It's not rare to be fascinated more by an element of a set during a fashion show than by the designs on the runway. At times a floor pattern or a light effect can indeed prompt us to think and spark up connections in our minds.
Fendi's Haute Couture A/W 23 collection, for example, featured minimalist sculptural and draped gowns, some of them in liquid fabrics and matched with short capes, in earthy and nude tones or in shades reminiscent of gems evoking the palette of George Balanchine's Jewels.
The connection seemed plausible also because Kim Jones put emphasis on the sparkling jewels and clutches incorporating rings featured in the collection, designed by Delfina Delettrez Fendi.
Yet there was another protagonist in the show – the marble floor. Apart from making you think about Ludwieg Mies van der Rohe's German pavilion designed for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona (a fashion inspiration for some past collections), the floor sparked new connections with contemporary researches into marble patterns created with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Reply, in collaboration with ACPV (Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel) Architects studio, recently employed Artificial Intelligence and in particular generative models, such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and Dall-E 2, to create high-quality images for ceramic producer Marazzi.
The inspiration for the project came while looking for a customized design for the flooring of the 'Art and Technology' space within Reply's new headquarters at the Caserma Ettore de Sonnaz barracks, in Turin.
Starting from samples of real materials and patterns, the images were processed by Reply Machine Learning – the Reply Group company branch specializing in AI – and ACPV ARCHITECTS using inpainting, outpainting, variation, and super-resolution techniques to ensure maximum quality and realism.
The results look genuine and the marble pattern generated are very similar to the real thing, something that may inspire very different patterns made with AI that could be used in fashion as well, such as animal skins (digital renditions of animal skin textures are already available and employed in the industry, but AI may be used to create customised animal skin patterns and furs from previous archival designs with the /blend function…).
The project teams who worked on the marble images stated that AI unlocked for them new possibilities in interior design, allowing them to come up with patterns that establish a new link between nature and artifice.
"While the reproduction of natural patterns has a long history in architecture and interior design, we now have the possibility of generating new patterns that go beyond the limits of nature," stated architect Patricia Viel, CEO of ACPV Architects in a press release.
"AI-generated images offer a distinct advantage in the creation of marble patterns due to their ability to cater to specific needs in terms of meaning, colour schemes, personal preferences, and spatial configurations. This experiment introduces a new approach to creativity by combining the capabilities of AI algorithms with human guidance and input."
According to the project teams involved, while the new patterns expand the range of customised and high-quality tiles, they also imply significant reductions in the exploitation of natural resources and in material purchasing (real marble tiles are expensive) and transportation costs.
While some consider marble as environmentally friendly as it is a natural stone durable and resistant, this material still needs be extracted, a process that takes a toll on the environment.
Its extraction differs depending on how it will be used: marble can be fragmented by explosives to be used as a construction aggregate or powder for various products. If the intention is to use marble as dimension stone, like blocks for sculptors, it has to be cut from the ground using water-cooled saws or extremely high-powered jets of water. Once extracted it requires a fuel-heavy shipping operation so that it can be used by companies and manufacturers operating in other countries.
Marble has also got very energy intensive manufacturing processes that generate a lot of waste and dust, using copious amounts of energy and water.
"Innovation helps us improve processes and products every day, to use energy sources and raw materials more consciously, and to promote circularity in our production processes," explains about the project Mauro Vandini, CEO of Marazzi Group.
"This experimentation, which applies artificial intelligence to the design of ceramic products, represents not only a concrete example of our approach to sustainability, which aims to be open and multidisciplinary," he continues, "but also a true technological leap that can open up infinite creative possibilities and actively contribute to reducing the environmental impacts associated with this phase of the process."
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