Fashion and architecture share many design similarities. They both focus on construction, albeit in different areas, with a priority on form and comfort for the users. As craftsmen, they aim to convey their vision through textures, colours and shapes. Ultimately, their goal is to create outputs that are both beautiful and durable, constantly evolving and challenging convention. French fashion designer Coco Chanel famously stated, ‘Fashion is architecture, it’s a matter of proportions’.
Fashion designers, drawing inspiration from architecture, utilise materials as their building blocks to craft wearable shapes, much like architects use concrete, cement and glass to build structures. Fabrics are manipulated in various ways – pleated, folded, twisted and layered – to give garments a three-dimensional, architectural flair. The fusion of architecture and fashion is often referred to as Architectural Fashion or Wearable Architecture. With architecture becoming a subject of critique and admiration, architectural fashion has become a popular avenue for experimentation.
It may sound unbelievable but it is a fact that for years, AI art was not widely recognised as a legitimate art form until it received acclaim in prestigious competitions like the Art Prize at the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition or after it received exhibition space at renowned institutions like the MOMA museum in New York. Some designers now collaborate closely with cutting-edge AI technology without compromising their roles as professional designers. By allowing artificial intelligence greater creative autonomy, they can draw inspiration for innovative and unimaginable ideas.
New York-based designer Svasti Ujagar too has been exploring the world of AI art by redesigning shoes, clothes and bags, inspired by magnificent architectural wonders. Her exploration includes iconic architectural beauties like Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, where curvilinear Art Nouveau forms and Gothic elements converge with Catalan Modernism. Motifs from the Taj Mahal, Hawa Mahal and the Palace of Versaille are also explored, allowing the marriage of traditional and contemporary.
Her most recent venture is a conceptual collection inspired by blending the beauty of architecture with fashion. In a constant shifting panorama of artificial intelligence, each of these creations attempts to pay homage to the elegance and craftsmanship of some of classic architectural wonders and encapsulates its timeless beauty.
Blurring the lines between real and unreal to create a thread between parallel worlds, the result is a combination of delight and progress. Through history, artificial intelligence, architecture, art and fashion could all be seen as sewn together through a single thread: innovation. The juxtaposition of these different motifs highlights the richness of human nature and progression.
Svasti holds a degree in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design and completed her schooling from Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru. Currently, she is working at Avery Dennison where she continues to explore the apparel space through research on new-age AI technology.
