Fashion Tech, Virtual Goods, Avatars & Generative AI #7

Discover the Monthly Reviews archive where news, recommendations, and reading lists on fashion, emerging technologies, and sustainability are shared.

This newsletter was originally created and shared on 27.04.2023.

***UNFOLDING EXCLUSIVE***

Source: Unfolding Strategies

#1 It’s spring and it’s time to learn about fashion tech and AI. Sign up for our course!

We are thrilled to introduce two interactive online courses aimed at enhancing your skills. By collaborating with our community members and tapping into the wisdom of industry professionals, we've tailored these courses to address the most pressing needs of the industry today. Learn about Fashion Tech & AI with Unfolding Strategies. We start in May. Enroll here.

#2 Watch our keynote on virtual goods, culture & sustainability at Taipei’s DigiFashion Forum

Unfolding Strategies partnered with DigiFashion Forum in Taipei, co-organized with the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, and Taiwan Textile Federation. Our founder, Beata Wilczek, delivered a keynote speech, which you can watch here.

#3 We explored the impact of web2 and web3 on fashion and culture during the Digital Fashion Symposium in Paris

We were delighted to take part in DIGITAL FASHION SYMPOSIUM, organized by students from Parsons Paris – The New School and London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. The symposium gathered emerging research at the intersection of fashion studies, digital cultures and technology.

#4 We joined Google & Sustainable fashion Institute for innovative fashion in Warsaw

Our founder, Beata Wilczek, delivered a keynote titled "Unfolding Fashion: Solving the Industry's Most Urgent Questions" at the Google & Sustainable Fashion Institute for Innovative Fashion in Warsaw, Poland, during Fashion Revolution Week 2023.

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***UNFOLDING BIG WORDS***

Source: Unfolding Strategies

Avatar

An icon or figure representing a particular human or non-human in digital environments and virtual realities, such as video games, social media and Internet fora.

(Words by Beata Wilczek.)

Etymology:
“The term AVATAR has roots in the religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent and was imported into video game terminology during a period of widespread appropriation of Eastern culture by Californian tech industries. This indicates a fundamental hybridity to gaming cultures that highlights the need to add postcolonial perspectives to how issues of diversity and power in gaming cultures are understood.”

(L. de Wildt, T. Apparley, J. Clemens, R. Fordyce, S. Mukherjee, 2019)

“Avatar is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth.”

(SHABDKOSH, English Hindi Dictionary, 2023)