Animation Fashion Graphic Design Product

Anya Hindmarch: AW16

posted by Alice Harrison March 29, 2016

Do computers dream when they sleep? This was the question informing Anya Hindmarch’s latest collection, encompassing every element within the vintage videogame theme, fuelling the digital concept. From the injection of arcade game inspiration and early 8-bit graphics, the addressing of the debate surrounding digital design as ‘art’ is considered within both the final designs of the collection and the towering stage stacked with illuminating cubes.

Pixelation and colour are both confident considerations infused within the finalised fashions, detailing vibrant tiles attached to fabrics, pixelated snakeskin decorating the accessories and digital inspired details. The expected sense of wit in regards to Hindmarch’s iconic aesthetic is intelligently injected through the inclusion of space invader motifs, emoji elements and fried egg stapled pockets.

To further inform the exploration of artificial consciousness, an impressive illuminating stage embeds the initial concept via a narrative expressed through the towering LED stage, pulsing in reference to the computer’s beating heart. Created by INCA Productions, the wall and joint floor consisting of 120 metre-square cubes beautifully echo the patterns of the AW16 collection. Initially, the runway show begins with a monochrome representation of an iconic 80’s video game, with the audio slowly transitioning from sound effects into a techno remix of Handel’s Messiah, provided by Frankmusik, which somewhat narrates the introduction of the models. The LED panels shift between saturated garish hues and striking white light, occasionally projecting patterns against the back wall in attempts to strike the impression that the computer was instigating communication.

The merging movements of colourful cubes, the pixel projections and the retro-futurist atmosphere all embed the viewer within the feeling of an 80’s arcade game, answering the initial question by prompting the experience that evokes the manifestation of a computer’s dream.