New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is putting on a display to show how technological advancements have altered fashion.
Opening May 5 and running through August 14, the exhibit will explore how things like 3D printing and laser cutting have changed high-end clothing from the days where a sewing machine was as technologically advanced as it got.
Here's a look at 8 high-tech dresses from the exhibit, "Manus X Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology."
As the "Manus X Machina" name suggests, the exhibit is meant to illustrate the tension between man-made and machine-made clothing and how designers are grappling with that distinction.
To show this distinction the exhibit will show clothes made in the traditional sense, like the above outfit: Suit, by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, that was made for the 1963-68 haute couture line.
This item is one of many meant to represent how haute couture was made possible in the 19th century with the invention of the sewing machine.
The dress seen here, dubbed Wedding Ensemble and designed by Karl Lagerfeld, was actually handmade for Chanel's 2014-15 haute couture line. But the design was manipulated by a computer to give it a pixilated baroque pattern.
So we can begin to see how designers are leaning on traditional methods while also using computer-influenced design techniques to bring fashion into the future.
More than 120 ensembles will be shown at the Apple-sponsored exhibit, gradually working to more modern outfits made possible by advancements like 3D printing.
Here we see Ensemble by Lagerfeld. The designer used a technique called selective laser sintering to give the iconic suit a modern twist. Lagerfield first made a 3D model of a design and then used a laser to bind powered material to create the look.
"The idea is to take the most iconic jacket of the 20th century and make a 21st century version, which technically was unimaginable in the period when it was born,"Lagerfeld told French news agency AFP of the 3D-printed line.
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