“Recently, I hear lots of gossip about me. Why is that?
You think am I taking your work away?”
Placed on each seat at Doublet today was a personal letter. One could sense a little hurt, some disappointment, an overarching feeling of rejection from the author. Such would be the case if the writer in question could feel any emotion… Unless it can?
Welcome to the age of artificial intelligence. Some love it, some hate it, some are hopeful, and others terrified. Not one to shy away from an opportunity to provide cultural commentary, Doublet’s Masayuki Ino is intrigued. His shows have touched on everything from deepfakes to global warming, and they never lack humorous and thoughtful interpretations of the many human-made developments that have the humans in question interrogating our very own existence. Today’s show was no different.
That some models had USB ports placed on their calves or abdomen and others scooted down the runway on hoverboards was an indication of what Ino had been thinking about. There was also a hoodie with a CD slot, a lab coat for a “Social Relativity Scholar,” and even an “I [heart] 3D” tee. Ino’s intention was to give AI a human shape, which, while not always clear, was certainly entertaining.
That’s the charm of Doublet, after all. The collections pose questions you don’t always need the answers to in order to enjoy what they have to offer. Had you not known of the AI of it all, you would have still done a double-take on the super drop crotch jeans in look 4, or the glistening silver and pink foiled denim pieces. Also fun: An askew T-shirt and cardigan hybrid and a pair of leather jeans hanging off a golden chain like a shoulder bag—that’s the thing about AI, things are always just a little bit messed up. Ino was clever to capture this element in his collection, too.
“AI has no limit. It can study, it can learn, it can do anything. Human beings have limits, but AI does not,” Ino said backstage. Will there ever be an AI-designed Doublet collection? Not quite, but never say never. “While I worked on this collection I used AI to get feedback and find inspiration,” Ino said. Call it a collaboration.
