Edward Crutchley sees AI as a tool, not a threat. For this collection he prompted his intelligence of choice to research the brief “Medieval people on a fashion photoshoot in the style of Steven Meisel.” Crutchley then developed the resulting images into this collection, which included some prints generated directly by AI. He said: “I find machine learning and machine creating fascinating. Not in a way that it’s all I want to use. But it is a really interesting tool to place within my process.”
The result was presented to a Hey Nonny No meets easy listening Gabba soundtrack in a gorgeous Marylebone church. The AI generated body images were transferred to silk blouses, wool coats, and ingeniously printed mohair sweaters. To meet past requests for more consistency in his output, Crutchley continued the medieval-meets-now dialectic of last season, sprinkling in some slouchy ’90s-influenced silhouettes paired with hosiery bunched sulkily at the ankle.
Very old-school liripipe hats were reimagined as hoods. Harlequin diamonds were fractured into printed shards on easy-wearing tiered ruffle dresses and separates. Monochromatic popper-fastened sportswear in coated poly material played against broad-shouldered, dynamically forward-skewed tailoring, really excellently cut. The closing looks featured latex pieces by Oliver Haus, whose graduate show from London Metropolitan University Crutchley had been blown away by. The more established designer said: “That closing dress took him only a day and a half to make, and the precision in the work is insane. When you encounter someone that young, with that care for detail, you just want to encourage them. And it’s great for me too!” Artificial Intelligence and emerging talent both served to enrich, but never overwhelm, Crutchley’s own distinct design identity in a collection that gently advanced the state of his art.
