Aidesign.png: AI, Fashion Design, and… Biomorphism?
We all remember the weird AI generated images that people made on Dall-E Mini, but Elmo Mistiaen is taking it to the next level with his otherworldly fashion design. Mistiaen is the founder of his Brussels based brand, aidesign.png. He specializes in artificial intelligence generated fashion design that focuses on surreal, biomorphic outdoor clothing and gear. Talk about a sentence that has never been said before.
Image: Elmo Mistiaen via Vol-Up-2
Imagine: a backpacking backpack attached to large, inflated butterfly wings that bear the Nike logo. A camping tent in the shape of an octopus, knitwear with moth wings and antennae, hoods that look like caterpillar heads. He calls it biomimicry; it is science fictive, bizarre, and endlessly fascinating.
Image: Elmo Mistiaen via Red Eye
Mistiaen’s work often contains political messaging. It is a critique of the lack of sustainability in the fashion industry. The combining of animals and fashion, specifically gorpcore fashion, draws a clear line between fashion and its effect on our immediate environment. Take, for example, his octopus-shaped tent. This creature, known for its protective instincts, formed into a biodegradable tent urges us to consume fashion more consciously.
Image: Elmo Mistiaen via Red Eye
AI is becoming increasingly common in the fashion world. Its primary goal is to streamline production; from design to marketing, artificial intelligence is being used to create products that will be more popular and then accurately market them to a target audience. Aidesign.png is doing it differently. He is far more concerned with using AI as a tool for exploration than as a means to an end.
Image: Elmo Mistiaen via Vol-Up-2
Mistiaen has no background in fashion. In fact, he is a Master’s student in Business Engineering at the University of Brussels. What he is doing is exploring uncharted waters in the new realm of AI design, learning about how these engines work and how to manipulate them into creating interesting new concepts. He is testing the limits of this new technology in the creation of art, the realm of design, fashion, and messaging. AI generators can create anything- why not have them do so?