Copenhagen Fashion Week Joins Forces with SPIN.FASHION, Bringing Web3 Circularity To Emerging Nordic Brands

CFS EDITORIAl TEAM

FASHION
11 JAN 2024

Copenhagen Fashion Week Joins Forces with SPIN.FASHION, Bringing Web3 Circularity To Emerging Nordic Brands

Phygital-Retail platform, SPIN.FASHION partners with “CPHFW NEWTALENT” Showroom, transforming selected runway looks into smarter and more interactive experiences for buyers. SPIN’s proprietary Web3 commerce infrastructure provides Internet of Things (IoT) labeling, enabling supply chain transparency traced on Blockchain, and 3D digital twins for immersive physical and digital showcase through web-based Augmented Reality (AR). Activating Experience-To-Order circular fashion business models.

Copenhagen, 11 January 2024 – Copenhagen Fashion Week and SPIN.FASHION join forces to advance web3 circularity and redefine the landscape of immersive showroom experiences. Bringing avant-garde design in harmony with cutting-edge technology, this collaboration marks a definitive shift in the way we perceive and interact with fashion.

IMAGE Victor Jones

SPIN.FASHION's proprietary Phygital-Retail system emerges as the leading end-to-end platform, orchestrating a comprehensive stack of technologies designed to operate circular fashion business models at scale. From blockchain-driven supply chain traceability, third party Digital Product Passports (DPP) integrations, to proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) labelling system with dual RFID chips (Near Field Communication and Ultra High Frequency) capabilities, and a 2D-to-3D digital twins modelling system for immersive customer experiences via Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).

SPIN.FASHION’s blockchain-based traceability system not only ensures transparency of the supply chain, but also empowers customers with ownership of physical and digital (Phygital) goods. All connected products are activated with Experience-to-Order™ and circular business models, ready for take-back, resale, care and repair at post-purchase level. For the first time in fashion history, brands and creators now have access to never before accessed revenue streams from already sold items, with royalty fees for every item sold on the peer-to-peer resell market.

The partnership will see SPIN.FASHION's presence in the CPHFW NEWTALENT showroom, dedicated to nurturing, developing and promoting emerging Nordic talent on a global scale. For the AW24 edition, the collaboration will see the digitization of selected runway looks from designers part of the showroom; MLGA, Alectra Rothschild/Masculina, Rolf Ekroth, Latimmier and Stamm.

The CPHFW NEWTALENT scheme offers support to three to five emerging designers per season, encompassing monetary assistance, mentorships, partnership offerings, professional advisors, official show schedule onboarding, event participation, showroom activations, an alumni network, and extensive PR through Copenhagen Fashion Week’s international community and channels. The selected brands will be supported for three consecutive seasons and each designer will graduate on to the alumni program with continued support and mentorship.

As Copenhagen Fashion Week intensifies its commitment to becoming an agenda-setting platform and event, SPIN.FASHION aligns with their Sustainability Action Plan. The Action Plan 2023-2025 builds upon the previous strategy, focusing on pillars such as education, reduction, and acceleration.

“At SPIN.FASHION we are beyond excited to join forces with Copenhagen Fashion Week, being the leading fashion week with a concrete action plan, it is a real honor to have been chosen as an official partner to support achieve these goals, by providing the web3 circularity infrastructure to selected brands, we look forward for circular fashion to become the new standard in fashion commerce.” says Lor Albrighi, Co—CEO & Founder at SPIN.FASHION

About Copenhagen Fashion Week

Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) is the biggest fashion week in Northern Europe, held biannually in January/February and August. Regarded as the fifth global fashion week, Copenhagen Fashion Week welcomes leading international press, buyers and industry leaders across their global network to four days of shows, presentations, installations and events alongside the trade show CIFF.

AboutSPIN.FASHION

SPIN.FASHION is the leading 3D-based phygital platform, seamlessly merging connected fashion, art, and culture through the use of Web3 technologies. At the forefront of creative exploration, SPIN.FASHION empowers creators to step into the next generation of the internet, fostering human-centric, sustainable and community-driven businesses through the synergy of connected products and immersive experiences. 

