UTOPIA FUTURES IRL AND URL 

THE BIRTH OF - THE INSTITUTE OF DIGITAL FASHION

May 12, 2020 | author: Leanne Elliott Young
magazine: Issue #4: Futurism | categories: Narrative  

CommuneEAST founder Leanne Elliott Young and creative director and founder of community Digi-Gxl Cattytay, today announce a new partnership and business venture,
The Institute of Digital Fashion.

Young and Cattytay join together to push tech-use toward a more democratic and sustainable future, offering a platform to restructure how technology and digital are used from creation to consumer.
Young takes us through the complexities of the irl x url futures:
IRL and URL unison is the complex woven reality of today, we exist in both spheres and on a day to day, we witness a circumnavigation of the moral compass of both arenas and  straddle the two.
At CommuneEAST we have been directly working within the new positioning of IRL x URL landscapes as businesses, brands and artists all contemplate how to build an omni channel reality.

 
 
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Prior to this pandemic you could map the escalation of time spent online.  It was wholly synchronized with the escalation of the issues surrounding sustainability and crisis for our planet.

As the blur between the parameters of our URL x IRL realities come upon us…

“ARE THE MOVEMENTS TOWARDS URL AVATARS AND URL SPACES ROOTED IN OUR OPEN DENIAL OF THE IMPENDING DOOM OF OUR PLANET AND THE AVOIDANCE OF KEY HUMANITARIAN ISSUES ?”

When it comes to “digital positioning” and when you tune into the habitual act of complex glo-cal chatter, you can readily observe the signage and fly posting that provokes a quest for diversity, inclusivity and concern for our planet.  You are fed the picket posters and affirmations, and the memes act as the headlines. Social media platforms can drive and birth important conversations, but with shadow bans and the reins being held within the hands of white patriarchal western institutions, we are seeing conversations being shut down.  An objectified picture of a womxn can still be posted and reposted, but then when a positive celebration of the body occurs and the male gaze is removed… you are censored.

Step into the real world,“SLIDE OUT OF YOUR DM’S, LOCK EYES, ASK QUESTIONS, LISTEN TO THE STREETS, THE TIDES ARE NOT TURNING, WE ARE POLARIZING AS WE ARE ENGULFED BY THE ALGORITHM OF OUR AMBIGUOUS URL REALITY.”
These IRL vs URL dichotomies unravel as we struggle to keep up with the projection, “THE RHETORIC ENFOLDS, THE ECHO-CHAMBER IS REAL, AS REAL AS TRUMP, AS DEEP FAKES,  THE PLASTIC THAT SWAMPS OUR OCEANS, AS THE BURN OF THE SUN, THE WINDS , THE RAIN, SO IT’S OUR TIME TO BE REAL….”

Our URL projections can carry a message across water but IRL has power, action in reality is our only future.
Imagine our future, a new future, burned down, “CHALLENGED AND EVOLVED ARE THE ARCHAIC SYSTEMS THAT CARRIED THE CHRONIC EPIDEMIC OF CONSUMPTION, SAVED ARE THE ADDICTS, STUCK IN HARVEST MODE.”
THE DECISIONS THAT BRANDS MAKE NOW WILL DEFINE THEIR FUTURES.

The fashion industry is overshadowed by overconsumption. Every collection leaves an indelible carbon footprint.  No one brand can fix fashion’s sustainability problem, but together as an industry, we can make conscious steps towards a cleaner future.

WE AT COMMUNEEAST BELIEVE IN THE SUSTAINABILITY POSITIVES AND POWER OF DIGITAL MAKING.
The creative industries are an active part of the climate crisis, everyone is responsible for the impact of the work on the world around us.
WE SUPPORT THE PRODUCTION OF CREATIVE WORLDS IN URL,
RATHER THAN DESTROYING OUR EXISTING IRL WORLD.
We took heed and built a new venture to champion and invest in these statements.
We have decided to stand up and stand tall and not hope for a new future but instead build one, we have enlisted the best in the industry, as a world class creative director and digital pioneer  Cattytay founder of DigiGXL has joint us on this mission, we are working as a symbiotic relationship to translate IRL x URL visions into reality.

WE ARE A NEW FUTURE..
Fashion is the system that carries a fine chorus of conundrums, its back needs to be broken, the veneer corroded to push forward.  Fashion, sustainability and democracy have always been an awkward fit, but the THE BELLIGERENT BEASTS ARE BEING FORCED TO OPEN THEIR EYES, THE CONSUMERS ARE PUSHING THE INDUSTRY TO CHANGE.
With the changes of habits and the changing of needs means the system is turning, PEER TO PEER, LIKE TO LIKE, WE HAVE THE PRIVILEGED POSSIBILITY OF ASKING QUESTIONS DIRECT, but still to navigate the information on sustainability as it is a swamp of unbalanced facts, and deemed a hobby of the privileged folk, who then broadcast and call out to those who can not afford the Stella McCartney conscious tech laden gym set, together though we have the ability to push for change.
Within the sustainability soup, the key issue is transparency, which currently we are not being delivered on a governmental level, you can ask and reach out for information- from studio to production through to delivery at your door for answers.  Legislation behind new thinking and innovation is the only way.
LET’S HARNESS THE POWER AND POTENTIAL OF THIS EXCITING NEW UNIVERSE FOR A BETTER, MORE DEMOCRATIC FUTURE.
We have decided to stand up and stand tall and not hope for a new future but instead build one. We have enlisted the best in the industry, as a world class creative within digital, CattyTAy founder of DigiGXL has joined us on this mission, we are working as a symbiotic relationship to translate IRL x URL visions into reality.

