Mechanical Glamour

Emily Spivack is an artist, writer, and editor who found an unlikely origin to the
popularity of sequins in mass-produced clothing and textiles today. Her interest began as idle
bemusement of the use of cheap plastic sequins on the infamous UGG boot in 2011 to disbelief
in 2014 when viewing Ambrogio Bevilacquas Madonna and Child (1495) and its intricate
weaving of tiny hand-crafted gilded metal disks into the fabric of Marys clothing and hair. A
fascinated devotion arose upon viewing a sketch posted online of Leonardo da Vincis idea for a
punching device for sequins that had never been made a reality, and she devoted herself to
uncovering its long-standing appeal in fashion. Research lead her to the revelation that a direct
relationship existed between the popularity of sequins and their scarcity, or expense of materials
and manufacture. When counterfeit use of cheaper materials like copper rather than silver and
gold became a problem in the 1400s, Spivack concludes that Leonardo himself had likely
realized that had his machine been built it would make the production of sequins cheap and with
a cheapening of labor luxury items no longer remain exclusive to the rich.
To reduce the differences in how the rich and poor can afford to dress is to minimize how
our appearance affects our status. Even when manufacturing processes made sequins
commonplace they had not lost their aesthetic appeal, even if that appeal had become tacky in
certain contexts. A leveling of the fashion playing field by making certain design elements
available to everyone simply demands that there be more creativity in the industry rather than
elitism.

Spivack, E. (2016, May). Mechanical glamour. Art in America, May 2016, 112-117.