Building a multi-sensory macroverse: In interview with INJURY
About
Sydney-based creative and fashion art house INJURY shed light on the holistic process which makes up their macroverse: from their inspirations and ambitions, to how they’ve been building a fascinating multi-sensory universe rich in characters, depth and surreal experiences.
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‘Water Collection’
Hi INJURY, Please introduce us to yourself – what is your story and mission?
Founded in 2004 in Sydney, Australia by Eugene Leung, INJURY is an Australian create fashion and art house that create for both physical and digital world. Our seasonless and genderless fashion brand promotes small batch slow fashion, we’ve been showcasing our physical clothing collection across the globe at on-schedule New York, Paris and Shanghai Fashion Week etc, and our collection were sold to over 80 fashion select stores over the years.
Since 2020 we have a strong focus in digital fashion and the digital art realm, we have released Australia’s first-ever CGI Fashion Film ‘The Butterfly’s Dream’ debuted at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week in June 2021 and the film was officially selected as part of ASVOFF 13, Fashion Film Festival Milano and Bucharest Fashion Film Festival; also selected as a featured fashion film on SHOWstudio.
Our brand stand for the bridge between physical and digital fashion and our mission to utilise technology in the fashion creation and production process to minimise wastage and always seeking a more sustainable way to create.
INJURY 2022/23 collection ‘Rare Reality’ was presented through a CGI Fashion Film and presentation at Australian Fashion Week show on site at Carriageworks on May 9, 2022. The hybrid Metaverse Show showcased 8 looks available as digital fashion pieces as well as NFTs with a VR-controlled performance collaborated with DeepFaith.
My wish is to create an experience-driven brand that takes on the macrocosm idea, to create special experiences for our audience through multiple medium of products, narratives and events, e.g. CG films, comics, music, and VR experience etc.
“We believe anyone are born to look great and be proud of their identity. And wish to create a brand that helps people to build and shape their identity through designs and creativity.”
Where do you begin when imagining NFT collections like ‘Rare Reality’, ‘Be Like Water’ and ‘Extended Dreams’? How do the garments and surrounding universes inspire one another?
We see ourselves as more than a fashion brand, more like a creative art house and approach all creations with a holistic approach, and we start with a storyline, a narrative. When we create fashion collections they are always part of INJURY macroverse, the on-going evolving universe with characters, ethereal environment, original music and fashion is one big part of these. All our digital collections have interconnected narratives that intersects which each other in different timelines.
‘Extended Dreams’
‘Extended Dreams’
“We see ourselves as more than a fashion brand, more like a creative art house and approach all creations with a holistic approach, and we start with a storyline, a narrative.”
What has been the most significant change to your process with digital fashion?
Our physical fashion collection sampling process are now mostly started with digital fashion creation, with digital paper pattern creation, fabric and weigh simulation, fitting and sampling all done without using any physical resources. We have also been using digital avatars and digital look books to approach our buyers and customers instead of the usual creating real samples - take a photoshoot- create a look book way.
How has digital fashion changed your approach to sustainable design in particular?
We are able to minimise resources wastage during the digital sampling process, and the rest of the creations were all made-to-order so we do not create anything that we eventually do not need and I think this has been a huge step for our brand.
What does creative collaboration mean to you and how does it influence your own identity as an artist and designer?
We believe in collaboration, we enjoy collaborating with all kinds of artists with a similar vision, we always question the purpose of our work, the purpose of fashion, our role as a creative in the world, both digital world and physical reality world, we always look for new answer, and through collaboration with different artist, it help us shape our vision and find our answers.
‘Rare Reality’
‘Rare Reality’
What has been your proudest moment so far as a fashion brand?
To be able to create not only as a fashion brand, and to bring new ideas into fashion shows and presentations. I was named the Changemaker 2022 by Afterpay Australian Fashion Week easily and I appreciate them recognising our initiative of bringing digital art to the physical fashion world.
How would you say virtual mediums are changing self-expression and identity?
The most interesting part to me is that we will be able to create multiple identities virtually, it opens up many doors to self-expression and I think this will also help the perspective to be even more all-inclusive.
What opportunities or limitations lie ahead for digital fashion in the metaverse?
I think this is just the beginning of a new beginning, I look forward to having AR and VR in our daily lives and digital fashion can be more seamlessly connected to everyone. In the near future with new tools we will be able to see, touch, taste, smell all digital assets just like in the real world. ✺
‘Water Collection’
‘Water Collection’
Find Injury online
www.eugeneleung.com
@theinjury
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