OUR MISSION IS TO BREATHE LIFE INTO URL WITH THE BELIEF THAT DIGITAL SHOULD BE EXPERIENCE-DRIVEN AND HOLD FIRST AND FOREMOST INTEGRITY.
WE TOGETHER SEEK TO RECONDITION THE RADICAL POTENTIAL OF DIGITAL BY USING TECH TO ELEVATE THE REAL WORLD RATHER THAN PURELY FOR TECH’S SAKE.” —CattyTay, Digi-Gxl Founder and co founder of institute of digital fashion

What does this look like? When we immerse ourselves into a digital universe we can shape shift realities, display boundless energy, or stillness and the sublime.  We can create each environment bespoke, flying around the globe, heading to another stratosphere, all without boarding a plane.
Our IDF digital shows and showrooms have materials beyond seasons but instead from archives, a swipe, a tap, all there to explore.
Beyond the confines of traditional look books and line sheets, buyers view and learn about a collection and brand, feel the inspiration as they dive into the music, the mood board, reach out and touch the very moment of inspiration.
You can request changes and make edits on the spot, empowering the industry to make better choices, more informed ones.
We can build a more democratic approach to industry, BRANDS HAVE BECOME MORE ACCOUNTABLE to their consumers. SIZE NO LONGER MATTERS,  we can offer garments in near infinite sizes and styles not just those that fit old-world body standards.

The INDUSTRY’S ISSUES; The live scheduled moments in fashion adhere to a calendar that’s dead, seasons are fractured as our planets warm, as we work remotely and inhabit a GLO-CAL universe.  Shows once converted are now exposed and the consumers are at the table with hungry eyes, yet the timeline is so rigid they can have their splendid feast yet, so what occurs, the fast fashion industry feasts off the creative phenomena that is upon the catwalks, and creates a bastardization of those tropes, so lets evolve and restructure, digital has the power to push to do this, garments can be purchased live from shows and re-modeled in real time.
Let’s evolve and restructure what fashion means to us, let’s rebuild, reuse, re style, re make, up cycle, repair, share IRL X URL.
THINK MORE   USE LESS   ACT NOW  AND CHANGE THE SEMANTICS OF PURCHASE AND ABOLISH THE OLD SYSTEMS.
LET’S SELL CREATIVITY AND NOT MORE CLOTHES-  We need to change, and it means: change the marketing language, change the influences, the positioning, the press stories, the education, change the fashion calendar agenda so that all in all it is fashionable and appealing to buy, be, act, more sustainable and build a new democratic vision.
LET’S CREATE A NEW VERNACULAR, WHERE DIGITAL BREATHES LIFE INTO A SYSTEM ON ITS KNEES, IT’S NOT ABOUT PURELY URL, WE BELIEVE IN A TACTILE WORLD, BUT LET’S IMPLEMENT SOME DIGITAL TO SAVE OURS.

The two spheres must work in tandem
The whole semantics of purchase need to be re-wired and re-coded.  Let’s look at the way in which we consume and reframe.  THE STAINS, TEARS AND WEAR BECOME AN ARCHIVE OF THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL JOURNEY.  WHERE DIGITAL SERVICES OUR DECISIONS AND TAKES US THROUGH AN EXPERIENTIAL JOURNEY.
Technology has democratized fashion, opening up a portal of communication and design. Direct to consumer is alive. The middlemen are losing power.  As the buyers, press and big brands embark on their global social circus of a fashion tour, we witness a tighter stream of communication, a quicker comms strategy away from the fantasy and marketing messages that the publications once delivered- ones that were tailored months before the kings opened their palaces for us to come indulge. THE SYSTEM NOW HAS PIVOTED, WE CAN LOOK INTO THE EYES OF OUR MAKERS AND DREAM TOGETHER TO BUILD OUR NEW REALITY IN UNISON, AND INSTANTLY.
WITH DIGITAL WE CAN UNLOCK THIS POTENTIAL. LET’S MAKE PHYSICAL WHEN NEEDED AND CHERISH THE ALREADY MADE.

Let’s build a new future together where less is more, where longer lasts, where digital build new narratives, explores new universes, opens door to our imagination, where apples become leather, and fungus wrap our feet, where data and blockchain tracks supply chain, where recycle is upcycle and that is collaboration.
Where technology brings us together.
Where digital can build and it is not dismantled, but let’s build this responsibility with our ecosystem and the equilibrium of that in mind.

LEANNE ELLIOTT YOUNG

CD and Founder of CommuneEAST

FOUNDER TO THE INSTITUTE OF DIGITAL FASHION
Over 15 years working to invent, incubate, and install creative concepts for future-facing living.

Fusing established industry orders with a progressive, youth-centric points creating a unique vision for clients and audiences alike providing strategies and platforms for 360 collaborations via partnerships, events, marketing, and design. Speaking multiple languages: that of the retailer, that of the consumer and that of the artist, a highly skilled translator. Collaborating with brands, institutes, and retail within a glo-cal market, a highly sought after commentator on these issues, specifically themes of future, sustainability, fash-tech and industry disruption.”

Special Thanks /  CommuneEAST project team : Dominic Myatt | Daniel Tshiyane  | Parker Gibson  | Akshita Sahlot | Sophie  Barrett-Pouleau | Rachel Barrie  | Awra Khan  | Pieye Song  | Jonathan Yau | Hannah Crosbie  | Kamila Siemion

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