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AI-TTIRE

AI-generated design is quite literally breaking the internet, or at least our understanding of communicating, allowing a wave of designers to co-collaborate and visualize unimaginable designs.

WORDS BY
CAIT MONAHAN AND SOFIA DE LA CRUZ

AI-generated design is quite literally breaking the internet by changing the way we understand virility online and communicating with technology. The rise of accessible artificial intelligence generators, such as Stable Diffusion, DALL-E and Midjourney, has propelled a wave of designers to collaborate with AI and create future products beyond physical limits. While some question the ethics of AI creativity as it relates to copyright and human craftsmanship, its rapid growth in the creative industries and the recent announcement of its very own Fashion Week showcase the potential of this tool to deliver unparalleled innovative ideations. 

So, is AI collaboration here to stay? And how will it be integrated into our design processes?

ELMO MISTIAEN

AI CLOTHINGDAILY

AI CLOTHINGDAILY

From fashion designers to creative amateurs, the widespread movement of testing the artistic possibilities of artificial generative content has only just begun, with many of our interviewed experts indicating they only recently started experimenting with generative AI. In doing so, they have found new ways to express their ideas and visualize translatable concepts that could be manufactured IRL. From butterfly-space suits to pink-laced Air Force 1s, generative AI design allows for the freeing of the design process, making it even more explorative and imaginary. 

When it comes to physical collections, digitally-inspired fashion is exhibited in an array of styles, from glitchcore, which highlights early web aesthetics, to hyper surrealism in the form of futuristic silhouettes. The “skins”-inspired garments showcased in Loewe's SS23 collection along with Marine Serre and Vetements’ use of pixelated prints clearly show a spiked fascination of early internet nostalgia on the catwalk in physical forms.

ELMO MISTIAEN

Beyond design aesthetics, AI merges unlikely brand collaborators in conceptual and, at times, satirical ways. Tribute Brand recently experimented with AI to imagine what Chanel would look like with Paris Hilton at the helm of its creative direction, for instance. Designers such as New York-based Vaquera, Italian brand Labucq and Casablanca have also collaborated with AI to generate conceptual campaign assets and lookbooks via text-based prompts.

TRIBUTE BRAND

TRIBUTE BRAND

TRIBUTE BRAND

CASABLANCA

CASABLANCA

CASABLANCA

Among our favorite AI concept designs is Marco Simonetti’s Jacquemus x Nike concept collection which includes AI-made ski masks, snowboard boots and knitted sunglasses. Another is Agata Panucci’s conceptual fairy-like streetwear designs, which incorporates 3D candy boots to bubblegum crocheted adidas superstars, highlighting digital streetwear from a femme lens.

‍Elmo Mistiaen and Field Skjellerup are reimagining some of fashion’s favorite brands, such as Junya Watanabe and Asics, through machine learning tools that produce futuristic ensembles and accessories that we would undoubtedly cop.

MARCO SIMONETTI

MARCO SIMONETTI

MARCO SIMONETTI

AGATA PANUCCI

AGATA PANUCCI

AGATA PANUCCI

ELMO MISTIAEN

VALENTINO AI CAMPAIGN

MAISON MARGIELA

MAISON MARGIELA

LABUCQ

LABUCQ

STR4NGETHING

Though AI has been used to inform product design and predict trends for nearly a decade in the fashion industry, we imagine the decentralization of this software will enable the creator economy to take more creative control in future fashion products and collaborations. Co-creation between AI creators and brands will give rise to more speculative brainstorming. As AI becomes an increasingly integral part of creative workflows in design teams, we will see creators become more efficient with the use of AI tools and more prolific with their outputs.

The way garments adapt to the body could soon shift to new silhouettes, perhaps focusing less on the human form and more on the limitless shapes of our digital selves. As the industry's influence becomes circularly inspired between the URL and IRL, AR will enable digital fashion to be digitally painted onto our bodies offering multiple modes to experience a garment. We will be able to continue to collaborate with brands through digital crowdsourcing to celebrate design between screens and runways – with an expanded attention to garments that can exist between multiverses.

“Digital tools and resources to learn how to use them never have been more available as they are today. The easy accessibility of tools like Artificial Intelligence opens up the possibility to develop a novel approach to fashion.”

Claudia, NEWFORMAT

“Humans working with Artificial Intelligence can be a very interesting partnership. I work with AI and see it as a useful tool that can help improve the efficiency of some rather tedious tasks when building 3D art. I can spend more time focusing on the creativity, the narrative and the beauty of creating art and design.”

Eugene Leung, INJURY

“Algorithm-driven designs will disrupt the way designers work with machine learning. In our RTFKT community, employees are using it and it’s something that is inevitably going to become part of the creative workflow. What is interesting is how input text is starting a new creative language as we learn how to dialogue with AI.”

Benoit Pagotto, RTFKT

“Throughout history, art has both influenced and been influenced by technology. This relationship has led to many exciting artworks. I have personally been working with DALLE, in collaboration with Kevin Abento Studio, to create a series of AI dresses titled “The Kandinsky Collection,” which I have been wearing on my metahuman.”

Kadine James, THE IMMERSIVE KIND

“I started to use [AI] just a few weeks ago because I was really curious. As a designer it’s important to experiment in all possible ways. It’s a great tool both for work and for fun and we will be able to use it to improve our work.”

Agata Panucci

“AR and VR are the expansion of human creativity. We never classify products of AI as mistakes, we embrace them and learn from the imperfections in the images it generates. Hopefully, this attitude will translate into the rejection of old standards.”

Teresa Fogolari, MORBO

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