dada projects shoots tech-wear fashion in utopian augmented 3D world

fashion meets 3d animation in this utopian digital mirage

Female-led 3D motion design studio Dada Projects has teamed up with French photographer and art director Laetitia Dumez to present Fata Morgana — a fictional, augmented 3D world that melds the boundaries of reality and illusion, brought to life with live-shot models. A Fata Morgana is a complex form of superior mirage, reinterpreted in this context with 3D animations depicting other-worldly desert landscapes. These surreal terrains are juxtapozed with a lush Garden of Eden paradise dotted with wildflowers, all experienced by live actors and shot by Laetitia Dumez.

Harley Graham’s clothing styling, which incorporates tech-wear and gorp-core outfits into the shoot, harmonizes with the earthy tones and subtle fluorescent details of the environment. This fusion of fashion and animation was conceived with the goal of exploring and expanding creative boundaries within a fictional environment, while reflecting the growing prevalence of our existence in both the real and digital realms.

all images courtesy of Dada Projects

dada projects teams up with Laetitia Dumez for Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana’s narrative follows the journey of explorers seeking solutions in a world seemingly on the brink of collapse. Their quest involves pushing the limits of possibility, altering time and visual perceptions, blurring backgrounds, and distorting nature and people. Amidst this chaos, they stumble upon a last vestige of life — a symbol of hope and resilience.‘The concept centres around the notion that life can persist even in the most inhospitable and challenging environments — an idea which emerged in response to COVID-19, warfare, and climate change,’ notes the team at Dada Projects. Functional with straps, the models’ clothing is tailor-made for desert explorers and sourced from sustainable brands and independent designers, often fashioning one-off pieces and small batches from off-cuts and deadstock materials.

This project serves as a poignant metaphor for hope, despite being an illusion. It incorporates a blend of 3D and photographic elements, juxtaposing illusion and reality. Initial scenes for the project were created in Unreal Engine, which facilitated the import of environmental assets and eliminated any rendering delays and accelerated the R&D process. However, the Dada Projects team switched to Cinema4D to deliver a more refined and sophisticated outcome, compared to the game-like visuals of Unreal. The real-life component of the project was shot in a green screen studio, employing continuous lighting to create the illusion of sunlight during different times of the day. Static cameras captured slow motion movement of the actors and their clothes billowing in the desert wind.

Fata Morgana fuses 3D animation with fashion

Laetitia Dumez, Photographer and Art Director, says: ‘The magic of merging reality with illusion is that it can transport us to a world that is both familiar and fantastical. We felt that through the combination of photography and 3D design, we can create something that is truly unique. Teaming up with Christina [of Dada Projects] was a natural fit, as we both shared a drive to create. Our collaboration was an exciting challenge — by joining our different skill sets together, we were able to build something that we couldn’t have accomplished alone. It was a great experience that showed us the power of combining different talents.’

a fictional, augmented 3D world that melds the boundaries of reality and illusion

live-shot models bring the lush animated landscape to life

a lush Garden of Eden paradise dotted with wildflowers

the models’ clothing is sourced from sustainable brands and independent designers

a barren desert evolves

project info:

name: Fata Morgana
designer: Dada Projects, Laetitia Dumez

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom