An Interactive Window Display

Byzantine Bodies

‘Byzantine Bodies: Fashion in the Post-Anthropocene’ is a speculative window display that ‘displays’ a precarious future of fashion.

The concept of "Byzantine Bodies" redefines the human form. The term “byzantine” refers to something excessively complicated, thus speculating on an era of uncertainty where environmental damage and societal instability challenge humanity’s survival. The display presents a futuristic fashion aesthetic: an emerging human figure in a dynamic pose that symbolises resilience and strength despite this future. It aims to pose two questions: how will fashion evolve in an uncertain future? And how might fashion curation adapt to meet the speculative demands of such a ‘Byzantine’ time? Ultimately, the display invites emotional engagement that inspires curiosity and encourages viewers to think critically about navigating uncertainty collectively.

The window display offers an experiential element.

By scanning the vinyl QR code on the window itself, viewers can interact with the AR element - a web based experience that prompts the viewer to point their phone at their own body. Once they do, it triggers an animation of trichomes growing from their skin and bees pollinating from the viewer’s body. This immerses them into the speculative environment where the viewer's body adapts and becomes resilient to a hostile, byzantine future.

By exploring speculative narratives and fashion, Byzantine Bodies challenges us to reconsider humanity's relationship with nature, health and fashion. It offers a vision of evolution as a response to a crisis where survival depends not on external solutions, but on the adaptability of our own bodies; straying from traditional fashion trends.