niels nijman brings AI-generated bags and shoes to life at dutch design week

Niels Nijman’s AI-assisted fashion creations at Dutch Design Week

Seeking to challenge the notions of authenticity and desirability in the fashion world, Niels Nijman Diffre has crafted a collection of tangible fashion items with the assistance of an AI image generator. Each image was created using keywords such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Air Max, and Lacoste, reflecting the fashion preferences of suburban youth in the French capital where the designer resides. The generated images were further processed into 3D models and printed with a smooth paint finish. The resulting pieces emerged as sleek hybrids of existing shoe, bag, and accessory designs and were presented at the 2023 edition of Dutch Design Week.

Niels Nijman Diffre’s works are displayed as luxury items | all images by Anwyn Howarth

Niels Nijman’s AI-Infused pieces challenge fashion Authenticity

Niels Nijman (find more here) is among the designers who have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to create bold fashion pieces. In the realm of social media, digital creators often employ well-known fashion brand names as prompts to generate striking designs that incorporate signature elements, even without the brands’ consent. While Nijman’s work doesn’t directly replicate specific brand signatures, it does employ familiar forms that evoke popular fashion pieces.

The resulting objects, enriched with visual symbols, give the impression of genuine high-fashion pieces. When presented during the 2023 Dutch Design Week (find more here), the fashion hybrids were positioned as luxury items, thus challenging preconceived notions of originality and replication and bluring the lines between what is genuinely authentic and what is not.

the AI-generated images were processed into 3D models and printed with a smooth paint finish