The Year of Street Fashion and Culture Animation

12/2018 visual culture

Street fashion and urban culture is a force to be reckoned with these days. Once the subculture of cities, the scene has elevated to the mainstream and is a prominent schedule on fashion weeks from Paris to London to New York. From Supreme being valued at $1billion to more collaborations than one can remember to Virgil Abloh's move to Louis Vuitton, the culture is everywhere and changing the world.

What makes street fashion and culture so captivating is its relationship with social media. Its flexibility and DIY approach have helped make it leaders in digital narration. They are at the forefront of online curation and writing the book for other industries to follow as it goes along. Brands and creatives are shaking up the media we consume with a sprinkle of CGI and animation.

The first ever animation was a two-dimensional 8-bit cat walking across a screen, in many ways these Russians geniuses were ahead of the social media curve and cat craze that engulfs almost every digital platform known to humans

Experimenting with other digital formats to tell a story or tease a new release is becoming a common approach used by brands, creatives, and publications alike. The interesting thing about Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) is that it actually marked its 50th anniversary this year. Created by a revolutionary team of Russian physicists who were working towards building a new intelligent computer mainframe called BESM-4. The first ever animation was a two-dimensional 8-bit cat walking across a screen, in many ways these Russians geniuses were ahead of the social media curve and cat craze that engulfs almost every digital platform known to humans.

To coincide with Highsnobiety's special edition release of The Incomplete today and to mark the 50th anniversary of CGI graphics, we decided to look at three street fashion and culture campaigns from 2018 that helped transform digital content.

London-based designer Samuel Ross and creative director of A-COLD-WALL* teased his collaboration with Nike back in October with a futuristic animation detailing the story behind the industrial concept. Together they created a campaign film which features two 3D rendered models, one is athlete sprinter Reece Prescod, another is Samuel's partner Jennifer Onojeide.

The animation reveals behind-the-scenes footage and technical processes that went into the collaboration. Teasing the collection through animation opened up a whole new window of digital storytelling.

Hamburg-based animator and 3D artist Antoni Tudisco is one of the industry’s fastest rising stars. His portfolio includes work for the likes of Nike, Adobe, Apple, and he also worked on the worldwide rebrand of MTV. He has created a vacuum for himself through his animations and unorthodox CGI shorts, combining Cardi B with dancing noodles and egg yolk twirling to Drake's Kiki.

His style has brought him international success and awards. Alongside creating his own digital concepts of futuristic Nike, Balenciaga, and Versace sneakers, Antoni has worked on several international commissions. He partnered with German powerhouse Adidas on animation visuals for their UltraBOOST sneaker. The result is a surreal astronaut explosion of thoughts and data perspective that reimagines the design history of the sneaker. Watch the animation below.

A digital art project created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou in 2016 added a new layer to CGI's position in street fashion and culture. Lil Miquela is a fictional CGI social media influencer with over 1.5million followers. Miquela Sousa is a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model from California that wears everything from Supreme to Stussy to Prada. She has been edited back in time to events with Gianni Versace, Prince Charles, and fashion shows globally. The project has turned into a source of revenue for the pair, her Instagram influence has resulted in paid partnerships with brands. She has become a digital avatar of street fashion, especially high fashion, and a source of aspiration for thousands despite not actually existing. Her CGI presence is adding a new perspective to the way the industry tells digital narratives, and position of animation in consumer culture.

Part visual reference guide, part snapshot of street culture, The Incomplete highlights street fashion’s most influential designers, pieces, and brands.