This 90s video game-inspired fashion is hellish – and I'm here for it

We've seen a lot of fashion brands turn to the digital space, releasing virtual clothing for games and the metaverse, but what about if the relationship went the other way around and they took inspiration from gaming?  Well, one designer has conceived a concept for fashions inspired by the likes of classic 90s horror game Resident Evil.

Alfred Pietroni's A Granted Wish capsule is a tribute to the low-resolution but deeply evocative graphics of the N64 and early Playstation. His designs hark back to a time when video games featured characters and outfits that somehow looked amazingly futuristic despite the primitive polygon graphics available, and the results are absolutely terrifying (if you're looking for contemporary gaming inspiration, see our pick of the best PS5 games).

Pietroni, who studied illustration and visual media at Camberwell College of Arts and then completed his degree at London College of Communication, describes A Granted Wish as a "27-piece digital collection exploring blood, dirt, growth and rebirth". And there's certainly a good splattering of blood in the digital runway offerings. 

He's taken inspiration from the games of his youth and developed dress textures by blending and compiling textures and patterns together using Zbrush. The results are part Vogue fashion shoot part gothic sci-fi horror. And that's a look we'd love to see on a real catwalk. We think knee-high boots and elbow gloves studded with rusty nails could just be the next season's biggest trend.

We love seeing how designers are taking inspiration from the retro graphics that inspired them. We recently saw how someone used AI to give 90s video game characters a hilarious upgrade, but both of these projects remind us how dramatic and futuristic primitive graphics with limited textures could be (Pietroni's work is a lot more interesting than the new Fortnite X Ralph Lauren collab) You can see more of Pietroni's work on his website.

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