Dep gai | Gai dep

"Superheroes" explores the visual iconography of comic book superheroes, as well as their role as symbols for social and political realities. From their body-conscious unitards, revealing the superhero's stronger-than-human form, to suits that exhance the wearer's power through artificial means, whether it's to swim faster, assert sexual dominance or fly, as in the case of a suit designed by Atair Aerospace, the designs featured in the exhibit show the way that clothing, whether functional or a purely fantastic clothing, can be used to alter the human body and change how one is perceived by others.

Different sections in the exhibit (Nathan Crowley, a production designer for "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," consulted on the design of the exhibit, which makes the viewer feel as though they've landed inside a comic book panel or film set) examine themes like "The Armored Body" or "The Mutant Body" and show designs whose main elements coincide with protection or metamorphosis, respectively, like robot-like gold metallic leggings by Nicholas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga in 2007, or Thierry Mugler's bird-woman haute couture from 1997