At its core, Haute Couture Week–despite the celebrities, parties, and all other glittering distractions–is a celebration of intricate craft achieved only through physical mending by human hands. So, it might come as a surprise that many couture devotees found themselves within Gagosian’s walls toasting champagne to tech-heavy AI-generated artworks on the very first evening of the week.
But for all its worth, it was still in the name of artistic possibility. Derek Blasberg and Serena Cattaneo Adorno hosted their close friends to view the works of Bennett Miller, the filmmaker known for Capote (2005) and Moneyball (2011). Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, tasked Miller with creating a series of artworks forged by an early-stage extension of his original software, called DALL•E. The result? Colorless, film-like images that seem to have a hand in the past, present, and future.
A cocktail of celebrities, supermodels, European blue bloods, and fashion designers were the first to see the collection for themselves. There was Karlie Kloss, posing in front of a piece that depicted a woman in deep slumber. The high priestess of Paris fashion, Michèle Lamy, chatted with other attendees near a haunting image of a young boy diving head-first into an unknown plane. Camille Micelli was seen near a portrait of a young girl with windswept hair, and Bianca Brandolini d’Adda spoke to friends nearby. Jeremy Strong, Diana Widmaeir, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac were also among the crowd.
As for the artist himself? Well, he floated from huddled group to huddled group, perhaps explaining his vision to his guests. Photography was invented in 1922. OpenAI was founded in 2015. It’s fair to say that both are revolutionary to their present time, and the results of mixing them together hang on the walls of Gagosian Paris until February 22. As for AI infiltrating couture? The week has just begun, and only time may tell.
