On her twitter feed, Nairobi-born designer Anyango Mpinga referred to her latest campaign as having its roots in a crazy idea. She wrote, “I had this crazy idea for a campaign to dress women in virtual 3D garments remotely and all they had to do was send me their photos in swim suits. I collaborated with a 3D digital artist called Yifan Pu and this is the result.”

Craziness is sometimes a necessary condition for a brilliant outcome. ‘The Pupil’, Anyango’s digital fashion campaign, is magnificent for many reasons. It’s strikingly beautiful, with women from across the globe who work in different creative professions wearing Anyango’s new creations. It communicates the opinions of these women on diversity and inclusion; on how and if the fashion industry has changed and what they would each do to make the future better. For instance, Donna-Marie Mason says, “The most shocking thing about diversity and inclusion in this particular industry is that it still doesn’t exist, there is still tokenism, however it now needs to be integrated within the system and there definitely needs to be more diversity and inclusion in the rooms where the big decisions are being made.” This sentiment is repeated by most of the women who Anyango invited to join the campaign.

Anyango founded her eponymous contemporary, sustainable brand in 2015, which has become known for its reimagined white shirts; bold prints; balanced between androgyny and a bohemian aesthetic that is also size inclusive. Earlier this year she participated in the Helsinki Fashion Week held in cyberspace, and took part in a HFW residency.

             

Her latest collection is a reflection on oneness and its importance in social justice and inclusion. It features bold prints inspired by Swahili architecture on the Kenyan Coast, more specifically “Zidaka” niches, which are signature wall carvings traditionally used to display lamps and ornamental objects in Swahili Architecture. On her website, she writes, “I’m making clothing even more accessible and size inclusive to customers through an AI powered digital tailor App developed by one of my partners Size Me Up. The App will help consumers select the right sizes by taking their measurements virtually with an option to have each garment customised for larger sizes.”

We asked the designer a few questions via email.

I had been in contact with Helsinki Fashion Week in 2019 when they extended an invitation to me to participate at their fashion week. I couldn’t make it to Helsinki as I was already committed to a project for the Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan so when the invitation was extended to me this year by HFW’s founder Evelyn Mora, I took up the opportunity to be part of the week-long residency.

I had to design the dress and have the patterns made in the traditional way and then digitised it to make it easy for the 3D artist to stitch the garment virtually on a computer. Prior to this experience, I had underestimated just how long it could take. However it was also cool discovering just how much you can do in digital design without wasting material resources, which normally happens in the initial prototyping stage of any collection.

Ahead of the residency, I had the opportunity to work with Balmlabs with whom I created some digital looks and the founder Baboa Tachie-Menson taught me about rendering 3D garments and how the physics-based models within CAD systems for garment design can give you a highly accurate garment shape. After that, I was paired with the Berlin-based digital artist Yifan Pu to create a digital look for my Helsinki Fashion Week Residency. I learnt a lot about how garment shapes can be accurately predicted by including the material properties of each textile to model complex shapes and assemble the finished garment. I also collaborated with Paola Pinna, another digital artist who created my virtual Avatar twin, wearing one of my dresses from the collection.

It inspired me to continue designing my latest collection in 3D and to find a creative way to launch it. I’m launching a new collection and continue my collaboration with Yifan Pu. Instead of using digital avatars for my look book, I figured it must be the same process to render clothes on an avatar as it is on real people. I brought together a selection of some amazing women based around the world and asked them to send me photos of themselves in their homes or taken at a studio observing social distancing. I then dressed the women in virtual clothing from the collection and created a campaign where each woman shares her insights on matters of social justice for my collection “The Pupil”.

Sustainability has always been inherent to my design process. When I launched my eponymous brand, I already had a system in place to ensure that I could operate my business in an environmentally-friendly way by incorporating upcycling, biodegradable materials and sourcing only from certified suppliers committed to upholding the values that are important to my brand.

In other words, the “pupil of the eye” is a mirror of social reality. It’s a reflection on the meaning of oneness and pays attention to this year and our collective desire for unified, positive action.This collection features bold prints inspired by Swahili architecture on the Kenyan Coast, more specifically “Zidaka” niches, which are signature wall carvings traditionally used to display lamps and ornamental objects in Swahili Architecture.

Optimistic is how I feel about the world. For every unpleasant thing that has happened this year, there have been some triumphs, whether it’s in seeing humanity extend random acts of kindness or people being introspective and making a commitment to be better global citizens. We have to appreciate the little things. My latest collection is inspired by this Abdu’l Baha quote: “The reflection of a person is seen in the black pupil of the eye.”

What do you hope people will do to make things better?

Lastly, where is your studio and how do we buy your clothes?

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Included in the “The Pupil” campaign are the following women: