At Dutch Design Week 2019, an augmented reality installation by Utrecht-based fashion collective Studio PMS (Suzanne Mulder, Puck Martens and Merle Kroezen) will invite visitors to explore Bolon’s latest flooring collection, Diversity. The project – called Apparellel Existence – is the result of a design challenge conceptualized and produced by Frame which challenged five Dutch creatives to create an immersive experience based on the idea of hyper-personalization. Developed in collaboration with Attach Studio, the winning spatial concept to be executed by Studio PMS allows visitors to experience Bolon’s products, among other features, in both the digital and physical realms.
Read on to discover the future-facing concept behind Apparellel Existence, and be sure to experience it in action at Eindhoven’s Veem building from 19 to 27 October.
How did Bolon’s Diversity collection inspire your concept?
SUZANNE MULDER: Bolon’s brand values are in line with our personal design vision: they strive to be a design-led innovator and fuse flooring with the boundless creativity of the world of fashion. At PMS, we like to dive into interdisciplinary projects where fashion, technology and design be used in a sustainable, unconventional and surprising way.
Personalization creates a more intimate, personal and social interaction with the viewer
What do you believe is the importance of customization in design today, and why?
PUCK MARTENS: It opens doors both on sustainable and social levels. Personalization is, of course, a very rewarding way to prevent overproduction: it creates a more intimate, personal and social interaction with the viewer. In our view, that’s that the most ultimate form of luxury these days.
In what way does your concept respond to the theme of hyper-personalization? What will the visitor’s experience look like?
SM: In a world oversaturated with everyday stimuli and data, there’s no better feeling than to maintain control. In addition to the dominant reality of overproduction, we strive for a fashion industry that is less hierarchical, conservative and, especially, less passive toward its audience.
MERLE KROEZEN: With Apparellel Existence, one can experience Bolon's Diversity collection and our work – either individually or collectively – using augmented reality once the Apple and Android-compatible app from Studio PMS is downloaded. Three different varied experiences can be manifested, making spectator's preference very important. In this way, we give the control back to the participant in an innovative, interactive and sustainable way. After choosing one, the participant will be invited to move as they choose within the space we’ve designed with Attach Studio.
Why did you decide to work with a digital layer to showcase a very tactile product?
SM: We want to illustrate how digitization is becoming more and more humane in our daily lives. Additionally, we want to demonstrate that values of different dimensions – such as virtual and physical – take an alternative presence in our world. But, certainly, still are both as relevant: One cannot exist without the other.
In the buzz of the Dutch Design Week, what do you believe it takes (for a brand) to grab the attention of visitors?
PM: The value of presence. We began wonder why viewers have minimal control over how – and even what – they observe. So we asked: How do we change that? How can we make an interactive digital fashion experience that seeks interaction with the physical space?
MK: By visualizing digital fashion design and using contemporary techniques to showcase it, we at Studio PMS hope to stimulate and inspire people to shape a new vision of what fashion means today. Together we look for ways to give people a fashionable experience without actually producing.
