TOP10 NEWS / 11.20.23
KARLIE KLOSS JUST BOUGHT I-D MAGAZINE
Looks like Karlie Kloss is adding to her roster of glossy magazines: The supermodel has officially?acquired?i-D?magazine, a beloved publication that covers fashion, music, and youth culture, from VICE Media , which?filed for bankruptcy?earlier this year. According to WWD , Kloss will serve as CEO, while current editor-in-chief Alastair McKimm will stay on as chief creative office and global editor-in-chief.Rumors?of the supermodel purchasing the publication have been rumbling around the industry since at least August.
And Kloss is no stranger to purchasing media. In 2020, the model led a group of investors, including fellow model Kaia Gerber, F1 racing star Lewis Hamilton, and producer Jason Blum, that?purchased?W?Magazine. It seems Kloss —?a model-turned-entrepreneur and essential proxy to the billions of the?Kushner estate?—?has been building a diverse portfolio of her own, notably Kode With Klossy, which runs a free coding camp for girls, and?Klosette, a fashion-based world within the Roblox metaverse that allows players to style themselves and climb the ranks to become editor-in-chief. She has also?reportedly invested?in several digital startups, including a business that aims to integrate digital authentication IDs into clothing.Sure, it takes money to buy a magazine, but it takes grit and borderline sheer insanity to write for one. Karlie, join us, won’t you? Don’t be some far-off figurehead/overlord. Put that pen where that wallet is and get that byline.
METAVERSE FASHION SUMMIT TO EXPLORE THE SINGULARITY OF FASHION
The highly anticipated Metaverse Fashion Summit is set to take place December 20-22, 2023, online.
Under the theme SINGULARITY OF FASHION the summit will delve into the metamorphosis of old-fashioned system into new economic paradigm. More than 100 speakers and thousands of active participants will explore the profound changes in the industry, covering topics such as How A.I. disrupts fashion, new horizons of investment in metaverse fashion, and as a result of these transformations - the birth of a new economy.
The organizer of the summit is the Metaverse Fashion Council, recognized as the largest and most active business and investment community in this sector. "From the very first day of the MFC's existence, we declared its main principles as openness, decentralization, and technological empowerment. Thanks to our unique community of business leaders from more than 50 countries," says Anna Karenina , Forbes 30 under 30, the initiator of the Metaverse Fashion Council. "As a Gen Z, I understand that irreversible singularity of fashion is not only on the horizon, but all its prerequisites are being created now. In the coming year 2024, we will witness the emergence of a new outline for a new fashion, culture, and economy. Therefore, in our collaborative event, we want to summarize, share our vision of the future, and identify investment directions for the future."
The event will take place over 3 days, from December 20 to 22, on the Paris-based metaverse platform Mext and on the educational resources of the Metaverse Fashion Council itself. The summit will run for 15 hours each of the 3 days, starting at 9 am Paris time and concluding at 3 pm Pacific time. "Our active community and the decentralized team of the Metaverse Fashion Council are spread across all time zones, so we have decided to organize the summit in a way that business leaders from all countries and continents can participate. We expect around 100 speakers and panel participants," says Hanene Maupas , co-founder of the metaverse platform Mext and advisory board member of the Metaverse Fashion Council.
In addition to traditional keynotes and presentations, the festival program will feature a collaborative session on the development of the State of Fashion 2024 research, an AMA session with leading industry representatives, the first meet-up of Metaverse Fashion Council Ambassadors, and the presentation of the Metaverse Fashion 100 - business leaders in the sector.
The Metaverse Fashion Council stands as the largest community in the sector, boasting over 27,000 members on LinkedIn alone. Remarkably, more than 25% of our community members hold executive positions, including owners, CEOs, VPs, and C-level representatives. Leveraging our position at the forefront of innovation, we have developed proprietary artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions.
Throughout 2022-2023, the Metaverse Fashion Council successfully hosted more than 10 events and conferences. Notably, the Metaverse Fashion Summit 2022, our flagship event, attracted an impressive attendance of over 25,000 participants. This event showcased our commitment to driving the discourse on the intersection of fashion and technology, solidifying our role as a key influencer in shaping the future of the industry.
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DISNEY TO LAUNCH NFT PLATFORM
Dapper Labs ?has blended nostalgia with its cutting-edge technology, announcing today the upcoming launch of Disney Pinnacle, a digital pin collecting and trading platform that will feature characters from an entire century of Disney magic alongside fan-favorite icons from Pixar and the expansive universe of Star Wars heroes and villains – all uniquely styled as tradable digital pins.Designed as a socially driven experience that allows fans to collect and trade digital pins, Disney Pinnacle promises an immersive, secure, and global trading environment.?
“Disney Pinnacle is an all-new product designed from the ground up to incorporate everything we’ve learned over the past few years,” explains Roham Gharegozlou , co-founder and CEO of Dapper Labs , in a press release shared with nft now.?DAPPER LABS X DISNEYDapper Labs, renowned for the popular NBA Top Shot during the 2021 NFT boom, also created the influential CryptoKitties. They developed the Flow blockchain for large-scale consumer applications, including collectibles and games, and have been progressively decentralizing it.Gharegozlou emphasizes the ease with which fans can interact from anywhere worldwide, enabling them to collect these digital pins on their phone and trade them instantly and securely.Inspired by the signature pins sold at Disney theme parks, each collectible is designed to have its own journey, allowing collectors to build personalized assortments from anywhere using their phones.This marks another major brand partnership, following its?multi-year partnership with Google?and, separately, the?NFL.
3D TECHNOLOGY OFFERS SUSTAINABLE AND PERSONALIZED WAYS OF GARMENT MAKING
领英推荐
Dutch designer Iris van Herpen was once the only prominent name in fashion to infuse futuristic technology and fashion design. She created her first 3D dress in 2009, a printing process that took seven days to complete. Today, 3D design making is completely mainstream and fashion regularly experiments with technology and machinery. At the 2019 MET Gala, designer Zac Posen created accessories and dresses using 3D printers owned by General Electric for his clients. Actress Nina Dobrev wore a Cinderella-inspired glass dress whose bustier was printed in a process that took 200 hours. Model Jourdan Dunn’s rose petal gown was made using 21 3D printed rose petals that took five months to plan and create. In the mainstream and within fashion brands, 3D printers are oftentimes used to create accessories that supplement a garment or add embellishments. During New York Fashion Week in 2019, a joint collection by designers ThreeASFOUR and Travis Fitch unveiled the Greta-Oto dress, which featured photopolymers that used light to change the garment’s color as the model walked.While 3D design offers the industry innovative ways to create and design clothing, it also helps further sustainability and zero waste efforts in fashion. Textile waste, a significant source of pollution, is also produced during the manufacturing process and discarded as excess.
Developing 3D technology can help limit this amount of waste by prioritizing custom designs and ensuring nothing is thrown away.The California start-up unspun? uses their printing and body scanning technology dubbed “Vega 3D” to create custom jeans. The process involves using the Unspun app and the Face ID feature to scan a customer’s body and create a body model. Using the data, the company then creates jeans meant to be a perfect fit.Some brands are also adopting complete 3D approaches in their design. In 2017, American designer Julia Daviy Berezovska announced that her collections would be produced via 3D printers. She released The Organic Skirt, which was created using large-format printers which was the first digitally printed clothing item available in the US market. The garment was also made using recyclable filaments to lessen any negative environmental effects.Others are choosing to incorporate futuristic technology with traditional methods of garment making. Ganit Goldstein, an MIT design student, used a blend of ancient Japanese weave making called Ikat weaving and 3D printing to create unique fabrics.
SPATIAL LABS FOUNDER ON CHANGING THE FACE OF FASHION WITH TECHNOLOGY
Vogue Singapore by Jesslyn Lye
Ahead of his appearance at 'Next in?Vogue', Iddris S. , founder and creative director of Spatial Labs, tells us how the technology disruptor is shaking up culture by revolutionising digital experiencesOn the cover of?Vogue?Singapore’s October ‘Voices’ issue, you’ll find a circular chip embedded at the bottom of the page. It is small—approximately the size of a coin—yet the possibilities it opens up are immense. In this instance, simply hovering your smartphone over the chip unlocks an immersive?soundscape?that encapsulates the spirit of the issue, adding a whole new layer to the reading experience.The technology that enables this is an NFC-enabled Continuity? Chip from Spatial Labs. Founded by Iddris Sandu in 2019, Spatial Labs develops innovative hardware that takes us into the future of digital experiences, opening new doors to ways in which we can bridge the physical and digital.Having worked on digital content for the likes of Rihanna and Beyoncé before founding the company—which is now backed by Jay-Z’s venture capital firm Marcy Venture Partners —Sandu has a deep understanding of how technology can both impact and build upon culture. “When I looked back at all the different people I had worked with, I felt that there was a need for a company that connects culture and technology. I was doing a lot of that on an individual level, but it made sense to get a team together to do it on a larger scale.”Thus, Spatial Labs was born, and with it, a groundbreaking piece of technology: the NFC-enabled Continuity? Chip.