For press inquiries, please contact:
Copenhagen Fashion Week Media Contact: isabella@copenhagenfashionweek.com
SPIN.FASHION Media Contact: PRESS@spin.fashion

IMAGE
Victor Jone

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Revolutionizing Wardrobe Connectivity: Vogue Singapore Taps SPIN.FASHION for Its First 3D-Immersive and Phygital Closet

CFS EDITORIAL TEAM

FASHION
19 NOV 2023

Revolutionizing Wardrobe Connectivity: Vogue Singapore Taps SPIN.FASHION for Its First 3D-Immersive and Phygital Closet

At Next In Vogue, a two-day landmark event on November 17–18, 2023, at The Singapore Edition, Vogue Singapore celebrated its third anniversary with the prestigious Vogue Talent and Innovation Prize. SPIN.FASHION, top three finalists of the Vogue Singapore x BMW Innovation Prize 2023, powered the Vogue Closet with an immersive exhibition featuring red-carpet couture dresses by Bad Binch Tong Tong and CFS Impact Design honoree Miss Sohee.

Singapore - November 19, 2023

In a captivating two-day extravaganza from November 17th to 18th, 2023, Vogue Singapore orchestrated its inaugural and monumental event — NEXT IN VOGUE. The occasion seamlessly brought together leading voices in the realms of fashion and technology, featuring international speakers such as Netflix star Ashly Park, renowned for her role in 'Emily in Paris'; Alexis Bonhomme, VP of Global Industry Partnerships at FARFETCH; Bea Valdes, Editor-in-Chief at Vogue Philippines; Mae Tan, a rising creative force in Singapore; and more. Vogue Singapore celebrated its third anniversary alongside the Vogue Talent Prize and Vogue Singapore x BMW Innovation Prize awards ceremony, perfectly merging the future of fashion, culture, and lifestyle through the lens of global innovation into the vibrant backdrop of Singapore.

Eliana Kuo, co-CEO and founder at SPIN.FASHION, was also at the panel ‘IRL VS. Virtual Worlds: Challenges & Opportunities For Fashion’s New World’ on 17th November, alongside panel speakers from Farfetch, Cash Labs, Jornee, and Bad Binch Tong Tong, moderated by publisher of Vogue Singapore, Bettina von Schlippe. ‘Lablaco is proud to be part of this journey, exploring web3 technologies with the team since 2021: we hosted Circular Fashion Summit in SPIN VR and celebrated the first anniversary of Vogue Singapore with its first virtual reality gallery at the digital twin of Grand Palais Éphémère during the pandemic; and this year, we celebrated the third anniversary of Vogue Singapore IRL!
‘ says Eliana.

SPIN.FASHION, the pioneer in web3 circular fashion since its inception, has been recognized as top three finalists of Vogue Singapore x BMW Innovation Prize 2023, and was selected by Vogue Singapore as the digital fashion partner to provide the 3D immersive experience to its Vogue Closet exhibition during this three-day event. Vogue Closet, exhibitors including Zalora Luxury, Swarovski, OPPO, Spatial Labs and Kiki World, is an immersive playground of fashion, beauty and technology featuring a curation of digital and physical fashion selected by the editors of Vogue Singapore. It hosted the debut showcase of two Asian designers , Bad Binch Tong Tong and the CFS Impact Design honoree in 2021, Miss Sohee, known for their bold and imaginative work, which made available in Augmented Reality (AR) via SPIN.FASHION and physically showed in Singapore for the first time.

Thanks to SPIN.FASHION’s industry-leading phygital commerce system with AI-powered 3D modeling and IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities, every product can be easily digitized simply by uploading two images captured item’s front and back, with unique Near Field Communication (NFC) labels that connect the 3D twins and detailed product information to its physical counterpart: your connected (IoT) wardrobe is ready to be managed and traced, and monetize it with circular business models such as sale, resale, swap, rental, and borrow.

