ncorporate AI in our design workflow in a non-intrusive and respectful way, to benefit from it creatively and achieve fruitful results?

The degree project proposes an integration of AI text-to-image tools in a human-to-non-human collaborative work where human-centered design plays the predominant role.
By using AI imagery to source photographic image elements to develop textile print, the designer can unlock artistic freedom, with no limits to imagination. The uncanny, surreal aesthetic of the prints when translated into the physical material pushes our perception of what is real and what isn’t.

The idea to create a hybrid expression by blending boundaries between analog and digital is not only a natural occurrence to analyze but a path toward hypothesizing our future. As we are entering a new era of AI-assisted creativity, utilizing these tools as supporting mechanisms in the existing workflow could further cultivate artistic capacity by pushing the limits of unforeseen possibilities.

Chimericwear is a project that balances the intersection between digital and physical fashion design in search of a hybrid state, reflecting our present time. The project aims to establish a new type of print development methodology with AI tools and 3D software, that supports one’s existing toolkit and strengthens the human-centered design instead of replacing it.

Through experimental garment construction, the 2D prints are given 3D depth, while applied distortion and glitch effects highlight the illusion of digital applications in the physical environment. The collection is presented both as a digital and a physical lineup with phygital convergence.

Driven by visually stimulating imagery and the desire to communicate physical sensation through concepts that are fabricated via digital tools, the project proposes hybrid wearables existing in both the virtual and the actual reality.
Most of the collection pieces are developed with no-cutting, zero-waste principles. The focus on digital sketching and producing accurate prototypes in software prior to manufacturing them in the physical state significantly reduced material waste compared to if the whole process were done with physical mediums only.

The intention is to streamline the process as much as possible before the actual manufacturing of the final piece to avoid unnecessary cycles of developing and altering physical prototypes. When it comes to purely digital examples, the practice becomes a sustainable alternative to offering statement pieces for the picture-perfect moment via onscreen phygital experiences.