The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) opened its largest fashion exhibition to date, Renaissance to Runway, on Nov. 9, 2025. The exhibit features garments from fashion houses such as Moncler, Versace, Emilio Pucci, and Armani. Visitors are met with a large-scale projection at the entrance of the exhibit, an AI-generated video reanimating the archival garments on display.
Associate Curator of Fashion Darnell Lisby, and Chief Marketing Officer Todd Mesek provide insight on how the exhibit took shape and how the CMA approached incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an interview with The Cauldron.
AI in CMA Exhibit
The entrance of the exhibit consists of an “immersive” video which utilizes AI to showcase multiple ensembles from the museum’s exhibit in-motion. The video was created by Francesco Carrozzini, creative director and videographer, in collaboration with Henry Hargreaves, a digital artist.
Lisby states that AI in fashion exhibitions is not an entirely new concept and has been growing in many areas of the world. Examples are evident in Korea, with Seoul Fashion Week, Milan with Dolce and Gabbana and the Costume Institute exhibition “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Lisby explained “we come from a conservation perspective, we do not believe in putting archival objects on people, on humans.” Lisby also stated that although they could have run a list of fashion shows “believe me, getting rights to that is far greater of a journey.”
The team also wanted to create a type of “fantasy” world, and create something beyond the bounds of what they could do in real life. Lisby said that they wanted to use AI as a tool, ethically. Lisby added that the team received permission from every designer and museum involved in what is depicted in the work. Clarifying, “I know that’s made interesting commentary of late. But yes, we’ve gotten everybody’s permission.”
Lisby also stated that Carrozzini and Hargreaves used “sustainable and low grade materials” to produce the work. “We understand the intensity of AI being that it’s been a part of the CMA’s technological framework for the better part of a decade.”
Mesek emphasized the artistic background of Carrozzini and Hargreaves, “this wasn’t a tool to replace artists. This was used as a tool by artists.” Mesek also highlighted that the images used to create the work were high quality, clear and licensed. Concluding, “we recognize that that innovation is new for a lot of people, but just want to state that it’s a tool and it’s done in a responsible, ethical way.”
Together, Lisby and Mesek underscored that the exhibition’s technological elements were the result of years of discussion, careful planning, and were deeply rooted in CMA’s history. “We’ve been doing this project for two years. It was a very long conversation,” Lisby said.
They stressed that the museum never uses technology for its own sake, but only when it can meaningfully enhance understanding or bring visitors closer to the art, noting uses already present in CMA, “there’s exhibitions that we have in the museum right now that use technology to allow the visitor to look at different layers of a painting over time. So there’s ways that you can present that story, tell that story visually, that people can’t do without the use of technology,” according to Mesek.
Mesek noted that the response to the exhibit has been “overwhelmingly positive,” and
moving forward, “We’ve always been a leader in technology and will continue to do that.”
The Inception
Lisby emphasized that fashion exhibitions rarely begin with a fixed plan. “The original version is never going to be the final version,” he said. “As we learned which houses wanted to participate and what they had available in their archives, a story started to emerge.”
From there, he built the show like “a necklace,” gathering loans from fashion houses, heritage foundations and partner museums. Each garment, he said, plays a specific role.
“I try not to pick things based on a personal favorite,” Lisby said. “Everything is almost like a body, your arms have a role, your head has a role, your skin has a role. Each garment contributes to the narrative.”
Some pieces resonate with audiences more immediately, such as the Versace metal-mesh dress created for actress Zendaya to wear to the 2018 MET Gala. But Lisby highlighted many others for their craftsmanship or historical dialogue with CMA’s collection.
Lisby pointed to an Emilio Pucci piece from Spring 2024 for how it reflects the long history of Pucci prints and early modern Milanese dress, and to a 1993 Moschino jacket that speaks to social and cultural histories surrounding the Medici family, displayed beside an actual Medici tapestry from CMA’s holdings. Other works, such as a streamlined Gucci floral ensemble, were selected for how they communicate the evolution of Italian fashion and the inspirations embedded in each detail.
Conservation and Mounting
Though the exhibition contains complex heavy garments, when asked about anything that was particularly challenging during the creation of the exhibit, Lisby said the team approached the project with long-honed discipline and experience. As he explains, “there were challenges, but nothing that we weren’t able to do. I’ve been working in the field for a better part of 13, 14 years. And so you amass a discipline in mounting complicated fashions over time.”
Many of the obstacles came from the weight and construction of the pieces themselves. Lisby describes them as “rudimentary conundrums,” pointing to looks such as Diesel’s denim ensemble by Glenn Martens with its “extremely heavy” distressed denim coat. Their handler Phillip created a stabilization mechanism to prevent tipping. The same was necessary for the Moncler coat dresses and the Antonio Marras ensemble used in the exhibition’s promotional materials, all garments that, as he puts it, are “almost like wearing weighted blankets.” To support these pieces, “we had our mannequins manufactured with additional reinforcements, so that the dresses stayed up.”
Lisby described the process as not technically challenging, but predominantly time consuming, stating “We did have to shave a few mannequins because the rule is fit the mannequins to the dress, not backwards.” There is no clipping or pinning due to those practices being unsafe for garments, especially from a conservation perspective. Lisby stated how they alter the mannequins, “we might have to cut off the ribcage of the torso. We might have to cut off the chest to flatten it out because some dresses require a push-up bra,” later adding that it was nothing out of the team’s bandwidth.
Relating to Art
Mesek said the accessibility of fashion excites him. “We kind of joke, ‘everyone wears clothes,’” he said. The dialogue between the eras is an important aspect of the exhibition, with more traditional art and fashions paralleling each other from the Renaissance era into the modern day.
Seeing the works installed brought that connection fully alive for Mesek. “When you see it in the space in the gallery it comes to life,” he said. For him, the most powerful element is how “the connection between the Renaissance art and the contemporary fashions” can be “dramatic, it’s big, it’s clear.”
Those interested in seeing this exhibit in-person can purchase tickets on the Cleveland Museum of Art’s website here. Cleveland State University Students are eligible for a free membership, providing free admission to ticketed exhibitions, access to members-only exhibition previews and discounted tickets for their guests. Students may receive information by their student email or contact CSU’s administrative offices for more information.
