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SCREENWEAR

After studying fine arts at New York University, Carol Civre felt constrained by the traditionality of classic art. This notion led her to seek a new creative method that could free her expressionism from physical limitations.

WORDS BY
CAIT MONAHAN AND SOFIA DE LA CRUZ

Fashion has taken design inspiration from the internet for decades. Today, skin-in garments are trickling onto the runway at pace, bringing new digital aesthetics into the physical world. Although discreet in the way they've manifested in the latest IRL catwalks, digital aesthetics are everywhere. A two-way system of influence between digital and physical fashion is increasingly being initiated, bringing phygital and reimagined silhouettes to life.

But how will digital fashion’s gravity-defying design capabilities be reinterpreted IRL? And how will this impact the creator economy?

GUCCI VAULT X THE FABRICANT

DRESSX

DRESSX

DRESSX

TRIBUTE BRAND

RTFKT APPAREL

Since 2018, digital fashion players such as LA-based retailer DressX, Dutch studio The Fabricant and Croatian label TRIBUTE Brand have created cyber collections using digital tailoring that allow users to wear a variety of shapes in the digital space. This phenomenon has been elevated by advancements in Augmented Reality, with companies such as ZERO10 providing filter try-on solutions that bring digital creations to life through our screens.

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.

ADIDAS

Digital and physical are becoming exceedingly interconnected which is changing the way brands communicate with their audiences and the products they deliver.  Look to London-based heritage brand Burberry and its collaboration with Minecraft, which led to a collection that lives both within the video game universe as well as a physical drop that mirrors its digital skins.  NY-based brand Kim Shui’s SS23 showcase used 10,000 user-contributed images from its Discord channel to create a first-of-its-kind, crowdsourced graphic dress.

LOEWE

VIVIENNE TAM

VIVIENNE TAM

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. 

GNASTIY

MATTY BOVAN

AFFXWRKS BY LOTTIE COLLINS

KIKO KOSTADINOV

© Courtesy of Burberry and 2022 Mojang AB. (MINECRAFT and the MINECRAFT logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation)

KIM SHUI

Two of our favorite examples of screenwear are Hongkongese studio GNASTIY’s glitch coat and London-based brand Matty Bovan’s exaggerated SS23 outerwear. The use of lidar and 3D scanning – tools used to generate precise, three-dimensional information – have also been adopted by numerous labels such as London-based AFFXWRKS and Kiko Kostadinov to create a deconstructed look in garments and models, spotlighting the perfect imperfection of digital inspiration.

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.

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.

“It’s an evolution of the post-internet movement in the early 2000s with versions that reflect the updated and ever-evolving graphics of our many screens. This “visual cacophony,” of the web [imitates] the pixels, glitches, and early 3D graphics of computers which is an attempt to meet audiences’ online interests in real life.”

Carol Civre

“Digital fashion still feels heavily inspired by the IRL, in the sense that most virtual clothes look like physical garments with iridescent jackets and video game-inspired looks. I think digital fashion has made people become more experimental with their styling and more brands are showcasing their collections through AR and adapting them into physical garments.”

Ines Alpha

“The possibilities offered by not having to adhere to the laws of physics are endless. "What does a trench coat look like in a world without gravity”? Some amazing designers have been bringing not-from-this-earth fabrics and movements that are influenced by the digital. There is definitely a two-way system of inspiration.”

Phillip Hennche, Burberry

“IRL fashion is reacting to the Web3 phenomenons and creating interesting ways to experiment with these aesthetics. Especially in fashion and product design, creators and consumers are both heavily inspired by what they see on screens and it is just natural that they want to have these pieces IRL as well.”

Eugene Leung, INJURY

“I’ve seen a major 3D printed garment trend pop up within the past three years, which I think directly ties to digital art aesthetics.”

Serwah Attafuah

“This sort of pixelated pattern is becoming a huge trend, but I don't think this will be long-term. Fashion isn’t necessarily connected to clothing… we don't need clothing on our bodies to define who we are. So, I think fashion in digital ecosystems will soon not look like physical clothing but a completely different form.”

Gala Marija Vrbanic, Tribute Brand

“Augmented reality, as a part of Web3, is already taking over the physical world. Although still in development, this technology will make such a big impact on all areas of our life, from the way we present ourselves to how we perceive our life -- which is extremely exciting.”

George Yahsin, ZERO10

“It’s an evolution of the post-internet movement in the early 2000s with versions that reflect the updated and ever-evolving graphics of our many screens. This “visual cacophony,” of the web [imitates] the pixels, glitches, and early 3D graphics of computers which is an attempt to meet audiences’ online interests in real life.”

Carol Civre

“Digital fashion still feels heavily inspired by the IRL, in the sense that most virtual clothes look like physical garments with iridescent jackets and video game-inspired looks. I think digital fashion has made people become more experimental with their styling and more brands are showcasing their collections through AR and adapting them into physical garments.”

Ines Alpha

“The possibilities offered by not having to adhere to the laws of physics are endless. "What does a trench coat look like in a world without gravity”? Some amazing designers have been bringing not-from-this-earth fabrics and movements that are influenced by the digital. There is definitely a two-way system of inspiration.”

Phillip Hennche, Burberry

“IRL fashion is reacting to the Web3 phenomenons and creating interesting ways to experiment with these aesthetics. Especially in fashion and product design, creators and consumers are both heavily inspired by what they see on screens and it is just natural that they want to have these pieces IRL as well.”

Eugene Leung, INJURY

“I’ve seen a major 3D printed garment trend pop up within the past three years, which I think directly ties to digital art aesthetics.”

Serwah Attafuah

“This sort of pixelated pattern is becoming a huge trend, but I don't think this will be long-term. Fashion isn’t necessarily connected to clothing… we don't need clothing on our bodies to define who we are. So, I think fashion in digital ecosystems will soon not look like physical clothing but a completely different form.”

Gala Marija Vrbanic, Tribute Brand

“Augmented reality, as a part of Web3, is already taking over the physical world. Although still in development, this technology will make such a big impact on all areas of our life, from the way we present ourselves to how we perceive our life -- which is extremely exciting.”

George Yahsin, ZERO10

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