SYKY Collective graphic
Following in the footsteps of Outlier Ventures X Farfetch Dream Assembly Base Camp accelerator program for Web3 technical start-ups comes a raft of initiatives geared more towards fostering the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) creative talent of the future.
Latest is The SYKY Collective luxury fashion incubator for digital fashion designers. It’s been created by luxury fashion platform SYKY which was founded last year by former Ralph Lauren chief digital and content officer Alice Delahunt with a mission to bridge the gap between traditional luxury fashion and the emerging Web3 universe. The incubator is the next step towards the realization of this goal.
“We believe that the next generation of major luxury houses are designing in digital worlds today and that the SYKY Collective will be the launchpad of many of these next generation luxury fashion houses,” said Delahunt in a statement.
Participants will receive mentorship from industry leaders hailing from both the world of traditional luxury fashion and the Web3 universe. They include Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council (BFC), Jonathan Bottomley CMO of Calvin Klein, Mark Guiducci creative editorial Director of Vogue and Red DAO Founder Megan Kaspar.
However, that’s just the start. They will also benefit from a year-long proprietary curriculum to produce graduates with the skills they need to launch their own luxury digital fashion houses both in terms of technical and design capabilities and more strategic ones such as how to scale a business and distribute product.
Program participants will also get access to the curriculum provided by the BFC to its member designers to its own emerging designers — alumni include Phoebe Philo, Johnathan Anderson and Simone Rocha. Additional benefits involve access to traditional fashion industry and calendar events, the ability to showcase their genesis collection on the SYKY platform and eligibility for partnerships with traditional luxury brands.
Each year The SYKY Collective will onboard a new cohort of digital designers. The inaugural cohort will number 10. Applications are now open and close May 2 with successful applicants announced in early June. The program will commence at the end of June.
Such initiatives don’t just go one way. Enter the Monnier Paris Fashion Prize for Web3 Creators launched over Metaverse Fashion Week by French e-commerce platform Monnier Paris in partnership with with Decentraland and digital fashion brand Republiq. Finalists will have their submission turned into a real life bag via 3D printing technology and sold on Monnier Paris with an accompanying NFT.
Five finalists will be selected by a jury whose number includes Pierre Nicolas Hurstel CEO of Arianee, Xavier Romatet Managing Director at Institut Français de la Mode and Quentin Staes Polet Managing Director of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, with the final winner determined by public vote in September.
According to Monnier Paris CEO Diaa Elyaacoubi-Bouriez, the aim is to spotlight digital talent and create a bridge with the real world. “We are convinced that they will massively shape the luxury fashion industry of the future,” she said in an interview.
On the Artificial Intelligence side, comes AI Fashion Week, backed by Spring Studios and e-commerce platform Revolve Group. Commencing 20 April the project will showcase collections by 30 emerging AI designers selected from around 350 submissions. Each submitted 15 to 30 looks and accessories created using AI tools such as Mid Journey and Stable Diffusion.
A competition element will see 1o finalists selected by public vote from which a panel that includes Celine head of men’s casting Natalie Hazzout, Erika Wykes-Sneyd, VP of Adidas’s Three Stripes Studio; Vogue Japan head of editorial content Tiffany Godoy, Matthew Drinkwater, head of London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency and Revolve CEO Michael Mente will determine the three winners in May. Winners will have physical pieces produced by Revolve which will take care of everything from sampling to branding said Cyril Foiret in an interview. Foiret is the founder of AI creative studio Maison Meta, which is producing AI Fashion Week.
The idea, he said, is to “gather together a digital fashion community that currently just lives online and give them a chance to potentially become a (physical) fashion designer.”
Interestingly, 70% of competitors are female with ages ranging from 16 to 68. They hail from different backgrounds he revealed. “One is a lawyer another a UX designer, and while many work in fashion, it’s more on the public relations or editorial side.”
The concept is “similar to the LVMH Prize” he added. Following their debut on Revolve, the winning designers are free to sell their collections to other stores. “AI Fashion Week, season two will involve a physical runway showcasing the collections of the three winners bringing AI design into the real world,” he said.
During Metaverse Fashion Week, DRESSX and Tommy Hilfiger, also ran an AI design competition, the winners of which will be announced immanently.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniehirschmiller/2023/04/12/creative-class-the-hunt-for-the-next-generation-of-web3-and-ai-creative-talent-gathers-momentum/