Sine Benjaphorn is a plus-size model and owner of a clothing store in Ratchaburi, a province west of Bangkok, Thailand. The gown that she chose to replicate was a peach layered gown that Thai actress, Chompoo Araya wore to a L'Oreal event during the recent Cannes Film Festival.
According to Benjaphorn, she was inspired after seeing pictures of Araya and went out to buy bags of prawn crackers — a popular savoury snack — to sew them together. The end result from the colour down to the layering and wavy texture is uncanny.
After posting a side-by-side comparison of her posing in the gown on the streets with Araya's red-carpet picture on May 12, Benjaphorn's post quickly went viral on Facebook, with many netizens praising her for her talent — both in design and comedy.
"I’m shocked. I never thought this many people would share my photo. And I’m on every news channel," Benjaphorn told reporters.
This peach gown is not Benjaphorn's first attempt at recreating a celebrity's iconic look. She has also dressed up as Katy Perry in her "Roar" music video and Claire Danes in her much-talked about Zac Posen gown that she wore during to this year's Met Gala.
NEW YORK – It was the biggest night of fashion, what some might call the Oscars of style: TheMet Gala, an annual event raising funds for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
This year's theme seemed to have it all. Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology feted the strides between fashion and technology. One of the most powerful tech brands, Apple, officially sponsored the gala, working in close conjunction with fashion powerhouse, Vogue. Add sexy co-chairs like Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and celebrities Taylor Swift and Idris Elba.
Everything was set up to be absolutely perfect, so why was the entire night one big 404 error?
The fashions were neither here nor there, either too literal in their tech approach, or just boring.
Taylor Swift
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
Swift's custom-made Louis Vuitton frock was arguably one of the chanteuse's worst ever, a choice some compared to a fictional prostitute rather than high fashion.
Idris Elba
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
Idris Elba, the other celeb co-chair, was the complete opposite. For one of the most beautiful men in the world, he somehow made a tuxedo look tawdry and drab — more adult prom than prestigious gala. His technology to fit the theme? An underwhelming Apple Watch.
Womp.
Some risk-takers took the theme completely to heart. Fashion technology? Manus X Machina? That must have something to do with the 2015 A.I. flick, Ex Machina, right?
And with that, celebs tragically and comically adorned themselves in...silver. Lots of silver. There were more megatron, robot, live gadget and gizmo references than Comic Con.
Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
Singer Zayn Malik looked as if he had somehow meandered off the Yellow Brick Road with his tin arms. Kim Kardashian West gave her most boring recent red carpet, in a nod to tin foil. (We almost prefer her much-memed floral-print Givenchy gown she wore while pregnant in 2013.) Kanye West, on the other hand, didn't even try. On the other hand, Vogue named the pair best dressed couple of Monday's red carpet. Hmm.
Zayn Malik
IMAGE: WIREIMAGE
There were certainly exceptions on the carpet. Kendall Jenner, modelesque and beautiful in almost everything, shined in a Versace that looked 3D-printed. Here she shares a memorable moment with her idol, Cindy Crawford.
Kendall Jenner and Cindy Crawford
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
Nicole Kidman wowed with her elegant space empress cape gown by Alexander McQueen. So did Zendaya, who single-handedly almost saved the gala with her bowl cut and slinky Michael Kors gown.
Of course there were also actual gowns that infused technology. Actress Claire Danes literally glowed in a Zac Posen gown with fiber optics.
Marchesa designed a dreamy, frothy floral concoction for Carolina Kurova, who absolutely dazzled.
And of course new couple Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom both accessorized their respective looks with matching Tamagotchi.
"It's from 1996," Perry told Mashable on the red carpet.
Orlando Bloom
IMAGE: WIREIMAGE
Is this how far fashion and technology has come? Aside from the strides of haute couture and pret-a-porter, that is, machine-based fabrics, where is the innovation? Where and what is true fashion technology in the digital age?
Fashion, in its very nature, syncs with technology. The very use of machine-based clothing in the 1900s or new applique techniques have made design compelling. But when it comes to the current definition of technology and how (supposedly) far we've come, the relationship has been fraught. It's possible that this is due to consumers still being largely misinformed on the merge between the two industries and how the two can work in tandem.
Of course, what most don't know is that fashion tech isn't simply wearables like the Apple Watch, nor is it a flashing LED dress. It can range from a new technique in fabric sourcing (see: 3D-printed gowns from the likes of Iris van Herpen) to fabrics that change color with atmospheric pressure, or alters their forms from heat. The innovations from British design collective The Unseen are prime examples of fashion tech going above and beyond, with designs that elevate a wearer's life.
Other than this missed opportunity to showcase compelling fashion tech, it's the Met Gala's own mass appeal that begins to write its downfall. With E! now livestreaming the event nationally, the gala appears to have become more of a spectacle than anything else. With the social attention it's received on a global scale, the fashion has been diluted. As we know, with more eyeballs comes more pressure. And with more pressure comes "playing it safe."
Sarah Jessica Parker and Alexander McQueen at the Met Gala 2016
IMAGE: NY DAILY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES
So instead of Sarah Jessica Parker making her grand entrance in a couture mohawk, or sporting a kilt alongside Alexander McQueen, we now have her in a forgettable two-piece suit.
Sarah Jessica Parker at the 2016 Met Gala
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
The curse of the mass appeal of The Met Gala has certainly become a double-edged sword. On one side, it's now a must-see event, rivaling that of any award show. But on the other extreme, it's become just that — another show.
The Met Gala's greatest asset was that it allowed celebrities, designers who custom-created their gowns and many others to finally dream. It was the one night of the year when they could let their imaginations go wild, where their looks could be daring.
Because fashion loves an ingenue. It loves the outre. The wacky, the wild, the wicked.
This event was disappointing, something else altogether. It was Fashion 1.0.
"What else do you expect from a fashion event if technology is running the show?" a colleague said to me last night.
Though snarky in its nature, it was perhaps true. Social media, our heightened expectations, and perhaps, our lust for anything and everything Met Gala has completely ruined it.
Fashion meets technology? Not so fast. Let's get back to fashion, first.
In a total Hermione move, Emma Watson showed up to the Met Gala dressed in a very stylish lesson about sustainable fashion.
Her look, which included a corset, pants and a long black train — kind of a cape for her legs — was made out of recycled plastic bottles.
IMAGE: GEORGE PIMENTEL/GETTY.
The look is a collaboration between Calvin Klein and Ego Age, who detailed the materials of Waston's dress on Instagram.
"The body of the look is crafted from three different fabrics all woven from yarns made from recycled plastic bottles, the zippers are made from recycled materials and the inner bustier has been created using organic cotton.
The couple who commits to an android lifestyle together stays together.
Most attendees of the Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age of Technology Met Gala theme to mean something vaguely robotic, which typically just meant the color silver. But Zayn Malik decided that covering entire limbs in metal was a more appropriate course of action.
Zayn wore Versace, while his girlfriend, supermodel Gigi Hadid, wore Tommy Hilfiger. Hadid made sure her fingers were primarily covered in metal to ingratiate herself with her boyfriend's droid culture.
What better way to distance yourself from your boy band past than by turning into Iron Man?
IMAGE: JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY
IMAGE: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY
Malik reportedly left the event early, but he wasn't trying to be rude — he just had to recharge.
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