The Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp commissioned Random Studio to think about how to translate their show into the digital. What kind of platform accommodates the diverse – and potentially last minute – range of works created by their large group of students?
How to bring the energy and experience of the physical runway to the screen? We used the opportunity to think forward to the possibilities of future fashion shows.
In our vision, physicality remains at the heart of this digital architecture. We deconstructed the mechanisms and internal logic of the traditional fashion show, re-imagining how they could play out in virtual space in front of a global audience.
Through the traditional eyes of classic fashion show cameras, the visitor is invited to view and experience an innovative digital event. 2020.SHOWWW.be takes place in an online structure that references our shared understanding of space, but is enhanced using digital tools.
The platform independently showcases the elaborate creations of all 140 Bachelor students across three year levels and 9 Masters’ students in an event that unfolds live over a number of hours, and can then be rewatched on a timeline afterwards.
Challenging the perception of a model, the student’s work shimmies its way down the runway, in a novel way of showcasing fashion graduation content.
The choreographies of the real-life fashion take on a new shape on the platform. Here the virtual runway is located in a geometric space, ever changing to represent the collection on show.
Read more about how this project was conceived technically in this article on Medium, and see random.studio’s page which is full of great documentation.
Show: https://2020.showww.be/
Random.studio link: https://random.studio/projects/a-virtual-fashion-graduation-show-for-the-royal-academy-of-antwerp
How its made: https://medium.com/random-studio/alone-with-others-shared-online-experiences-decentralised-d3fdca35df3b
For = Royal Academy Antwerp
Role = Digital Art Director
With = Formats and Mechanisms (Creative Direction), Frédérique Albert-Bordenave (Creative Direction), Rachael Short (Producer) Larix Kortbeek (Technical Direction), Kevin Wang (Creative Technologist), Jurgis Lietunovas (Creative Technologist), Geoffrey Lillemon (3D Specialist/Sculptor), Ben Mingo (Web Design), Mark Prendergast (Video Edit), Christopher Tym (Video Edit), Words (Sophie Wright)
