Clothing retailer Carlings won the top prize in the Digital Craft category at Cannes Lions, for its ‘adDress the Future’ campaign that lets fashionistas show off their clothing designs without harming the environment.
Case study summary
• Clothing retailer launched digital-only clothes to let fashion fans test out new looks without harming environment
• Through mobile photo meta-data, a virtual tailor adjusted clothes in the 3D program
• Electricity was produced with green energy, and all income went directly to WaterAid.com.
• Platform went on to win the Digital Craft Grand Prix prize at the 2019 Cannes Lions festival
The challenge
Scandinavian retailer Carlings wanted a way to stand out from other clothes shops byu highlighting its green credentials. It launched a new capsule that only exists digitally.
Announcing the initiative, Carlings CEO Ronny Mikalsen explained that, through the collection, the label hopes “to challenge ourselves and the whole industry to take the next step to explore how fashion can exist in the not so distant future.” Carlings’ marketing manager also referenced the influence from gaming, adding that “we have bought Skins at Fortnite for a while now, this is our take on it.”
The solution
The platform, described as the “world’s first digital clothing collection with 0% negative environmental impact” consists of virtual clothes that today’s 18-to-25-year-olds can wear on social media in order to showcase their fashion creativity without harming the planet.
Through mobile photo meta-data, a virtual tailor adjusts the clothes in the 3D program Marvelous Designer, where digital clothing design is created in the same way as real clothes.
The digital collection was available from the Carlings web store, with pieces prices between €10 EUR and €30 EUR.
This means an infinite clothing collection, and the production has had 0% negative impact on the environment. The electricity was produced with green energy, and all income went directly to WaterAid.com.
The results
The platform went on to win the Digital Craft prize at the 2019 Cannes Lions festival.
Jury president Rei Inamoto, co-founder of Inamoto & Co, now known as IxCO, explained that the Digital Craft Jury looked for certain criteria: The winning work had to be inherently digital, in how it was made and how it was distributed. On top of that, it had to be “magical, memorable and groundbreaking,” he said.
The Carling campaign captured the jury’s attention because it addresses two important issues faced by humanity today: the environment and social media’s influence on our fashion habits. “We loved the potential impact this piece can have in 2019,” he said. “ It was the most intellectually stimulating piece of work in the entire category. It was the one piece that confused the jury in the most interesting way.”
