Drums and Bots + A Last Supper

rag & bone is a brand known for pushing the boundaries of classic design so it’s no surprise they unveil each season with an innovative and artful experience.

In 2019, we partnered with rag & bone by embracing emerging technologies: AI and Robotics.

For 2019 Fall/Winter Fashion week, rag and bone turned its back on the traditional fashion show in favor of a 50 person VIP dinner party with guests showing off the season’s looks.

Dinner parties are common, but this dinner was hosted by Artificial Intelligence. The event was called “A Last Supper.” Using machine vision and a language based neural network, the AI host was able to identify things in the room and then talk about what it saw, just like dinner guests naturally do. By the end of the night, the system had gained enough data to explain what it thought a dinner party was. With original music from Thom Yorke and choreography from Damien Jalet, the evening was not only memorable, but for many guests it was the first time they truly understood what is possible with AI today. We collaborated with AI writer, Ross Goodwin; developer, Elie Zananiri; and director, Jay Harwood.

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The breakthrough technology campaign continued on to the runway for 2019 Spring/Summer Fashion Week, this time with a semi-autonomous robot. A bespoke system was created for following and observing human movement with the robot, which was equipped with both a video camera and LIDAR sensor. The robot followed the models and looks on the runway and fed the content back to screens at the event.

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Rag and Bone’s goal of breaking through in 2019 was a resounding success, with equal attention from tech and fashion publications like Fast Company and Vogue. A Last Supper alone received 778.6 milion global impressions. The team was even invited to speak alongside AI and robotics giant, SAP, on a panel about the tech achievements in fashion.

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These campaigns have been so successful because they’re not just stunts. Today, culture and technology are inextricably linked. If it is fashion’s job to show the world what is new in culture, then rag and bone does fashion week right.