Why this Marchesa dress was the coolest look of the night
The Marchesa gown worn by Karolina Kurkova to tonight's Met Gala wasn't just gorgeous -- it was brilliant too. Covered in the light, airy floral appliqués you know so well from Marchesa, the gown is a custom masterpiece that brought a technological twist to Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig's masterful design.
You can see in a few photos (and 100% in person) that the flowers on Karolina's dress were glowing, powered by 150 small LED lights in a variety of jewel-toned shades. But the colors on the dress (aside from the dusty blue-gray tulle) weren't random, and they also weren't chosen by Georgina Chapman or Keren Craig. In fact, they were chosen by you.
In partnership with IBM Watson, the gown was designed to intelligently react to the fans and their reactions once they saw it on the red carpet. Depending on the mood of online social reactions to Kurkova's look using the hashtag #cognitivedress, the flowers changed colors to the tune of:
Rose for Joy
Coral for Passion
Aqua for Excited
Butter for Encouraging
Lavender for Curious
"For Keren and I," explained Georgina at a sneak-peek on Sunday night, "it's a really important way of engaging the people who love Marchesa, our customer, and getting their feedback. In a slight way it's like they're helping us design the dress and tell the story -- and it's just very interesting to us, and emotional as well."
The dress itself is a true collaboration of Marchesa and technology, with Keren assuring us on Sunday that the gown was "a very quintessential Marchesa dress — it has a very romantic feel, incorporating technology but still really staying true to our aesthetics." And boy did it ever.
We've been dazzled by Keren and Georgina's talents again and again, season after season. But we have to say -- this dress is up there among our favorites ever created by the brand. Learn more about how the technology of the dress worked here.
By: Logan Sowa
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