first started working on the exhibition about 5 years ago my first impulse was to focus on clothing that quite literally transformed you into a superhero. So, clothing that enabled you to run faster, swim faster, and even fly, but as I developed the exhibition I became more interested in looking at the symbolic and metaphoric association between superheroes and fashion.

On the surface it might seem that fashion and superheroes have very little in common, but they actually share rather surprising similarities, both are reflections of the zeitgeist, so mirrors to our social, political, and even social realities and anxieties. At the core of both are issues of identity and transformation. Fashion and superheroes not only allow you to escape into your fantasies, but also to act out your fantasies, the idea of transforming yourself into anybody or anything.

The introduction from a lecture by Andrew Bolton (curator, The Costume Institute)

It is an interesting and compelling case and suggests that high fashion isn’t much more than what comic book fans would call cosplay. (I’ll leave aside the cynical comparison between the distorted representations of the female body in both superhero comic books and runway fashion.)

Nevertheless, there were some interesting talks and they’re all available on the internet. I’ve linked to a couple below.

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy – Curatorial Talk

Andrew Bolton delivers a fascinating talk on the parallels between superheroes and fashion and the themes of the exhibition.

Part Two | Part Three

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy – The Gods of Greece, Rome, and Egypt Still Exist

This may be the most interesting talk. Michael Uslan, the executive producer or the The Dark Knight, takes a longer look the superhero and compares him to the Gods of ancient worlds.

Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

You can find more talks at the Metmuseum playlist on Youtube.