Loewe's real-world pixelated fashion is breaking my brain

In-real-life to digital crossovers are a big thing right now. We've seen a lot of fashion brands 'enter the metaverse' with virtual collections. But The Spanish fashion house Loewe has turned things full circle with an in-real-life fashion collection inspired by pixel art – and people are confused. 

What? How? Can this be real? are the typical responses on TikTok and Twitter to Loewe's runway show for the launch of its SS23 collection. The event featured IRL clothes that looked straight out of Minecraft, but, yes, they are actually real clothes (if you're more interested in the virtual world, see our guide, what is the metaverse?).

Presented at Paris Fashion Week, Loewe's chunky pixel designs look like they use a stiff fabric to create clever 3D seams with blocky contours that perfectly capture the look of pixel art, right down to the inconsistent pixel sizing real jagged hoodie strings. The effect works when seen in 2D – the pieces appear to have no back – but they have more movement than you might expect (at first we thought maybe the details were simply painted on).

"I’m so confused, how does it look like that, and where can I get one to blow peoples’ minds." one person wrote on Twitter. "Designer clothing I'd actually want to buy. The illusion alone makes it worth it. It would look so good on display or to wear it from time to time just to mess with people's minds," someone else said. Here are some more reactions. Others have been comparing the collection to everything from children's costumes to A-ha's famous Take on Me video.

The pixel line appears to be runway only, at least for the moment. We're not sure we'd wear these out. Then again, it is very well executed, and we would probably be more inclined to pay for this IRL pixel fashion than for Meta's virtual clothes or Ralph Lauren's Fortnite collection.

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