The 3D and IoT capabilities open new possibilities to navigate the complexities of managing high-value items filled with cherished memories, solving the usual hassles: ‘when did I wear this dress last time?!’, ‘which dress did my sister borrow from me last time?! ’, ‘where did I bring my dress to be cleaned last time?!’, all these human-memories-related manual works can finally be seamlessly automated and managed by SPIN Valut, which operates as a custodial Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) wallet for ownership and management of high-valued physical and digital (phygital) fashion and art items. 

To experience the Immersive Vogue Closet at Next In Vogue, visitors were able to scan the garments and exhibit the 3D digital twins in Augmented Reality (AR) everywhere, to view the information of its provenance and product story, all with smartphones. In addition to Vogue Closet, Miss Sohee couture dress was also shown at a stunning moment at Vogue Gala Dinner: as a rendered video of an AI-generated model wearing the couture gown—a combinative effort of Cash Labs and SPIN.FASHION—was extended to real life, when Singaporean model Kaigin Yong stepped out wearing the breathtaking piece herself to present the award for Vogue Singapore x BMW Innovation Prize 2023.

‘At SPIN, we are excited to join this incredible journey of fashion digitization with Vogue Singapore, tracing back to the magazine's inaugural anniversary in 2021. When we kicked off their first ever Virtual Reality exhibition inside SPIN VR. Fast forward to today, as we mark their third anniversary in Singapore. The fact that we're now delivering immersive Augmented Reality experiences through SPIN is a testament to the power of the Mixed Reality technologies we are building. It's not just about designing and building these technologies to unite people worldwide around fashion, art, and culture — it's about witnessing them do exactly that every single day. Never stoping and always breaking new ground, reshaping the way we experience fashion together.’ says Lor Albrighi, Co-CEO & Founder of SPIN.FASHION.

AboutSPIN.FASHION

SPIN.FASHION is the leading 3D-based phygital platform, seamlessly merging connected fashion, art, and culture through the use of Web3 technologies. At the forefront of creative exploration, SPIN.FASHION empowers creators to step into the next generation of the internet, fostering human-centric, sustainable and community-driven businesses through the synergy of connected products and immersive experiences. 

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Lablaco’s CFS HUB Returns – Meet The 2022 Class of Science and Fashion Catalysts Leading Web3 Innovation, Digitization, and Circularity

PAIGE SILVERIA

FASHION / SCIENCE
18 November

Lablaco’s CFS HUB Returns – Meet The 2022 Class of Science and Fashion Catalysts Leading Web3 Innovation, Digitization, and Circularity

The catalysts premiere exclusively in the SPIN Metaverse on 8 December and for the first time, IRL, with an immersive installation at Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées, early next year.

As part of CFS Summit 2022, lablaco announces the science innovators, fashion designers, and partners for this year’s CFS HUB.

CFS HUB is a playground for boundary-breaking innovation. The platform curates artists, solutions, and creators, and provides a space to accelerate the transition toward a digitized circular fashion system. Every year, CFS discovers and curates bold innovators and designers who are providing better ways to design, produce, communicate, and sell, shining the light on these changemakers during the annual CFS Summit, globally.

For its fourth annual launch, 8 – 11 December 2022,CFS Summit 2022 — the world’s largest annual VR gathering dedicated to luxury fashion, culture, and technology — brings forward designers with a strong vision for the phygital future to feature at CFS HUB. From using digital twins to replace physical prototypes, to designing inside VR, the selected talents understand the value of next-generation digitization to help solve the industry’s physical environmental issues. The CFS HUB Fashion Catalysts are MLLN, Dhruv Kapoor, Karoline Vitto, Raquel de Carvalho, SCRY, 8IGB Community Clothing, Chu Suwannapha, Wilsonkaki, bettter, and Published by.

