5 Best Looks Of June: Mixed Virtual And Genuine Fashion (SOURCE: Fashion Studio Mag)
Industry: Fashion & Accessories
COVID-19 made the fashion industry think about what's next and how brands will survive after lockdowns. The state of fashion could be best described as transitional - designers are reevaluating the necessity of regular seasonal shows, customers are revising their shopping habits. Many brands opt to move shows to the online format, following major fashion weeks in London, Moscow, Shanghai which launched their digital editions. Milan and Paris are to join digitalization in July. Moscow is on the lead and has already been doing its second international live-streaming event after record-breaking Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia online.
New York, NY (PRUnderground) June 17th, 2020
Produced by Russian Fashion Council and streamed from Moscow, the recent Global Talents Digital was nothing short of eclectic and wild – and while all collections were streamed live, the viewers could enjoy a showcase of art-meets-fashion digital works and reality, melding into the virtual world. Here is just a short selection of the most innovative looks that we saw in the first decade of June at Global Talents Digital.
1. RABBITHOLE (Russia)
The conceptual brand RABBITHOLE has prepared a virtual showcase of a new collection. Virtual 3D models and virtual podium, complete with onlookers and developed by the brand team, were used for the show. The idea of a square, rotating podium isn’t a new one – McQueen famously loved a cubic setting for his shows – but this is the very first time that we saw a cube placed into virtual reality for models to strut about in.
2. Florentina Leitner (Australia / Belgium)
Structured like a medieval tourney, this easy-breezy short film by Marnik A. Boekaerts showed us a punky gathering at an ancient castle – every model was wearing flowery dresses, shimmery sky-blue catsuits, and zebra-print or houndstooth accessories – all to take part in a series of wild sporting events. The fun prints combined with typically British designs – this was a collection Vivienne Westwood would be proud of.
3. Alexey Severin x Serah Reikka «Infinite Scroll» (Italy/France)
This art collaboration between the artist Alexey Severin and the first French virtual model and actress Serah Reikka came about from a rumination on fashion as an endless stream of shapes and colors. In this work, viewers “scroll through” designs, patterns, and cultural references from different historical periods, while the body of the virtual model acts as a blank canvas for the looks. Showing a keen eye on Alessandro Michele’s latest work, Severin has created vintage, fun, eclectic looks for Serah – some showed small conical bras – like the Madonna cone bra by Jean-Paul Gaultier – while others place the 3D model in a flowery nightgown. If only swapping looks on the go was that easy in real life!
4. ANNAISS YUCRA x Ivaany (Peru)
Ivaany is the first black virtual influencer to combine French, Brazilian, and Creole cultural traditions. In this new collection, fashion designer Annaiss Yucra continues to look for ways to radically change the fashion world following her worldview. If anything, this was a meditative and complex concept to bring to an actual physical collection. Some deconstruction work was noted in many looks bringing to mind the works by Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, but the total inspiration behind this showcase was, of course, totally original and unique.
5. Kim Zulu (South Africa)
Kim Zulu’s virtual model collection is based on the concept of Afrofuturism. The purpose of the collection is to find environmentally friendly solutions that can be hidden on the African continent and to show the possible prospects of the fashion world in this direction. It’s especially important to hear black voices in the modern climate, the world of fashion is no exception – a virtual South African wearing traditional costume and Zulu patterning is incredibly refreshing.