Much of its power lies in its versatility.?Vogue?Singapore’s interactive cover is but one of the potential ways it can be used. Not only can the chip be embedded into any physical product, it can also be used alongside Continuity? Studio, an online platform that allows brands to create unique digital experiences and push new forms of media to their audience without having to manage individual chip life cycles.“Ultimately, what makes the platform most exciting is that it gives brands free rein to create curated experiences rather than just the ones that we’ve thought of”Sandu elaborates: “The Continuity? platform’s analytics feature allows brands to see who is tapping on their products, where they’re located and the types of devices they’re using to access these services. They can even trigger specific benefits according to location. Ultimately, what makes the platform most exciting is that it gives brands free rein to create curated experiences rather than just the ones that we’ve thought of.”This, he believes, is going to revolutionise the way people interact with physical purchases, especially in fashion.
CREEPZ'S COLLECTION BRINGS WEB3 STREETWEAR CULTURE
Creepz , an NFT entertainment brand, is launching its first high-end streetwear collection with the luxury fashion retailer?END. The collection, dubbed ‘Invasion’, is a limited-edition clothing line that bridges the gap between NFTs and streetwear culture.Online animations trascend into the real world, taking on city streets. This is thanks to the extensive collection that comprises 750 limited-edition garments. Each piece was made in the USA and codesigned by executives at world-renowned Nike, Puma, and Levi’s.Creepz is part of the Overlord universe, invading millions of households worldwide through gaming, TV animations and media. This first fashion collection is one part of Creepz's brand growth.
?The partnership, with innovator END. , aims to bring web3 brands to “crossover to mainstream culture”.Simon Lister , Brand Marketing Director at END. , commented: “We've delved into the realms of web3 and the metaverse, exploring their implications for our tangible, real-world presence. Our journey led us to discover the Creepz team, igniting a profound excitement within us regarding the prospects of aligning and materializing physical products that transcend the boundaries of the web3 universe."What captivates us is the robust narrative and vibrant community engagement that revolves around these creations, coupled with an unmistakably streetwear-oriented aesthetic. This fusion possesses the potential to resonate beyond the confines of the Creepz community."Founded in 2005 by Christiaan Ashworth and John Parker, END was created with the ideology to blend fashion, design, art and music. The collective vision was to bring world-renowned names, emerging designers and unearthing brands from all corners of the globe to England’s like-minded community.
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ BACKS CIVITAI, A GENERATIVE AI CONTENT MARKETPLACE WITH MILLIONS OF USERS
AI image generator?Stable Diffusion?already has a lot of fans, and now those experimenting with the new AI technology to develop their own models have a place to share their work with other enthusiasts. A startup called?Civitai ?— a play on the word?Civitas, meaning community — has created a platform where members can post their own Stable Diffusion-based AI image models for others to discover, as well as the output of their work — AI photos — for consumers to browse and enjoy.Explain?Civitai?CEO Justin Maier , the idea for the startup came about because he identified there was a need for a place where people could share their models and others could find them. People, he said, would post images they had made but others didn’t know how to duplicate their work to make their own images.After wrapping up a project at Microsoft, where he had worked as a contractor on web development projects, Maier found himself intrigued by Midjourney.“It scratched that same itch that web development had where I saw something — or I had something in my mind — and I could type some text in get something back. It became this collaborative experience where I could explore my creativity and I get pulled in directions maybe I hadn’t planned,” he says.But Maier soon found himself limited by Midjourney’s credits-based plan that ultimately had him waiting for 5 minutes for each image to be generated. That, he says “was a real bummer because I had fallen so deeply in love with this ability to explore and create anything that I could think of,” Maier tells TechCrunch.Around the same time, an open-source version came out called Stable Diffusion that basically allows you to do the same thing in terms of AI image generation. As the community around Stable Diffusion grew, people were learning how to do different things with the model through prompting or by adding new concepts into the model, like using images of themselves to make AI-generated selfies, for example. Maier started to see people posting their own models that would let you do cool things — like generating in a synth wave style or a punk style — and merging models together to make other new concepts, as well. But these were being posted around the web in places like Reddit or Discord, not in a centralized community.That led him to create Civitai (or Model Share, as it was originally called), an online community that organized this content in a way where people could come back and find it later.
