The SYKY Collective, the luxury digital fashion platform, launched by former Ralph Lauren chief digital and content officer Alice Delahunt has announced the inaugural line-up of digital fashion talent it has selected for its incubator program.
“We believe that these 10 designers are harnessing the most innovative technologies and that they hold the power to redefine the boundaries of fashion in unimaginable ways,” said Delahunt via email.
Among biggest names is Constantinos Panayiotou, the creative director behind Web3 fashion house and design studio Pet Liger, known for his hyper-real footwear and who recently collaborated with Gucci Vault (Gucci’s experimental online store) on NFT artworks inspired by the codes of the Italian powerhouse.
Likewise digital artist Stephy Fung who fuses contemporary fashion with her Chinese heritage has worked for major brands such as Paco Rabanne, Jo Malone, and Snapchat while multimedia artist Calvyn Dylin Justus who draws inspiration from movements of the natural world, also multitasks as an international model and Olympic swimmer.
“I’m focused on using that same drive applied to my creativity and design process, to push myself and the industry to that same level of excellence,” he told Forbes via email.
Visual artist and photographer GlitchOfMind blends virtual reality and artificial intelligence in the design of 3D avatars, Taskin Goec fuses spatial computing with phygital garments, while Felipe Fiallo is concerned with sustainable design principles in the footwear sector.
With a background in developing creator tools for global platforms, the goal for immersive technology creator Jacquelyn Jade’s Embodi brand is to create personalized and interactive digital fashion she said. “I’m taking a thrilling next step toward becoming a fully-fledged fashion house.”
Digital fabric creation specialist Fanrui Sun, technological fashion house Nextberries, and 3D creative Gustavo Toledo who focuses on rendering fashion more accessible complete the global line-up.
Under the guidance of mentors including Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, Jonathan Bottomley CMO of Calvin Klein, Mark Guiducci creative editorial Director of Vogue and Red DAO founder Megan Kaspar, the 10 digital fashion designers will embark on an immersive year-long program designed help them build and scale their emerging brands, better positioning them to launch the luxury fashion houses of tomorrow.
“This process has reaffirmed that SYKY is on the path to building something extraordinary,” Delahunt added, noting that the global Digital Fashion market is already valued at some $300 billion.
The Collective is anticipated to launch their debut collections on SYKY.com later this year. “We eagerly anticipate the moment when we can share their creations with the rest of the world,” she said. “The next great luxury fashion icon is here to be discovered.”
Other notable talent incubators and accelerators include the Outlier Ventures x Farfetch Dream Assembly Basecamp, now in it’s second season and LVMH’s La Maison des Startups, LVMH’s business acceleration program at Station F in Paris, which all the finalists of the LVMH Innovation Prize are invited to join.
SYKY closed its Series A funding round in January 2023, led by Seven Seven Six. Shortly after, SYKY launched its Keystone collection, a membership pass for fashion enthusiasts, leaders and collectors who aim to shape the future of fashion in digital, physical and augmented worlds. SYKY debuted digital designers during NYFW23, and has since partnered with leading established fashion brands to bridge the gap between the world of luxury fashion, digital design and Web3.
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