The CFS HUB Science Catalysts are embracing science as a method for retail evolution. This group of 14 companies is leveraging digital technologies to improve production processes with digital previews, made to order, material science and AI scanning for made to measure, and to reinvent consumption with product timeline transparency, AR visualizations and direct-to-avatar try-ons. The CFS HUB Science Catalysts include EOS, YOU MAWO, Heartdub, Hey! Fashion by Eileen Fisher Foundation, PlatformE, THE REMADE, SPIN Connect, FibreTrace, circular.fashion, Dapper Labs, Polybion, Colorifix, PYRATEX, and Worn Again.

CFS HUB will also host a series of NFT galleries featuring Phygital NFT art and fashion from ISKO, Vogue Philippines, and Fondazione Sozzani. 

ISKO, a century-old leading global textile company, will showcase garments from their new Ctrl-Z line. Referencing the “going back” command used on keyboards, ISKO’s new approach to material science, Ctrl-Z, offers denim out of entirely regenerated cellulose and GRS-certified recycled (cotton and polyester) fibers. The result is superior-quality denim, identical to traditionally produced constructions, yet more durable and sustainable. 

For their gallery space, Vogue Philippines will be presenting a sneak peak of “Paraiso,” their first metaverse fashion editorial from the December/January issue. The visuals feature avatars created by Ivan Medrano, wearing various iterations of the terno — a traditional Filipino dress — reimagined by a selection of designers, and digitized by lablaco and DressX. Set in a digital bukid (field) imagined by Biaca Carague, the backdrop brings to virtual life, the lush landscapes of the Philippines. 

Following the success of the recent release of the digitization of Vogue Italia’s Editor-in-Chief, Franca Sozzani’s couture archive, SPIN and Fondazione Sozzani will again collaborate on the presentation of the phygital garments for this year’s summit. The partnership displays the practicality and utility of Phygital NFTs and blockchain beyond hype. Due to its decentralized blockchain foundation, SPIN creates a transparent and secure avenue to trade, own, and trace the phygital garments in perpetuity. This establishes a new circular product life cycle, shifting the user experience from consumption to ownership of garments, and re-writing the possibilities of retail and resale.

CFS HUB is supported by Luxury Innovation Partner Kering, and their Material Innovation Lab, which, created in 2013, is dedicated to the sourcing of sustainable materials and fabrics. Through MIL, Kering supports CFS Hub Designers with the knowledge of new materials development. Our Industry Partner, Modem, provides working tools and professional information sources, dedicated to those who operate in the fields of fashion and design. Modem is supporting CFS HUB Fashion Catalysts by connecting them with the world of fashion through international showrooms and platforms. Our Retail Partner, Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées is located at 60 avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris since 2019. The Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées store aims to offer its Parisian, French and international visitors a completely new retail model, in line with new forms of consumption. With the largest retail spaces of the avenue, this 6,500 sq.m. concept presents an inspiring and surprising product selection as well as exclusive collaborations and events, to provide its clients with a unique shopping experience amplified by architecture and digital innovations. Additionally, Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées will support CFS HUB Fashion Catalysts and Science Catalysts with a Web3 circular retail activation.

Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées Store View

CFS HUB will premiere at both the digital twin of the Grand Palais Éphémère in the SPIN metaverse, as well as IRL via the first meta-retail experience with Europe’s largest luxury retail group, Galeries Lafayette, at their most iconic store on Champs-Élysées. The activation will take over the whole of Galeries Lafayette’s atrium area with creative installations and immersive extended reality (XR) experiences, 4 – 26 January, 2023. 

CFS and Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées will collaborate on piloting sustainable and circular IoT (Internet of Things) products, which will be available to explore and purchase both physically and digitally in the form of phygital NFTs via augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies. All purchases will be accessible using cryptocurrency with Currency Partner Crypto.com, the world’s fastest-growing platform of its kind. 

With the application of SPIN, customers can discover each product’s timeline, which is authentically traced on blockchain and connected via their exclusive IoT label printer. The technology prints unique QR-code labels that are sewn onto each garment at manufacturing level. Using any smartphone, customers can easily scan the code to visualize the item's journey, impact, and ownership via AR and VR (with Meta Quest headsets), and receive digital ownership upon purchase. 

