HERITAGE RE: CODED

FORÆVA, the innovative design lab co-founded by fashion designer Lana Dumitru and architect Vlad Tenu, is showcasing their latest 3D printed fashion collection for the first time in New York City as part of RCI`s Romanian Fashion Showcase Program (3rd edition). The two award-wining designers are known for previously dressing the iconic artist Björk in an art-meets-tech garment made of 25,000 crystals, a creation dubbed by Vogue as "a labor of love" and currently on display at the Swarovski Crystal Worlds Museum. The showcase will feature not only the final creations but also the initial concept designs, providing a glimpse into the creative duo’s digital evolution captured through a groundbreaking format of 3D-generated immersive digital fashion catwalks. 

Breaking new ground in fashion by 3D printing directly on textiles, FORÆVA presents HERITAGE RE:CODED, their most recent collaboration with the leading 3D printing company Stratasys. The collection reimagines tradition and crafts of the future through the advancements of technology and computer science. It reflects on cultural legacies for future generations, celebrating heritage and diversity while decoding and reinventing centuries-old graphics and motifs through computational design. The exhibition is presented during the New York Fashion Week 2024 having been previously shown at the Milano Design Week. 

The creative process behind each piece is enhanced by a bespoke algorithm, interpreting and recreating traditional patterns, much like the coded passing on of traditional sewn motifs through generations. Each design takes on new forms of expression materialized through state-of-the-art 3D printing technologies on fabric, meticulously crafted in collaboration with Stratasys. The result is a new visual language born through computer synthesis, illustrating patterns with complex symbols, text, or figures, revealing hidden meanings and further narrating the story of tradition.

Don`t miss the one-off special event on Friday, February 16, from 6 pm!

LANA DUMITRU is a visionary designer and digital artist awarded by Forbes the “Best Young Romanian Fashion Designer.” Her eponymous label, based in Lisbon and Bucharest, serves as a canvas where art, innovation, and fashion seamlessly converge. Having earned a Ph.D. in Digital Arts and Fashion through extensive research in London, Lana cultivates her original style by meticulously designing all her visuals and patterns, transforming pristine white fabrics into strong, uniquely conceptual pieces through the use of digital and 3D printing, laser cutting, and digital prototyping. Lana’s work encapsulates a distinctive fusion of new technology and the reinvention of tradition. A recipient of numerous awards, Lana has been featured in prestigious platforms globally, from London Fashion Week to design centres worldwide. Her work, described as “wearable opinions,” has earned her international acclaim and a coveted spot in Forbes' “Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs.”

VLAD TENU is an award-winning Romanian-British architect based in London. From architectural design and teaching to art installations, sculptures, modular assembly systems and wearable art pieces, Vlad’s work is a continuous explorative research into spatiality, scale and materiality. Inspired by underlying processes of nature, his design workflow is a symbiotic mix of art and science involving mathematical concepts and algorithmic techniques. His experimental sculptures and installations have been exhibited in London, Paris, Houston, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Bucharest, Iasi and Timisoara. He has taught at the Bartlett for about 12 years and gave lectures at leading academic institutions in London, New York, Aarhus and Houston. His architectural experience includes award-winning studios such as Surface Architects, Urban Systems and currently Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

FORÆVA

The multidisciplinary design lab co-founded by Lana Dumitru and architect Vlad Tenu expands the fusion between fashion and architecture. Their shared passion for expressing ideas through artistic means draws inspiration from nature, traditional craft, computation, science, and technology, whilst their mission is to bring the past into the future by reinventing the ancestral heritage. Drawing inspiration from microscopic cells to celestial bodies, their designs are composed of endless recurring patterns, echoing the rhythms of nature. The duo's innovative design approach spans fashion, jewellery, product design and architecture, with ground breaking creations such as art pieces and collections born out of research projects, commissions, and brand collaborations. A highlight of their work is the Foraeva crystal dress, adorned with 25,000 Swarovski crystals, worn by Björk during the Utopia Tour and currently showcased at the Swarovski Crystal Worlds Museum in Austria.