META BRINGS US A STEP CLOSER TO AI-GENERATED MOVIES
Like “Avengers” director Joe Russo, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that fully AI-generated movies and TV shows will be possible within our lifetimes.A host of AI unveilings over the past few months, in particular OpenAI’s ultra-realistic-sounding text-to-speech?engine, have given glimpses into this brave new frontier. But Meta ’s?announcement?today put our AI-generated content future into especially sharp relief — for me at least.Meta his morning debuted Emu Video, an evolution of the tech giant’s image generation tool, Emu. Given a caption (e.g. “A dog running across a grassy knoll”), image or a photo paired with a description, Emu Video can generate a four-second-long animated clip.Emu Video’s clips can be edited with a complementary AI model called Emu Edit, which was also announced today. Users can describe the modifications they want to make to Emu Edit in natural language — e.g. “the same clip, but in slow motion” — and see the changes reflected in a newly generated video. Now, video generation tech isn’t new. Meta’s?experimented?with it before, as?has?Google. Meanwhile, startups like?Runway?are already building businesses on it.But Emu Video’s 512×512, 16-frames-per-second clips are easily among the best I’ve seen in terms of their fidelity — to the point where my untrained eye has a tough time distinguishing them from the real thing.Well — at least some of them. It seems Emu Video is most successful animating simple, mostly static scenes (e.g. waterfalls and timelapses of city skylines) that stray from photorealism — that is to say in styles like cubism, anime, “paper cut craft” and steampunk. One clip of the Eiffel Tower at dawn “as a painting,” with the tower reflected in the River Seine beneath it, reminded me of an e-card you might see on?American Greetings.
ATLAS RAISES $6M FUNDING TO DEVELOP '3D GENERATIVE AI PLATFORM' FOR GAMING AND VIRTUAL WORLDS
3D generative AI platform Atlas announced its official launch following a $6 million funding raise to expand its game development platform.After two years in stealth, 3D generative AI platform?Atlas?today announced its official launch. The platform aims to develop virtual worlds and experiences for the gaming industry.The launch follows the conclusion of two funding rounds: a $4.5 million round spearheaded by?6th Man Ventures 6MV ?and a $1.5 million round led by?Collab+Currency . Key funding participants included the?a16z?Scouting Fund via Shrapnel, Contango, Gaingels, GFR Fund, New Renaissance Ventures,?Square Enix?and?Wagmi Ventures.With the fresh capital infusion, Atlas aims to expand its suite of developer solutions. The company said the funds will also be channeled into the development of a self-service 3D?AI creator?platform.“Our funding will be used to continue to build out our creative suite of diverse AI technologies that focus on streamlining the processes to allow for worlds and assets to be generated at scale,” Benjamin James , CEO of Atlas told Metaverse Post. “Our newest platform will help small, medium and indie developers build high-quality worlds, assets and experiences that are aesthetic, unique and game-ready. Alpha testing for this platform will begin soon.”“We have built our own tech stack to solve the problem of creating diverse, meaningful content at scale. To solve this problem we’ve put focus on: generating editable models, protecting IP and the ability to integrate into existing workflows/pipelines,” Atlas’s James explained to Metaverse Post. “But we’re not just focused on increasing efficiency and shortening the development cycles; we’re equally excited by our technology’s ability to enhance creative capabilities, augment an artist’s intuition, and automate banal design tasks.”Among Atlas’ current partners are industry heavyweights such as Consortium 9, along with partners-turned-investors Shrapnel and Square Enix. Leveraging custom-built 3D?generative AI?engines, the partners can generate entire virtual worlds, creative assets and designs consistent with existing intellectual property — ready for deployment.“Our goal is to generate high-quality assets that an artist would be happy with if they had manually created them. This means generated worlds must give developers the opportunity to further refine what they create with Atlas and make it their own,” said James. “Rather than generate a reconstruction of a single asset, Atlas generates catalogs of stylistically similar yet unique models and worlds that creators can further build upon.”