A series of talks will be hosted IRL in the atrium of Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées, featuring a curated group of changemakers and creative pioneers in art, fashion, technology, and music, with the purpose of educating and creating awareness on the future possibilities in tech and the circular economy. Additionally, a program to meet the creators will be presented in VR, for all participants to speak with inventors behind the products. This unique experience will demonstrate a new industry standard for the future of retail, as it amplifies the augmented product experience for the next generation of sustainable products.

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Meet Raquel de Carvalho, The Rising Queen of Knitwear

PAIGE SILVERIA

FASHION
22 NOVEMBER

Meet Raquel de Carvalho, The Rising Queen of Knitwear

CFS Hub Catalyst Raquel de Carvalho talks to us about embracing sustainability as a growing brand.

There are a myriad ways for designers to improve towards circularity today, from digital prototypes and VR showrooms, to yarn derived from food waste and rental options. Each year the CFS Hub focuses on 10 independent brands who are keenly focused on the new frontier in sustainability and partner them with 10 technology innovators for mentorship and collaboration. Assessing new ways to improve upon each step of the product cycle, from inception to end of use, the 10 pairings will be showcasing their groundbreaking solutions at the #CFS22 Innovation Hub with unique opportunities to continue partnerships into the future. 

For this year’s round, we’ve selected a handful of participants ahead of the summit for a Q&A to discuss their brand’s inception, process, and circular goals. First up is Sao Paulo-born, London-based designer, Raquel de Carvalho whose eponymously named label merges hand-crafted knitwear with sustainability-focused technology. On our call, we chatted about the contest that changed her trajectory, challenges young designers face, and what footwear is actually ideal in the metaverse. 

So your brand is headquartered in London? What were the deciding factors for why you decided to be based there?

I have been here for three years now. I came to study at the London College of Fashion. After finishing my postgraduate course, I wanted to have some work experience and stay a bit longer. I’ve always seen London as a great place for experimentation and exploration. The brand also works with a small team in Brazil; all the artisanal work is produced there. But most of the design happens here in London. Of course it’s not easy at all to have my studio here. It’s very expensive and sometimes I feel like an outsider. But you also have so many opportunities to explore your creative side that it feels right to remain right now. 

I feel like in New York, where I was based for over a decade, there’s a similar struggle of cost of living over the real sense of community there within creative industries. People continue to see the justification for the sacrifice.

Yeah, with the community, you know that everyone is going through the same thing. I was in Brazil recently and I was doing some work there. And it’s a different environment. As a Brazilian it’s of course easier for me to do everything there. I have family and friends and the environment I already know. It’s definitely challenging to be here, but I also know that I have different opportunities to exercise my creativity here. I’ll stay as long as it makes sense. Once I feel like it’s time to go somewhere else, I will. 

How did you get started in design? 

I did my BA in fashion design in Brazil first. At that time I wasn’t particularly interested in knitwear. Then I took a training program for young designers in Italy. It was the first time that I was out of Brazil and the first contact I had with knitwear, collaborating with Italian companies. I just fell in love and decided that that was what I was going to do. I started working with some brands and I got into fashion education teaching, which is something that I’m very passionate about.

And somehow I always knew that I would launch my brand eventually. But I didn’t have much confidence in myself. It felt terrifying, thinking about showing my vision of fashion to the world. I was kind of postponing it. By the end of 2020, an opportunity came for me to apply for a competition organized by Pitti Immagine and the Consorzio Promozione Filati in Italy. And it was this great thing because I could create the project during lockdown. I got together with a company here in London. I was able to try this idea that I had had for such a long time and show it to an important, professional audience, Pitti Filati. And I won. So that was life-changing for me.

What are you working on currently?

I’ve been researching and experimenting with some techniques for my upcoming collection. I don’t have an idea exactly about when I’m going to launch it. I’m still trying to figure it out: the structure of launching a collection, how to manage production. Most of my pieces are made to order, they’re one-offs. So that’s the big challenge, how to respond to the demand. I’ve also been experimenting with 3D digital scan prototyping, which is something I wasn't able to do for the previous collection. But it’s something that I’m excited about.

