Academy Program Pilot

DESIGN ACADEMY HOOKED

EMBARK ON A JOURNEY
OF SELF-DISCOVERY
AS WE QUESTION
THE CONSTANT DESIRE
TO OWN, CONSUME
AND INDULGE.

October 17th 2022 marked the kick-off of the first VORN Academy Program as part of the Innovation Lab. Nine international design talents co-created a phygital capsule collection with a circular approach under the guidance of experienced trainers. Both the designers and the VORN Academy were supported by the renowned industry partners Zalando, Kornit Digital and Unity.

The final phygital capsule collection was presented to the public in the immersive showcase exhibition “HOOKED” during Berlin Fashion Week in January 2023.

The showcase featured three physical looks with a circular approach. Each garment of the looks was produced by using sustainable materials and printing technology, AI-generated prints, and digital pattern making and sampling. All looks were also translated into avatars in the “HOOKED” Metaverse, a digital art space, designed and realized by the designers.

The message of both the designs and the concept was based on the designers' love-hate relationship with their role in the fashion industry. The task of designing a phygital and circular collection seemed paradoxical. After all, it is most sustainable not to produce new fashion. One collection became three looks. Physical and digital and with a conceptual background that makes you think. About fashion, sustainability, and self-expression.

Is it possible to find a way out of this loop and its consequences?

Join us as we explore alternative perspectives on sustainable fashion and our own role in the status quo.

COLLECTION

SUSTAINABLE FASHION IS A LIE?

As fashion designers, we have the urge to create, yet we contribute to this status quo through our work and choices. How can we propose a solution when being part of the problem.

Dysfunction, escapism, and pleasure are three looping stages or emotions triggered by the team’s experiences and discussions about various incompatibilities as they tapped into the problematics of circular and sustainable fashion. Recognizing that the world does not need just another collection, they decided to limit theirs to only 3 outfits, using them to spark conversation about the relationship between fashion, sustainability, and self-expression.

THE HOOKED CAPSULE COLLECTION CONSISTS OF THREE PHYGITAL OUTFITS

DYSFUNCTION

Each garment is realized by utilizing sustainable materials and printing technology, AI-generated prints, and digital pattern making and sampling, and taking into consideration various circularity approaches such as modularity, transformability, mono-cycle, and design for disassembly.

What makes them phygital is the fact that traditional and digital tools and strategies were involved in the ideation and production process. Outfits could be also worn in virtual reality, demonstrating different possibilities and use cases that emerge, when no physical constraints are involved.

ARTIST SATEMENT

Digital tools were employed in the design and production process as a strategic means to optimize efficiency and minimize environmental impact.

This approach enabled the collective to create beyond the traditional boundaries and paradigms of commercial fashion – such as overproduction, consumerism, waste, and pollution – by reimagining the garments in a virtual realm.

The three resulting outfits thus transcended their traditional role as garments, becoming the focal point of a thought-provoking experimental exploration of the collective's ideas and concepts.

ESCAPISM

PLEASURE

Garments have been produced using certified sustainable materials and trims. Detailed overview per outfit could be found in their circularity.ID® passport. As part of circularity strategy, each outfit is based on reduced amount of materials that are easy to disasembly and compatible for recycling together.
Each outfit has embedded digital product information by circularity.ID® in form of a label that could to be scanned with a smartphone by the owner of the product or empoyee of a sorting facility. It provides information about materials, sustainability certificates, production, care, and sorting instructions, to ensure longevity and recycling at end of the product’s life.
Product information is based on circularity.ID® Open Data Standard to store, label, and identify digital product data for powering circular practices.

Dysfcunction outfit's circular.ID
All HOOKED prints are AI-generated and manually refined. Fabrics have been printed by Kornit Digital using direct-to-fabric digital printing method.
3D models and digital patterns were created to sample each outfit which made it easy to recreate their digital versions to be worn in Metaverse. As such, digital clothing it is not bound to the physical limitations related to customer bodily proportions, gender, sense of temperature, weight, comfort, or material texture. Digital outfits do not require maintenance and the environmental impact of their production is insignificant.
To expand product lifecycle and versatility, each outfit is made modular. If these outfits were commercially available, individual garments could be purchased separately and combined with other items customer already owns. This approach also makes it easy to maintain and replace a single part, instead of discarding the entire outfit, which is usually the case.

NFT AVATAR

YOUR ENTRANCE TO THEIR WORLD

The collective's intention with the HOOKED collection is to expose their journey of questioning, and while not offering all the answers, they found that the best solutions could be found in synergy with others, and active participation is key to overcoming blocks.

The moment of transcendence of the collective’s individual identities into one is represented by the transformation of the Pleasure outfit. Their abstract digital self is an avatar caught in a loop between worlds and emotions, and it is a metaphor for their realization of unity.

For the special occasion of the Berlin showcase, visitors can claim their PoAP NFT (Proof of Attendance) as an entry point to HOOKED World providing them with an opportunity to shift from an observant to a participant and become part of the solution.

VISIT HOOKED IN THE METAVERSE GALLERY

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR

While the Berlin showcase is limited to only 3 days and those who are around, we invite you to explore the HOOKED exhibition regardless of your location, timezone, and season.

Explore artworks and the process behind the creation of the HOOKED capsule collection, including prints, outfits, 3D sculptures and much more.

Simpy enter our metaverse gallery in Spatial via desktop browser or Spatial mobile app.

THE PARTNERS

Zalando is one of the leading online platforms for fashion and lifestyle in Europe, with more than 49 million active customers in 25 countries. The product range includes clothing, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics from international brands and local labels. Zalando sees itself as Europe's most fashionable tech company and has the vision to be the Starting Point for Fashion and a sustainable platform with a net positive impact on people and the planet.

Unity is the world's leading technology platform for creating and running interactive RT3D content in real-time 3D. As one of the most successful runtime and development environments, Unity has optimized processes in this area for almost every industry. As an industry leader, Unity will partner with the VORN Academy to support participating designers and labels in digital product development, virtual work and avatar design.

Kornit Digital, a publicly traded company, is a global leader in sustainable, on-demand, digital fashionX and textile production technologies, redefining the future of fashion technology. Kornit develops operating systems for the fashion industry, with new end-to-end solutions that manage workflows and fulfillment in a sustainable and clear way. With customers in more than 100 countries worldwide, Kornit will change the digital world of fashion.