Maisie Wilen Wants You to Digitally Manipulate Its Spring 2023 Collection

The designer looked to CGI and special effects to create the new clothes.

If there's one thing Maisie Wilen has made clear, it's that she loves the overlap between technology and fashion.

Continuing the brand's narrative of a future digital world, Wilen's Spring 2023 collection is designed to be digitally manipulated. The use of motion-capture markers applied directly onto the garments and models' faces, as well as CGI techniques, allows consumers to enjoy a never-ending evolution of the design process. The patterns, conceived using AI image generator DALL-E, also feature lens flares, which the show notes say embody the "surreal, vividly distorted products of the methods referenced."

The tech influence didn't stop there. Before the show began, guests were seated in a fully green-lit room, allowing for further distortion of the environment, which the notes explained to be inspired by movie-making. Just prior to the models coming out to the runway, lights spanning every corner of the room flickered erratically, exaggerating the already warped perception the audience would have from the set and outfits.

Beyond the digitally-influenced compositions, there are more of the skintight, patterned jersey pieces now synonymous with the brand, as well as plenty of dress-and-pant combinations (a nostalgic return to 2010s fashion) for Spring 2023. Maisie Wilen is also debuting its first men's pieces, reworking brand staples like the Nebula trousers and Muscle Beach Tank. (These styles will be offered in women's sizing, as well as loose-fitting options.)

The show further solidified the fascination Wilen has with phygital fashion. The presentation was a clear, straight-line evolution from last season's floor-to-ceiling screens featuring models, of which guests could zoom in and out to closely examine even the smallest of threads and cuts on garments. Wilen is happily opening the door for a future of metaverse style and malleable looks — and keeping the fashion industry constantly on its toes.

View the full collection in the gallery below:

View the 25 images of this gallery on the original article

Never miss the latest fashion industry news. Sign up for the Fashionista daily newsletter.