Soorty’s HumAIn brings human eyes to AI
A new collection of Soorty-made denims for both virtual and material-world consumption, HumAIn, follows a creative collaboration between the producer and Volker Ketteniss, a designer, trend forecaster and content director based in Nuremberg.
Mr Ketteniss set up his studio, called Ornmntncrm or Ornament and Crime, back in January 2021 following almost 13 years as menswear director at WGSN and, prior to that, two years as a senior apparel designer for outdoor brand Timberland.
Soorty described the collection as artificial intelligence (AI)-generated, but overseen and curated by the creative eye of Mr Ketteniss, who filtered through numerous options before a 50-look digital collection and two physical garments made the final cut. The open-source AI technology used was that by Stable Diffusion.
Executive director for global sales and marketing at Soorty, Ebru Debbag, consequently called the final outcomes an example of how “human value is emphasised and enhanced by technology to discover design possibilities that will not only be relevant for the market, but will also drive conscious sourcing and consumption behaviour.”
Out of all the looks, only two jumpsuit-style designs were chosen for production, with materials and “smart” manufacturing processes not selected until then, as a kind of “reverse engineering”, as Soorty put it. Ivy, a new cotton-Tencel blend, was ultimately found to be the best match for its draping, yet “authentic denim character”.
The vertical manufacturer, which has been pursuing “digital denim” design systems and technologies for around five years now, said it expected the project would not only open up the doors to further opportunity in the sustainable denim sphere, but also help it meet customers’ needs on an even larger scale moving forward.
Headquartered in Karachi, Soorty already produces across Pakistan and Bangladesh, develops fabrics in Turkey and designs from its creative hubs in Amsterdam and New York. It says it is “the only company” to have obtained LEED Platinum and Cradle2Cradle Gold certification for both its garment factory and denim fabric mill.
Some of the AI-generated denim looks, rendered against a factory-style backdrop. Credit: Soorty.