The hardest part is the production. For many of the pieces I had no idea that people would actually want them. Most of the manufacturers have minimum quantities and I didn’t want to overproduce items just to meet the requirements. That’s really what I’m focusing on, managing this transition from made-to-order pieces to working with things that go beyond the essence of my design aesthetics. But also thinking about distribution, quality control … this is really overwhelming! 

How do you incorporate circularity and sustainability when designing — materials, processes, etc?

The yarns and other materials that I choose play an important role. Everything starts from there. I always try to make really well-informed decisions when it comes to this part of the process. Low-impact materials, things with a certification label confirming less energy and water waste, no deforestation in the production, renewable sources, etc.

But of course it’s not all the time that I’m able to make the choices that I want, being a small brand. But I really try to keep in mind that every piece and every collection is an opportunity to do better. There were a lot of choices I made for the previous collection that I’m going to continue with. For instance, reducing the use of synthetic fibers and choosing more renewable materials. I also try to manage the one-off pieces, reusing, upcycling previous samples, and deadstock yarn. I have so many materials that I’ve accumulated over time — since my BA! I’ve been trying to create small projects in order to use these materials, instead of buying new ones. 

What are your goals for over the course of the next five years, circularity-wise?

For the future, I want to do 100% digital prototyping. I don’t want to waste time or materials on samples. I also want to implement a way for my customers to track the journey of each garment. There’s a specific knitwear software, but the license is really expensive so I wasn’t able to work with it for the past collection. I really believe it’ll be the future of fashion so I really want to work with it. Of course now that I’m participating in the CFS project, I’ll be able to explore phygital NFTs and think about ways to connect this to my customers. Additionally, I’ve been really into experimenting with the rental model for my pieces. I really want to be able to create less, while still having more people access the garments. 

How would you describe the customer you're designing for? 

Well I’d have to mention my close friend and muse, Augusto Cascales .He’s a queer performance artist, writer and filmmaker. I think he synthesizes the spirit of my customers. It’s all about embodying your freedom and using fashion as a way to perform and dress up, and not being stuck in gender and stereotypes. Bring fun, extravagance to dressing. Explore your body and sexuality. 

What's your view on the state of fashion today?

We have a long way to go towards sustainability and circularity. But somehow I feel hopeful, because there are so many people out there doing great things and trying to make a difference. At the same time I feel there’s a huge pressure on young designers, students, and individuals to show that they’re going to save the fashion industry, while those in charge, the big companies and the government, aren’t taking effective action. In the end I guess the fashion industry is just a reflection of society right now. I don’t think we can have a healthy industry if society is facing so many issues like poverty, inequality, and corruption. I just hope that we’re going to continue to do what we can with the forces we have and we’ll continue to put pressure on the right people, those who have the money and power, to actually make some change. 

Okay now for some fun questions. Is a digital human more comfortable in a Tom Sachs x NikeCraft Mars or Balenciaga Croc?

Can I say neither of them? I think it would be Havaianas, for sure. I’m Brazilian. So it’s flip-flops; they’re the best thing. 

Would you invest $100k on a Crocodile Birkin or a Bored Ape NFT?

A Bored Ape NFT, because I would never buy a crocodile Birkin — ever. If I had the money, just no. I mean, crocodile? What they do is too insane to speak about it. It doesn’t make sense at all. 

Give me an example of something that you would do or create in the metaverse that you wouldn’t IRL?

Well, I love metallic and shiny things. That's something I’d love to explore in my designs. But obviously because of the polyester and synthetic fibers, I'm not always able to work with those materials. So I would definitely do everything metallic and shiny, the whole collection. 

Should more companies be like Pataganoia?

I think what they do is great and the brand seems very genuinely focused on sustainability. At the same time, I don’t think everyone should be exactly like them. Everyone needs to find their own way with the resources they have, to make things right. With the position they’re in, they’re able to do things that most brands and people aren’t. So each individual needs to find the balance for themselves within the industry between people, planet, design, etc. 

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