Cyber models will reign the Post - COVID catwalk
Angel Chen at Shanghai Fashion Week
Angel Chen presented a post-apocalyptic cyber catwalk during Shanghai Fashion week, using real models, but not as we know them.
When suffering delays in production for her runway pieces, Chen was inspired to create the virtual show after creating a CG poster for her (later cancelled) Milan show. Inspired by Akira, the 1988 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk film, Chen’s vision was was achieved through green screen, computer renderings, and remote direction during lockdown.
In all industries we have become familiar with the zeitgeist favourite new lexicon: “disruptor,”. A person or a brand whose innovative and usually unorthodox ideas have had an irrevocable impact on the industry’s landscape. Chen can certainly be classified as such.
Fashion Disruptors have risen from the dust of old fashion paradigms.
Akira, the film Angel Chen was inspired by for her latest collection. We see the similarity in backgrounds.
Covid-19 has forced a creativity borne from necessity, wielding technology to do so.
Leading creative production agency, Blonstein has teamed up with LA-based rendering studio Actual Objects to formulate an entirely digital means of mounting a fashion show.
Actual Objects uses state-of-the-art motion-capture suits that will allow casting directors to digitally capture the movement and characteristics of the models and celebrities they represent. The problem of inability to convey fabrics via a screen is solved with cutting-edge digital fabric capture capabilities.
This fascination for the surreal, is not one borne only from the catalyst of COVID-19.
In recent years there has been an uptake of virtual fashion. From anime inspired catwalk screenings to the decision made by Helsinki’s fashion council for all collections to be created by a 3D artist- a decision taken prior to the pandemic for environmental reasons.
This transition has been made possible with 3d manipulation software such as CLO and Fusion 360 being more readily available on the software market. Balmain worked with software company CLO Virtual Fashion, back in 2018, to create their ‘Virtual Army’. 3D designers input data from each item of clothing (they measured the clothes for weight, flexibility, drape and stitching patterns) into a programme and tailored the dresses to each model’s measurements.
Not a single model was contracted as the face of Jan 2020’s S-Moda magazine cover. Although a freckled Icelandic beauty graced the centrefold, the depth behind her carefully constructed pupils was questionable.
‘Dagna’ The face in question was a clever creation from the studio of Cameron-James Wilson founder of The Diigitals, in collaboration with @vas3dfashion, garment digitiser extraordinaire.
Wilson, as founder of Shudu Gram, another CGI avatar coveted by Balmain and Harper’s Bazaar has seen increased demand as popularity of new digital activations and content creation campaigns rises due to COVID-19 putting a halt to travel.
Tommy Hilfiger, is among brands already testing avatars, holograms and augmented-reality formats internally, the company’s CEO, Daniel Grieder, told fashion trade title WWD.
Kerry Murphy, founder of “digital fashion house” The Fabricant, has also seen a spike in interest since lockdown began.
Danish brand HELIOT EMIL, co-founded by brothers Julius and Victor Juul, are veterans to the digital runway experience. Back in July 2019, the label presented its Spring/Summer 2020 collection as what Julius describes as a “digital customisable experience.” This came as they realised that digitalisation was “par for the course” as the attendees of a live show simply cannot compete with potential viewing figures online.
Seasonality has become irrelevant.
In the past, the seasonal show has been an opportunity for buyers and VIPS to preview collections.
When London Fashion Week starts on 12 June, online fashion fans will have access to largely the same experience that editors do, with exception of press and retail portals and appointments.
“The whole point is changing,” says the London College of Fashion’s Matthew Drinkwater, who heads its Fashion Innovation Agency. “There is always going to be that buying element — that's not going to disappear — but it is going to become drastically reduced. This will create the need for showmanship, as people will look at that divergence between what you can do for a show as opposed to what you can do for a buying experience”.
Even Giorgio Armani himself recently penned an open letter declaring that “the decline of the fashion system as we knew it began when luxury adopted fast-fashion methods", meaning that the luxury market needs to slow down, for the good of the planet.
The fashion industry has been criticised for its reluctance to adopt newness. Paris’s digital fashion week will tell brand stories through a collection of films. This is the first time Paris Fashion Week has been disrupted since World War II.
Austrian knitwear designer Christina Seewald sees the benefits of going digital. “I definitely think smaller brands might now have a chance to be recognised. They will be equally as exposed as any other brand, because everyone will be sharing this virtual space. There won’t be any restrictions. The fashion calendar will be open to any person, worldwide, to see any show. Anyone will be able to educate themselves and learn more about fashion.”
Not without its glitches, the pain points of the digital conversion are maintaining captivation and interaction. At home events are easily forgotten with just the swipe of a browser tab. Designers need put viewers inside their world if these shows are going to have a lasting effect.
At home events are easily forgotten with just the swipe of a browser tab.
“You miss the mark when you are trying to recreate a runway experience in someone's home — that is the easiest way, but the audience tunes out after the voyeuristic thing pretty fast,” says Krystal Hauserman, who, as VP of marketing and communications at social content company Fullscreen, leads the team that designs experiential events.
A great case study in a parallel industry for the effectiveness of audience participation in a live streamed virtual event was seen with Travis Scott’s Fortnite concert on 23 April.
During their performances, the singer wears a motion capture suit, and their movements and voice are transformed as an avatar within the experience, which can be viewed on multiple platforms including youtube, Facebook and Twitch.
Individual viewers are usually represented as their own avatars within the experience, and can interact with various elements. For Tinashe’s concert, from the same provider, audience members voted on outfit changes and songs. When viewers are represented physically in the space, it gives them a sense of presence, producer Arrigo says. “Otherwise, it just reminds us that we are trapped inside.”
This pinpoints a clever shift from storytelling to “story living”.
I’ll leave you with eloquent words from Angel Chen, who provides an alternate view of how the fashion industry might emerge from the ruins of COVID-19.
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Laters lovers,
Sarah Denise xx
With thanks to my sources:
https://www.thediigitals.com/models
Https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/digital-fashion-virtual-clothing-3d-design
Https://www.essence.com/fashion/hanifa-is-set-to-host-digital-fashion-show-with-3d-models/
Https://www.instagram.com/p/CALA5BCHGlF/
https://www.thelovemagazine.co.uk/article/digital-fashion-shows-are-the-way-forward/
Https://www.ft.com/content/dd2f4a6c-75cb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
Https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/the-digital-fashion-show-playbook-lfw-pfw-mfw
Https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/fashion/coronavirus-digital-fashion-show.html
Https://www.vogue.com/article/angel-chen-virtual-runway-show-shanghai-fashion-week
Https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/fashion-influencers-find-new-opportunities-during-covid-19