The beauty of the blemish

In times of AI and algorithms, a “machine perfectionism” is shaping the beauty standards of the future – a standard that stands in contrast to the human, natural and imperfect. A question that keeps coming up in my mind when I see images of AI-generated fashion and art: can we ever find true beauty in perfection?

We humans make mistakes, we fail and learn and recognize beauty in shortcomings and asymmetries. The beauty of imperfection inspired me to use an innovative dyeing technique called “Mal-Tinto” for two of the new HARTWICH zipper shirts.

This technique, which originated in Italy, is still very artisanal. It’s almost a secret what happens there, but I was able to find out this much: similar to watercolor painting, paint is applied to the fabric and then the fabric is kneaded by hand in water. The effect: everything is deliberately irregular and therefore individual. Only then is the shirt sewn from it. With the Fortore and Trigno models, each shirt is unique.