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Where Fashion, AI & Design Shape the Future
In March 2025, Cap_able joined forces with the Knit Design Lab at Politecnico di Milano, Future Sketches, and IDEO (San Francisco & Cambridge) for a workshop that became a true playground of imagination 🎨. Far from being just a brainstorming session, it was a deep dive into the intersection of fashion 👗, technology 🤖, and performance 🎭 — where the physical and digital worlds seamlessly blend into one.
Inspired by Future Sketches’ experimental approach to AI and Cap_able’s pioneering textile innovations that protect privacy from facial recognition 🕶️, the workshop unveiled bold visions and sparked a new conversation: what if garments could become a hybrid language, speaking not only to us but also to machines? 💡
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Fashion as Manifesto, Accessories as Interfaces & The Body as a Living Dataset
One of the most exciting outcomes was the idea of fashion stepping beyond knitwear and venturing into statement couture — pieces reminiscent of the Met Gala ✨, where clothing becomes a manifesto. Imagine an evening gown that dazzles with color and silhouette 🌈, while also shielding its wearer with AI-resistant technology 🔒.
This vision extended naturally to accessories 👜 — playful yet purposeful objects like bucket hats 🎩 or mini-bags crafted from Cap_able textiles. Far from being just stylish add-ons, they act as portable signals 📡 in the digital sphere, sending subtle, coded messages to AI systems.
And then came the performance dimension 🎭: garments that transform identity as quickly as a quick-change artist on stage. Layers of textiles allow the wearer to “swap” characters, creating fluid, shifting identities that confuse AI recognition 🤯. Here, the body becomes a living, layered dataset: dynamic, performative, and always in motion.
Together, these explorations suggest that clothing is no longer static. It’s a manifesto 💬, an interface 🔗, and a performance 🎶 — all woven into one.
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Messages Only Machines Can See
Another powerful concept flipped the script: what if clothes didn’t just hide us from AI, but actually spoke to it? While humans see only colorful patterns 🎨, machines could read hidden, encoded signals 🔐 embedded in the fabric.
This opens up thrilling possibilities: garments that trigger real-time changes in digital backdrops 🌌, AR environments that shift with your outfit 🪄, or encrypted textiles carrying secret messages 🗝️ — invisible to the human eye 👀, yet crystal-clear to AI 🤖.
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Toward a Hybrid Language
The workshop concluded with a shared realization: AI-resistant textiles are not only a shield 🛡️ but also a creative medium 🎨. They can become active storytellers 📖, sparking performances, generating reactions, and inventing a new coded language 🔤 that exists between the visible and invisible, human and machine.
Fashion, in this vision, isn’t just about what we wear 👕. It’s about how we communicate 🗣️, how we perform 🎭, and how we imagine our coexistence with intelligent systems 🤝.
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A Special Thanks
This workshop was pure collective imagination — a space where creativity and technology don’t cancel each other out, but instead amplify one another. A glimpse into a future where garments are not only protective, but also poetic, playful, and powerful.
It would not have been possible without the extraordinary collaboration of Future Sketches (MIT Media Lab), with its bold and experimental vision constantly pushing the boundaries of AI✨.
Our gratitude also goes to IDEO (San Francisco & Cambridge) whose global perspective 🌍 enriched the conversation with invaluable insights.
And, finally, to the Knit Design Lab at Politecnico di Milano 🧵, a place where innovation in textiles continues to inspire and shape new futures.
Above all, a heartfelt thank you goes to all the participants 🤩, who brought their energy, creativity, and curiosity to the table. Their contributions turned this workshop into a vibrant exchange of ideas 💫, reminding us that the most powerful innovations are born when different minds and disciplines come together.
⚡ Stay tuned for more experiments, collaborations, and bold visions from Cap_able and check IDEO blog at the link below to know more about this amazing workshop!
--> https://edges.ideo.com/emerging-wave-sessions/ai-resistant-textiles
The future of fashion is being written now 🚀.
