Fashion’s Digital Show(off)
Pushing boundaries and setting new standards for fashion’s digital future
As brands and designers step into the digital arena, who are pushing boundaries and setting new standards for fashion’s future?
The fashion industry has been forced to change. COVID-19 has accelerated the need to adapt, leading to a ‘Digital Darwinism’ where brands who cannot grasp the technology will be left particularly vulnerable. To quote the word of the moment, the pandemic is ‘unprecedented’. The traditional fashion model is based ‘upon growth logic; a system of overproduction based on uninterrupted growth’ according to Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham. When such an unprecedented disaster hits and growth is interrupted, the model will fall and it’s time fashion must commit to a ‘new normal’.
Whilst fashion is considered an extremely fragile industry, with the Business of Fashion stating that the average market capital has dropped almost 40% between the start of January and March 2020 ‘– a much steeper decline than that of the overall stock market’, it is an industry that should be the most prepared for change. For seasons fashion has been creating or seeking new – new designs, new prints, new couture art, new silhouettes, new fashion show spectacles, new beauty. Fashion is built upon the assumption that it is frivolous but also forward-thinking. ‘Out with the old, in with the new’ has been the unsustainable mantra for too long. But when it comes to technology, fashion has been hesitant to explore such a new territory – until now.
Before COVID-19, the video game and music industry were running laps around fashion, who were already exploring digital environments, skins for avatars and augmented concerts. When rapper Travis Scott digitally catapulted into the gaming world of Fortnite as a larger-than-life digital-self, more than 12 million players came to watch the world premiere of his brand new track. Fashion has been missing a trick.
Now, forced to move quickly fashion has been turbo-charged to digitise due to the pandemic, with no other way to make or showcase collections due to limited travel and enforced social distancing. With China leading the way the rest of the fashion world is looking to them for inspiration and showing varying levels of commitment to transforming their brands digitally. From digital runway, designing, modelling and wholesale, to introducing new business models into their company such as direct-to-consumer (DTC).
Shanghai fashion week was the first fashion week to go virtual in March. By collaborating with Alibaba’s Tmall brands were able to present collection through videos, AR shows and live streaming. One designer, Angel Chen, faced the challenge head-on and used green screen technology to produce digital environments in which models were placed wearing her Akira-inspired collection. She told Vogue: “We had planned to work with a stylist but could not with the above limitations, so I had to style the collection myself. The models were able to go into the studio, but I was personably still in quarantine so I directed via video calls. It was challenging and time-consuming.”
Let’s be clear, within this evolutionary digital arena, not all fashion players will utilise the benefits of technology. Whilst it may be a necessity at this moment, there are many that will move back to traditional methods of make, show and sell. Chanel’s Cruise 2021 Collection, originally meant to be shown in Capri, was released on June 8th as their first digital show. Usually known for their fashion week spectacles enabled by deep pockets and an ever-building carbon footprint, it seemed an opportunity for the fashion house to be the trailblazers for transporting their audience to aspirational virtual worlds. Instead, we saw a model stood in front of Capri-esque backdrop with a wind machine in a photo studio. In the words of Tim Blanks for the Business of Fashion, it seems: “Chanel has little interest in changing the fashion system”.
Chanel Resort 2021 Collection images via Vogue
Independent leaders
It is mainly independent designers and digital fashion houses that are disrupting and leading the fashion industry to change for this new digital era. On the 22nd May on Instagram’s IGTV we witnessed Anifa Mvuemba, Congolese designer, Founder of Hanifa debut her Pink Label Congo collection using 3D rendered designs on “ghost” models and set the standard for upcoming releases. The garments carry themselves through the black void; an example of an innovative but also inclusive fashion show where the model itself becomes a blank canvas. Hanifa’s collection is interesting on many levels. The designer chose to use her platform to highlight the beauty and also the pain of many ‘women who suffered great loss but still, mustered every ounce of strength every day to show up.’ Mvuemba also brings to our attention the connection between the mineral cobalt which is mined in the Congo in huge quantities and our mobile phones, the very device we are probably using to watch her show.
“This is the right time to talk about Congo. About the cobalt in the electronics industry. That fact that our phones are connected to this mineral, it is another a big problem, because we all have a smart mobile phone. So in some way we are also part of the problem. ”
Hanifa Zaire denim set, park of the Pink Label Congo collection presented as 3D Fashion Show via Hanifa Instagram IGTV.
Pushing boundaries
Digital fashion houses, such as The Fabricant and Digi-Gxl have already shown the promise of digital fashion. Such digital fashion houses and projects such as Hot Second, a digital concept store by Karinna Nobbs, will be an integral part of the new norm, creating opportunities for designers to go beyond the physical. Not only that, digital natives, those born into the age of technology, will be quick to adopt technology and push its boundaries, allowing new forms of self-expression, much like players and their connection to their in-game avatars.
The inclusive non-binary community of 3D digital artists, Digi-gxl, founded by Cattytay, is bonded by their highly skilled expertise in digital creation but also by their ability to explore identity beyond physical restrictions. The next chapter will see the Dig-gxl community join forces with idea’s institute, CommuneEAST to co-create the Institute of Digital Fashion. Co-founded by Cattytay and Leanne Elliott Young together they combine vision and technical ability to change the semantics of fashion by providing bespoke digitalisations for the fashion industry and channelling the three pillars of fashions future: sustainability, diversity and inclusivity.
With more digital fashion houses on the rise and more opportunities for brands to digitalise elements of their supply chain, it has already become more accessible for brands to optimise their communication and relationships with buyers and consumers. For instance, Brandlab is a global software solution that offers 24/7 access to digital wholesale and 360 virtual showrooms, allows buyers and brands to immerse themselves and engage within a digitalised trade show environment. Founders Jennifer Drury and Dan O’Connell believe this will increase revenue and improve sustainability as there will be no need for expensive, time-consuming travel.
Adapting to change
Another wholesale platform, Joor, will be collaborating with the British Fashion Council to present a new digital format for London Fashion Week. For the first time catwalk fashion shows and in-real-life presentations will be replaced with a series of virtual events from June 12-14 2020. Another first for LFW, womenswear and menswear will merge in one gender-neutral platform. It will be open to the general public (which is not usually the case), plus trade and press. The schedule includes interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars and digital showrooms - but online only.
Collaboration is the recurring theme. For too long the fashion, technology and even the video game industry have been going about their business behind closed doors. This may be due to lack of time but mainly due to lack of understanding of one another. The Fashion Innovation Agency at the London College of Fashion has, for over 7 years, understood the need for fashion and technology to merge, producing projects using augmented, virtual and mixed realities achieved through collaboration with both fashion and technical skillsets. In the face of a pandemic and climate change, business-as-usual cannot go on. Industries need to work together and cross-pollinate in order to survive, that will entail open new doors and lead to creative possibilities.
As London Fashion Week opens its digital doors, it is important to consider the pressures on designers to produce a collection within such a limited time with limited resources. To bring new technologies into the mix at such short notice may be a push, with budget restrictions being another major deal breaker. Levels of imagination, creativity and commitment will soon become transparent in the variety of outcomes. It will not only be the collections on show, but how they are showcased. So, who will take the digital crown? Chanel might have stayed safe, but let’s hope those London designers committing to the new digital format will grasp this unprecedented opportunity to change the fashion paradigm for good.
Editorial by Jade McSorley
Header image via Pinterest Vice.com Kelia Anne and Luca Venter.
12.06.2020
