News and insights

Stay up to date with the latest news, insights and industry commentary from the team at the Fashion Innovation Agency.

02.03.2023
Categories
Digital Fashion – Fashion Technology – Gaming – Press

The Guardian: ‘Hot Buttons: why fashion houses are getting into video games’

Matthew Drinkwater was interviewed by The Guardian to discuss why fashion brands are branching into digital hangout spaces provided by video games and how they are opening up exciting worlds of rule-breaking design.

 

“There is something visceral and emotive about the way you shop for fashion; no one buys anything simply for functional reasons at that end of the market. You buy it because you fall in love with it and because it says something about you. And those same emotional reactions are replicated within virtual spaces.”

 

Read the article here.

14.02.2023
Categories
3D Design – Artificial Intelligence – Augmented Reality – Fashion Technology – immersive – Luxury Fashion – Virtual Reality – XR

Vogue x Snapchat: Redefining the Body

Where Design Meets Technology With Matthew Drinkwater

An evening with world renowned expert in emerging technologies, Matthew Drinkwater, as he takes us on a journey into the innovations that will lead the fashion industry into a new era.

From immersive technologies to digital humans, generative AI and beyond, experience an understanding of the myriad of opportunities ahead.

Where Design Meets Technology (voguexsnapchat.com)

 

MASTERCLASS 

Experiencing Fashion in a 3D World: From Physical to Virtual With The Fashion Innovation Agency

FIA’s Costas Kazantzis and Moin Roberts-Islam host this practical workshop demonstrating how to turn physical fashion garments into digital assets.

Experiencing Fashion in a 3D World: From Physical to Virtual (voguexsnapchat.com)

07.09.2022
Categories
Artificial Intelligence – Press

AI & Us: Dressed by Machines

 

FIA’s Creative Technologist Costas Kazantzis was interviewed as part of Episode 1 of AI & Us: A Dataiku Web Series ‘Dressed by Machines.’  

 

“In this episode, we learn how AI and digital transformation may be able to better influence fashion choices, showing how AI can shape a more sustainable, inclusive industry, with less waste.”  

 

Watch the full episode here. 

02.08.2022
Categories
immersive – Press – Uncategorised – XR

Vogue Business: The Real Metaverse

 

Matthew Drinkwater was interviewed by Vogue Business to discuss FIA’s latest project: Creating a Physical Metaverse, which explores physical spaces hosting metaverse events, such as the Outernet’s new space featuring 60 foot LED screens.  

 

“All of the focus of the metaverse has been on purely virtual experiences, such as gaming and virtual reality,” Drinkwater says. “But this [hybrid experience] is what we were working towards. It’s what the metaverse is going to be about. Digital content all around us all of the time.” 

 

Read the full story here: The Real Metaverse | Vogue Busines

01.08.2022
Categories
Digital Fashion – Fashion Technology – Gaming – Luxury Fashion

Vogue Japan: Fashion and Games, Love to Love!

 

Matthew Drinkwater was featured in the September 2022 issue of Vogue Japan discussing virtual identity and self-expression in digital fashion.  

 

‘Matthew says there are two major directions for fashion in the digital world. “You can dress up as an avatar that imitates you in the real world by resembling your skin colour and body type, or you can use an avatar that is completely different. Whether close to a real identity or exactly the opposite, it’s a world where you can do that.”‘

 

Read the full article here: Fashion and games, love to love! | Vogue Japan 

 

17.03.2022
Categories
Virtual Reality

Virtual Veronese – National Gallery

Volumetric footage captured by the Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) and Volograms was used to recreate virtual characters and the original sixteenth-century Italian church setting for a new virtual reality experience produced by Focal Point VR for the National Gallery.  

‘‘Virtual Veronese’ has enabled us to understand how immersive storytelling can add depth of experience, meaning, and emotion to Gallery visitors’ engagement with our paintings.’ 

Read the Financial Times article here.  

Read the National Gallery Press Release here.  

16.03.2022
Categories
Digital Fashion – Fashion Technology – Interview – Podcast – Press

How to Dress your Avatar for the Metaverse: Digital Fashion 101

FIA’s Technology Development Manager, Moin Roberts-Islam, was featured on The Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press Podcast discussing digital fashion’s potential impact on sustainability.  

The ability to make and market a digital garment allows us to go virtually into the designer’s mind with nothing to dismantle or throw away at the other end.  

Listen on The Wardrobe Crisis here

Available on Apple Podcasts here

25.02.2022
Categories
Digital Fashion Show – Fashion Technology – Motion Capture – Press – Start-Ups – Virtual Fashion Show – Virtual Reality

BBC Click: Motion capture rig removes the need to wear a suit

 

The Fashion Innovation Agency was featured on BBC Click showcasing the capabilities of Move AI’s markerless motion capture platform, powered by computer vision and machine learning. 

 

Watch more here: BBC Click – Mechanical Medical Marvels 

Featured on the BBC here: BBC World News – Click, Mechanical Medical Marvels, Motion capture rig removes the need to wear a suit 

02.09.2021
FIA x Digital Domain environment and digital garment
Categories
Conference – Fashion Technology – Interview – Podcast – Press

24th September – Fashion Rewired: A Panel Discussion with the FIA Team

Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) will host a talk on Friday 24th September moderated by Katie Baron, Journalist / Author / Director of Brand Engagement at Stylus.  Joining the discussion will be FIA team members – Matthew Drinkwater, Head of FIA, Moin Roberts-Islam, Technology Development Manager and Costas Kazantzis, Creative Technologist.

Never has the industry been so willing to adopt technology to create and sell fashion, and connect to their consumers, expanding what is known as ‘The Metaverse’ beyond video games.

Read the full article here

Book your ticket here

13.08.2021
NFT in Vogue Business
Categories
Insights – Interview – Luxury Fashion – NFT

Vogue Business: Why games became luxury fashion’s NFT on-ramp

FIA’s Technology Development Manager, Moin Roberts-Islam, is featured in Vogue Business discussing the environmental and legal impact of NFT’s within luxury fashion.

“Creating a standalone NFT is a real risk for luxury brands at this point in time,” Roberts-Islam says. He believes that, in addition to environmental concerns of Ethereum-based blockchains, the uncertainty, and legal and storage issues of the current iteration of fashion NFTs means they don’t hold long-term value.

Read the full article here