Digital Realists; the new elite

Lose oneself in this surrealistic labyrinth of ‘Modebelofte 2017’ (Fashion Promise). It’s where the new elite ‘Digital Realists’ embrace the digital age as the new normal. Not replacing the tangible world for a virtual one, but fuse them into a new reality.
This is an #innovation article and long read. Here we tell about today’s innovations, which will be the ‘norm’ in the future. 

The young makers selected for Modebelofte 2017 ‘Digital Realists’, are the new elite. All graduated from the best international fashion academies. Through this exhibition, which was presented at Dutch Design Week October 2017, they show us how much more we can realise and share in the real and global world when we explore digital technologies like we have done with any old tool that we’ve gotten our hands on throughout the times.

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Photography Sas Schilten

Modebelofte’, Dutch for ‘fashion promise’, is an exhibition of innovative fashion talent during Dutch Design Week. This year the exhibition was setup like a labyrinth.

modebelofte-ddw-2017-sas-schilten-kira-goodey

Photography Sas Schilten

Design by Kira Goodey. She developed her own technique of photographic printing onto flexible PVC and then hand slicing the PVC to create a dynamic wave that, layered over skin, creates an almost lenticular effect. Further she inventively combined laser cutting and wet moulding in vegetable tanned leather, and 3D modelled her wavy heels, which she had CNC routed out of high quality ash wood.

“Where traditional craft and modern technologies work together, the results are electrifying”

– Kira Goodey, Royal College of Art, London, Fashion Womenswear Footwear MA 2017

modebelofte-ddw-2017-sas-schilten-marta-twarowska

Photography Sas Schilten

Marta Twarowka likes to experiment with new materials, especially in accessories, such as a crystal plexi mask that looks like glass and crystal bags that were inspired by her grandmother’s crystal bowl. This collection, ‘HYPERREAL’ is a translation of Marta’s memories of growing up in post-communist Poland.

“The persistent remnants – both physical and psychological – of bygone times that were suddenly of no use, lingered to create some type of kitschy supra-reality that remained stuck in a loop of its own existence”

– Marta Twarowska, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Fashion Design MA 2017

modebelofte-ddw-2017-sas-schilten-luliia Gulina-antwerpen

Photography Sas Schilten

Iuliia Gulina’s collection was informed by the sculptures of Marliz Frencken and motives taken from Asian Cosplay girls as well as typical Asian fetishes such as bondage, plastic surgery and Gothic Lolita’s. Iuliia mixed different fabrics like Chanel tweed, velvet, lace, latex and organza and covered the tweed and some leather bags with silicone. (The header image of this article is also a design from Iuliia.)

“I was focused on prints this year and I was trying to experiment with new techniques in drawing and transforming drawings into 3D versions”

– Iuliia Gulina, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Fashion Design MA 2017

modebelofte-ddw-2017-sas-schilten-bezoekers

Photography Sas Schilten

Design lovers and Eindhoven city visitors wonder around in the Modebelofte labyrinth at Dutch Design Week, which was located in the centre of Eindhoven in the former V&D Warehouse.

modebelofte-ddw-2017-sas-schilten-sander-bos

Photography Sas Schilten

Sander Bos’ collection named ‘Dames’ – ‘ladies’ in Dutch – plays with the idea that ladies are a domesticated form of women through skin, environment and god. ‘Skin’ was inspired by photographer Gordon Parks whose work shows segregation as well as showgirls, women viewed upon differently because of their skin. ‘Environment’, inspired by Patty Carrol, whose work displays women disappearing into backgrounds. And Painter Jeroen Bosch presented women as an imperfect reflection of the divine, “the goddess”.

“I used a lot of ribbons as a closing technique for the cloth-ing, to demonstrated the ‘tied-up’ thinking that surrounds women”

– Sander Bos, Royal academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Fashion Design MA 2017

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