Combining Digital and Physical Artisanship
Some fashion brands and designers have begun to incorporate AR and similar technologies into products to enhance the overall brand experience.
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In late 2018, Scandinavian retailer Carlings released its first digital, genderless clothing collection as a limited production run. The collection sold out in one week. Digital tailors edited customers’ photographs to make it appear that they were dressed in the apparel.
Anifa Mvuemba, the designer behind the brand Hanifa, debuted her Pink Label Congo collection in December of 2020 via Instagram Live. All the pieces in the collection were digital designs created from pixels rather than textiles using 3D software. The debut was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. 3D digital fashion shows provide designers with more freedom to showcase their designs while offering physical items for consumers to purchase. The use of 3D software assists designers design collections for shows more quickly with less waste and provides emerging designers a way to extend their reach beyond what a physical show would offer at the fraction of the cost. Will this be the future of the fashion show for smaller brands?
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Alissa Aulbekova and Paula Sello, co-founders of Auroboros, are taking digital creation a step further by merging biology and technology into fashion design, which allows you to experience a garment’s birth and involving you in the creative process. Their physical garments “grow” on your body through a crystallization process lasting six to twelve hours. The designers incorporate digital versions of biological forms.
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