GAMING & VIRTUAL FASHION

FEATURING: TRIBUTE BRAND

My name is Sinéad Áoife Ní Tomás and I’m 20 years old from San Francisco, California but based in Dublin, Ireland. I’m currently an art direction student at Polimoda in Florence, Italy as well as an aspiring self-portrait artist and model. Growing up in Silicon Valley with parents who worked in the tech industry, the advancements of technology progressed as I grew up. I remember my mother switching her computers out like clockwork whilst holding the first-ever iPhone. I remember browsing around the Apple Store when my dad was at the Genius Bar looking at all of the new gadgets surrounded by optimistically white walls.

At a birthday party, my friend’s father ran a think tank in one of the most iconic buildings in San Francisco. While driving us from school to the fondue restaurant he had a singular tiny glass attached to a frame. That was Google Glass, the prototype at the time. The AR Google programmed assistant of wearable tech, which was soon to fail but before its failure spawned Snapchat glass and Spectacles just to name a few. This allowed you to Google search, snap a photograph, or used as a GPS all in response to your eye language. This was my first encounter with AR, augmented reality.

After this there was the Pokemon Go craze, the introduction of Snapchat filters (the hot dog one was particularly amusing), and many more. Our school field trip that year was to the aforementioned think tank to be one of the first testing groups of what was known as Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset that allowed you to play games as if you were immersed in them. The only game they had was the rollercoaster game which was baffling because it actually made me motion sick. As I got to my teenage years I was starting to become disillusioned with the glossy white optimistic surface of the San Franciscan tech industry. I was seeing these walls destroying my hometown with the ongoing homelessness crisis.

I wanted to escape so I travelled to a Renaissance time capsule only to conclude that this tie to technology is always with me and will always be fuel and inspiration. Especially during the time of social distancing and remote working. I have just completed my second year of university in an AirBnB in Dublin, Ireland attending a fashion university in Florence, Italy—all of my work was digital because it had to be. I was reluctant at first however I grew comfortable with the digital world as time went on. It became my escape from the dissatisfaction of the current world, where I can look like however, I would like to look like, I could be wherever I wanted to, and I could do whatever I wanted to do without leaving the safety of my bed knowing the uncertainty outside of these walls. My work has always been thoughtful, provocative, emotion-driven, and honest. I love combining the real and the imaginary so seamlessly that the two are indistinguishable.

In this editorial, I am conquering my fear of AR/VR with digital clothes and accessories blurred in digital imagery. The first brand I would like to talk about is Tribute Brand, an AR digital clothing brand through computer programming and CGI render clothing onto people’s photographs. I wanted to take this concept even further, have the garment completely engulf the subject to the point where it’s inescapable. The next brand and mini-editorial I would like to speak about is The Fabricant which is another AR clothing brand however instead of using their clothes in these editorials I created a seamless image simply using their Instagram filters. Now I know what you are thinking….a fashion editorial or a portrait using Instagram filters, how tacky?

However, I wanted it to seem like it was a garment present at the time the photograph was captured. These two photographs have one thing in common, they are immersive. The one thing I have come to realize about technology regardless of the positives and the negatives is that its inescapable at this point. To escape the effects of technology you would need to put in a lot of effort. The acceleration of the immersive aspect of technology is not declining in the slightest with the restrictions of the pandemic the fashion industry simply has to become digital to attempt to replicate the impact of a fashion show on its customer base. I am personally embracing everything technology has to offer now and will continue to improve my skills but at some point, I will throw my computer out the window.

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