Google has just launched it’s new We Wear Culture platform — a must for anyone with even a passing interest in fashion.
This ambitious and groundbreaking project has seen Google collaborate with over one hundred and eighty of the worlds best museums to help document their priceless collections and bring them to a wider audience. Institutions such as the Palace of Versailles in France, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London have granted Google access to their entire fashion archives, and to collections that, combined, cover almost 3,000 years of human history. Of immense historical importance, many of these pieces are too delicate or valuable to be allowed out of storage rooms, so this Google project offers unprecedented access.
Travelling around each of the world-class museums, Google has photographed and documented the best of the collections, using the Google Art Camera, state-of-the-art technology that produces images measuring one gigapixel (one billion pixels). Thanks to the unrivalled clarity of the images, viewers can zoom into a single feather on an Alexander McQueen gown, or each stitch on a hand embroidered flower on a Chinese silk hat. Once photographed, the whole archive has been uploaded onto We Wear Culture, accessible via the app or the website.
It’s an invaluable resource, allowing unlimited browsing and research of the clothes that have, quite literally, shaped the way we dress.
From the archives of the V&A museum alone, 500 years of fashion have been documented, from 17th century gowns, Mantua dresses from the 18th century, and dresses from the 1920s and 1930s. Shoes, corsets, hats and other garments are on show, as are more modern creations by the likes of Christian Dior and Christobel Balenciaga. Giving timelines, information on materials and techniques, insights into hidden construction and behind-the-scenes stories, this is a fashion geek’s paradise.
Revolutionary techniques and innovative that have launched the careers of designers can now be examined and understood at leisure. Offering a proximity denied in museums — where all too often these exquisite pieces are sequestered in low level light behind protective Perspex — we can now get up close and personal with historical pieces, such as Chanel’s LBD, or Marilyn Monroe’s high heels.
Amit Sood, director of Google Arts & Culture, says: “We invite everyone to browse the exhibition on their phones or laptops and learn about the stories behind what you wear. You might be surprised to find out that your jeans or the black dress in your wardrobe have a centuries-old story. What you wear is true culture and more often than not a piece of art.”
The We Wear Culture platform is available online at g.co/wewearculture and through the Google Arts & Culture app on iOS and Android.
smaisey@thenational.com
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Lost in Space'
Creators: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Irwin Allen
Stars: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins
Rating: 4/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
