Location

Antwerp, Belgium

Year

2021

Ainu Fish Skin Robe

Freelance Work

I developed a 3D animation that was presented during the Responsible Fashion Series – Breaking the Mould conference at the university of Antwerp

I collaborated with Elisa Palomino on a project to digitally recreate Ainu fish skin robes, merging traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. Using CLO3D and Blender, I designed a 3D animation of the robe, capturing its intricate details and movement. The project aimed to promote sustainability by utilizing fish skin, and to preserve cultural heritage through digital innovation. My work emphasizes the potential for technology to enhance inclusivity and accessibility in fashion, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge digital tools to create garments that honour both past and future practices.

Read The Interview

In the book Technology, Sustainability, and the Fashion Industry: Can Fashion Save the World?, Chapter 6 is entirely dedicated to the project.

Buy The Book
Ainu robe developed with Elisa Palomino
Screenshot of process of making Ainu robe in Blender
Screenshot of the process of making the Ainu robe animation in Blender
Screenshots of the process behind the making of the Ainu robe in Blender
The pattern in CLO 3D of the Ainu robe developed with Elisa Palomino
Process of the making of the Ainu robe in CLO 3D with Elisa Palomino

Screenshots from the process while developing the animation.

Using CLO3D, I designed the robe’s pattern and physical properties, while Blender allowed me to animate the scene with elements like a boat, ocean, and Ainu avatar. I developed the fish skin print pattern in Photoshop and adapted it in CLO3D to ensure realistic garment construction. The animation brought the robe to life, enabling viewers to explore it from different perspectives.

Read The Interview

Making fish skin pattern-based garments: developing digital tools for the fashion industry based on Ainu Indigenous Peoples tradition.

The project was presented during the Responsible Fashion Series – Breaking the Mould conference at the University of Antwerp next week.

“The Ainu garment in the image is part of a study that hypothesises what would have happened if, during the Meji era, the Japanese had brought their Katazome indigo dyeing tradition, and blended it with the Ainu tradition of creating clothing from fish skin.” Elisa Palomino

I developed a CLO3D Ainu Robe that I later translated into BLENDER to model the rest of the scene and animate it.

See The Official Paper