Māori Cloak made with Artificial Intelligence for
Jacinda Ardern
Digitally Grown from the Land
Client Name: World of WearableArt + Right Honorable Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern
Project Name: Digitally Grown
Description: I created a custom Māori cloak using Artificial Intelligence to articulate a surface to organically grow\conform to Jacinda Arderns body.
Web:
One News
My Role:
I was commissioned to design a surprise Garment for Jacinda Ardern to adorn at the World of WearableArts Awards night show. The garments intention was to symbolicaly reignite the
Solution:
I created a custom made Artificial Intelligence to articulate a surface to organically grow\conform to her body's dimensions from the ground up.
This concept was about growing the garment up from the land, to connect her with the Earth.
We had two fitting sessions to ensure it fit well. The first fitting fortunately fit her first try. I had two months to produce the garment, but thanks to modern technology in AI, and in manufacture, i was able to fast track the creation and assembly process to fit within a reasonably tight deadline.
Result:
It was an absolute honour to design for such a strong and impactful leader. My girlfriend Juliette Thomson helped me with the creation and even some of the design choices during the making of Digitally Grown. The resulting garment was an absolute success. Jacinda is very sweet, and down to earth and i really appreciated her time, sincerity and personality. We had a talk about strength and resilience and i am forever appreciative of that conversation.
“Celebrating the return of the World of WearableArt Awards Show is a truly special moment for us and the wider arts industry."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said she decided to appear as a surprise guest after being approached by the World of Wearable Arts.
"It’s been a tough two years for many events that dealt with cancellations, so the Prime Minister was more than happy to take part in an important recovery milestone for the arts sector, and will continue to be supportive of events that boost our regional tourism, and the economic recovery.
Photocredits: Non Fungible Labs + MNTGE
World of WearableArts 2022 Awards night - Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern on stage
Grown from the Land Concept
Concept.
The concept itself is actually quite easy to understand. I envisioned that the garment belonged to New Zealand.
In this instance the Land of New Zealand.
Hence, i wanted it to rise up from the land.
Since my specific A.I. algorithms are built around the act of 'growing itself', it is therefore 'Grown from the Land'.
First Fitting with Jacinda
Second Fitting with Jacinda
The second fitting was brief, but Jacinda came ready for makeup tests plus stage testing. She is such a warm, friendly and down to earth person to engage with and even admitted she was slightly nervous and wanted to make sure she did a good job on stage for all of our work.
Such a sweet woman.
T
