Manus x Machina closes as the Met's seventh most visited exhibit

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Sep 9, 2016

The Costume Institute officially closed its Manus x Machina exhibit on the evening of September 5, and 752,995 visitors later, the spring 2016 exhibit takes the 2nd place among the Institute’s most visited exhibitions.

 
Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology surpassed Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011) as the second most visited Costume Institute exhibit and sits in second place behind China: Through the Looking Glass, the Met’s fifth most visited exhibit. Savage Beauty pulled in 661,509 visitors for the Met and China: Through the Looking Glass attracted 815,992 visitors. Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, curated all three exhibits.
 
The spring 2016 exhibit sits in seventh place among the Met’s most visited exhibits and joins the likes of Treasures of Tutankhamun (1978), Mona Lisa (1963) and Painters in Paris, 1895-1950 (2000).

Manus x Machina, which explored technology’s impact on fashion design and manufacturing as well as fashion’s evolution from handmade goods to machine-made goods and mass production, was originally set to close on August 14, but it was extended by three weeks to September 5. The hours for the exhibit’s last Friday and Saturday were extended to midnight, 3 hours after its original closing time of 9pm.
 
Over 30 ensembles from designers Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Iris Van Herpen were on display at the exhibit.