Amsterdam – The Fabricant is trialling a new digital platform, Leela, that allows users to create a photo-real avatar to test out digital couture.

Leela, which means ‘play’ in Hindi, encourages users to experiment with bold digital garments for their avatars to wear, picking designs from Fluid – a specially created digital-only couture collection. Using 3D technology, the platform enables users to capture images of their digitally dressed avatar from multiple perspectives.

Conceptualised as a ‘self-expression playground’, Leela has been created at a time when brands are exploring digital fashion and virtual runways. With physical stores remaining closed owing to Covid-19, digital solutions such as Leela can fuel new business and marketing models for brands. ‘In Leela, people are not passive consumers but creative agents crafting their self-expression and curating their visual identity through digital clothing,’ explains Amber Jae Slooten, creative director at The Fabricant.

In our interview with The Fabricant, Slooten discusses the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) in fashion and how it can be used to creatively push the boundaries of design.

A new global survey by WKspace offers insight into workplace behaviours in response to the experience of working from home in recent months.

It reveals that 46% of employees believe they will have more control over how and where they work in the next few years, and 53% think that work and the workplace will change significantly. While the pandemic has forced many companies to adapt swiftly to home-based working, 42% of employees say they want more virtual meetings rather than a physical presence.

As companies become increasingly aware of employees’ health and wellbeing, the lockdown period has offered a glimpse into the potential future of the workplace, from reduced working hours to technology-enhanced ambience.