Radical Wardrobes: Designers Hacking Reality

Today, authenticity in digital fashion is becoming an increasingly blurred concept. With avatars, filters, and virtual clothing becoming ubiquitous, defining authenticity becomes a complex task. What does authenticity mean when clothing no longer needs to exist in physical form? As the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds blur, designers are reinventing fashion to offer alternative realities that challenge what we consider “real.” 

Designers like The Fabricant, Tribute Brand, Auroboros, and Xim Izquierdo are reconfiguring the very idea of identity through digital fashion. They use technology to subvert traditional fashion norms and create alternatives to physical garments that are just as authentic as their material counterparts. Rather than recreating the world, these designers reimagine it by creating designs that do not simply cover the body but reflect intentions, identities, and stories.  This article explores some of the top creators confronting the very crux of authentic clothing.

The Fabricant : Pioneers of Digital Fashion 

The Fabricant stands out not just by creating virtual garments, but by reinventing the fashion industry itself. In collaboration with brands like Maison Margiela, Adidas, and Off-White, The Fabricant has proven that digital fashion can have a deep impact just like physical fashion. Their approach is grounded in creative freedom and the absence of material constraints. By enabling creation without the limitations of physical production, they offer a space where experimentation is possible without waste. For The Fabricant, authenticity perhaps lies in the ability to create freely, without traditional production methods. Unburdening themselves from the tangibility of clothing allows them to define a new reality for fashion, and this in itself is exciting.

Tribute Brand : Fashion as a Digital Interface 

Tribute Brand redefines fashion by viewing it as an interface for expression, bridging the physical and virtual worlds. Founded in 2020, the label emphasizes functional and sustainable garments while offering digital creations that allow infinite freedom of expression. Their collaborations with prestigious houses like Jean Paul Gaultier and Carolina Herrera highlight how digital fashion can make its way into the mainstream market. 

For Tribute Brand, authenticity lies not in the physical product but in the experience it generates, as well as in an interface that allows for identity expression across various realms. The brand doesn't just offer a new vision of fashion; it rethinks how we experience identity itself. It explores how digital fashion can become a tool for expressing fluid, multifaceted selves, beyond physical constraints or traditional norms.

Auroboros : Merging Luxury and Technology 

Auroboros represents another facet of the digital fashion revolution. Their approach to luxury combines technology and nature to envision a sustainable and futuristic fashion landscape. Their first entirely digital collection, showcased at London Fashion Week in 2021, made waves. By collaborating with artists like Grimes and companies like Netflix, Auroboros demonstrated that digital fashion could be as prestigious as its material counterpart. 

Their commitment to circularity and sustainability is at the core of their vision, where authenticity is not about the material of the garment, but the ethical value it represents. Auroboros thus deals with tangible, earthly realities of environmental crisis through digital fashion creation. This nuanced impact-driven work is fascinating when we analyse the actuality of the fashion industry.

Xim Izquierdo : Fractured Beauty and Digital Ruins 

Xim Izquierdo explores digital fashion as a reflection of imperfection and transformation. His creations reconfigure the body and objects as artifacts - fossils of a future where time is the medium of creation. His fragmented designs, which suggest a world in constant metamorphosis, challenge the notion of fashion as perfection and invite us to rethink fashion as an emotional and cultural tool - include ideas on how this relates back to authenticity, why interesting.

Simulacra and Reprogrammed Realities 

The aforementioned designers are not trying to imitate reality but to redefine it. As Jean Baudrillard suggested, the simulacrum doesn’t copy reality ; it replaces it. These designers are not reproducing the world, but creating an alternative universe where the rules of fashion are rewritten. In a world where image often holds more value than the object, digital garments can be just as authentic as their physical counterparts. These creations are not just garments, but narratives - fragments of a constantly evolving digital identity. 

Artificial intelligence also plays a central role in this creative process, enabling the integration of chance and unpredictability into the design. Tools like Midjourney and Runway transform the creator’s role into a conductor, guiding technology to produce novel forms. 

Dressing Dreams, Rewriting Realities 

Digital wardrobes are not just fashion artifacts; they are vehicles for reinventing reality itself. They challenge our perception of authenticity and identity, inviting us to redefine what it means to be real in an increasingly virtual world. As the lines between the physical and digital worlds continue to blur, these designers offer new ways of dressing that extend beyond the body, reaching into our dreams, hopes and futures. In this new world, authenticity is no longer tied to materiality. It lies in the ability to create, transform, and evolve continuously, inviting us to embrace the complexity of identity in the digital age.

Written by Alexandrine Bonoron, aka Studio Aartus , a GLITCH Magazine Contributor

Edited by Hebe Street from GLITCH Magazine