FASHION WHOLESALER MARKETPLACE JOOR SAYS DIGITAL PAYMENTS NOW IN STYLE
PYMNTS Innovations shape the way businesses engage, transact and thrive.If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be advancements; they’d be duds. But sometimes even the most promising advances, such as the ongoing digital transformation of commerce and payments, need a little push forward from the macro environment.“[The COVID-19 pandemic] helped drive a permanent change in the fashion industry,”?Kristin Savilia , CEO at online B2B wholesale marketplace?JOOR , told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster for the “B2B Payments: Outlook 2024” series.“You don’t have to be at every trade show or every showroom,” she said. “There are certain levels of buys that you can do remotely and be just as successful.”Digital and mobile payments were accepted pre-pandemic, of course, but the idea of virtual showrooms was entirely foreign. Now, a fashion industry without virtual showrooms feels just as foreign.The role of trade shows has evolved into fostering connections rather than being the primary buying grounds, Savilia explained.“Personal connection, especially in our industry, is really important,” she added.Buyer-Supplier Dynamics in the Digital EraInnovation in payments, digital adoption and artificial intelligence integration are reshaping how businesses operate in the dynamic fashion sector, but Savilia explained that despite the industry being early to embrace digital, online buying and selling for the wholesale side of the industry took longer to implement.“The fact that [wholesale fashion buying and selling] was left for so many years to excel spreadsheets and paper line sheets is really shocking,” Savilia said.She added that there are, still to this day, certain popular brands that haven’t made the switch to digital.And that’s despite the opportunities and optimizations that digital brings to the everyday commerce-driven contexts that make up a fashion brand’s runway.“Our data told us months ago that larger department stores have shrunk their buys,” she said. “They’re expecting a tough holiday … but, interestingly, the small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were up slightly in their buys. They are looking for a flat holiday as opposed to a down holiday.”Other insights that can be derived from purchase orders at major fashion weeks include upcoming trends, like the emergence of liquid gold patterns and the resurgence of the white Oxford shirt.“Sky blue is going to be a big color coming this spring, and we are able to share that information with our audience in case they might have missed the trends, and we’re able to show them exactly where to buy it,” Savilia added.
VESTIARE COLLECTIVE CUTS OUT H&M, ZARA AND MORE IN EXPANDED FAST FASHION BAN
Second-hand resale platform Vestiaire Collective has said that it will be expanding its ban of fast fashion in a bid to further its efforts of tackling waste in the industry.While in 2022, the ban impacted the likes of boohoo , Pretty Little Thing, ASOS.com and SHEIN , now the company will also be permanently banning Gap , ZARA SA , Urban Outfitters , UNIQLO , MANGO , Benetton Group , Bershka , Oysho and H&M , among others, from its platform. Like the ban prior, the move comes ahead of Black Friday and contributes to Vestiaire’s three-year plan to counter unsustainable practices in fashion and ultimately remove all fast fashion brands from its offering. The initiative sees Vestiaire work together with The Or Foundation Ghana , which works towards raising awareness around clothing waste, particularly in Ghana where a reported 15 million fashion items arrive at the Kantamanto market every week.This latest move was announced in a letter on Vestiaire’s website from founders Fanny Moizant and Sophie Hersan , who said the reason behind launching the ban was down to hefty production and the rising amount of textile waste.The letter stated: “Every year, the fashion industry produces 100 billion garments. Zara and H&M alone produce more than one billion garments per year.“As we consume more and wear less, 92 million tons of textile waste is discarded on a yearly basis - most of it coming from fast fashion brands. This is enough to fill the Empire State Building every day, and has a major environmental and social impact.” Vestiaire is instead urging people to “think first, buy second”, a movement that it is complementing with the introduction of a 400 euro voucher giveaway, available for customers to participate in through its social media site.