OBLIVION
Preface This look book was inspired by all of the technological changes that our world is experiencing right now, especially with some of the developments inside the fashion industry concerning the improvements on the omnichannel experience. The story is a representation of a possible future that might soon be part of our everyday lives.
The year is 2060. The president is a robot and customer service is controlled completely by computers. There is no more waiting. There are no more lines. Nothing is mass produced. Everything is customized. The ultimate reality is achievable. Actual reality is overrated.
This is the future.
I. Avril is a 5’8’’, brunette, twenty-five-year-old organ designer who’s getting married in a month. Between working at the Ersatz clinic, eating, sleeping, and breathing, Avril rarely has a minute alone. But now, her wedding is a month away and she still doesn’t have a wedding dress. The venue, yes. Catering, yes. A Fiancé, definitely. All of that was easy; all it took was a few phone calls and a couple of virtual meetings. But a dress, not so much. She has visited tons of stores, tried various AI’s and spent countless hours with her Nia, but no such luck. The instore AI’s couldn’t help, online shopping was a drag, and she didn’t have enough time and patience to wait for Nia to understand what it was she wanted. At the rate things were going, she was starting to think that she may just have to wear a burlap sack to her wedding and call it a day.
Wide leg pants/ pink top/pouch/shoes: Jose Criales Jewelry: Jonathan Rubinstein
Parka jacket/ pants/sneakers: Theo Gough
She still doe sn’t have a wedding dres s. A fiance, def initely...
Dress: Stephen Street Shoes: Valentina Angulo Jewelry: Jonathan Rubinstein
“Avril! There is no way in hell we are letting you do that” said Zena, across from Avril at Le Rouge, a cocktail lounge they frequently visit. “Zen, you don’t think I’m worried? I doubt I’ll even find one in time,” said Avril. Zena shot her a look. “Can you two get over yourself? I feel like I’m watching an episode of that ancient show Desperate Housewives”, she said. Zena works with Avril at Ersatz, as the head organ designer. She’s witty, tenacious and most importantly, fiercely unapologetic. Even better though, her husband, Emilio, is one of the most successful AI developers on the planet. “Here, let’s soak up the rest of these cocktails and go to my place. I’ve got just the solution. Or should I say, Karis and a little friend of hers do?” Zena said with a wink and all-to-sly smile.
II. Zena sat on the Raspberry Explosion loveseat in her boudoir, champagne flute in hand, yelling orders out to her personal AI, Karis XV. “Karis,” she said looking in her direction, “the Vera Wang XX spring 2039 collection pleaaaaase.” “Elie Saab XX?” Avril drunkenly whispered to Zena. Zena laughed. “Yes, Zena,” said Karis. Avril stood in the middle of the boudoir room, surrounded by a wall of mirrors and screens, with the EOCE running through her bloodstream, with the kelp of Zena’s Karis. Zena had gotten a new device, a pill actually from the Domson, the tech company her husband owns. The Emotive Omni-channel Experience is coated to look like a pill but when you swallow it the electromagnetic waves of the device run through the user’s bloodstream, interacting with their nerves. And then almost immediately, it records all physiological and psychological information on you and connects to your synapses. Then it uses all of the information it gained to help you find your perfect item, be it a wedding gown, a new handbag or a new mattress. The more information you give it the more of assistance it can be.
Quite a few drinks in and still going strong, Avril unlocked all codes and gave the EOCE full access to everything: her phone, all her accounts, emails, iCloud - everything she could think of. And with that, she was transported to the location of her wedding, an electric garden, blossoming with flowerbots, a crystal mirror drifting in front of her, reflecting the crystals on her sleeveless gown. “Ooohh look at this one though,” she said as the holographic dress appeared on her body. “And what about that short, shift dress? With the scalloped bottom!” Avril squealed. “It almost made me want to get remarried,” said Zena. “Ugh, I wish I had all of these gadgets when I got married,” she added. Avril started tearing up. “Oh honey, don’t be sad about it. I could always get divorced,” said Zena. “No no, it’s not that. These are just happy tears. Happy champagne tears,” she smiled. “And it’s not like I’ve found the one just yet, I’m just happy to be getting closer to doing so, ya know?”
Dress: Monteau Platform shoes: Esmerly Sime
Jacket: Jose Criales Bag: Ana Karina Serfaty
III. Finally able to rest assured that she would eventually find a dress, and still quite tipsy, Avril slept through the night. Upon awakening, she got a slew of messages from her Nia about accessing further info for the EOCE. “Further info?” she said, hungover and confused. “What?” Confused by the fact she had to give the device more accessibility to her personal information, Avril became skeptical. “Zena, I already gave it all my information: my height, age, weight, style preferences, credit info, address, occupation, what more does it want from me?” Avril asked, sitting in Zena’s lab. “Everything that’s left,” said Zena, working to sew together prosthetic lung. “Look, I told you that Emilio’s letting me test this out, right? So get this, apparently, the more information you give the EOCE the more personalized and precise your dress options will be. So you’ve got to give it everything if you want it to be fast and efficient.” said Zena. “But what else is there to give?” asked Avril.
“Give it access to your memories, your thoughts, your dreams, all your pictures, emails, texts, diary entries. Every part of you,” said Zena. “I don’t know about that,” said Avril, getting ready to leave. “Avril, yes it’s still in trial phase but what’s the risk? The worst that could happen is it knows a little bit more about you,” said Zena. “Like that one night in Romania,” she smirked. “Plus you can cancel it at any point if it starts getting too much. Think about it, you, on your wedding day, absolutely stunning in the perfect dress?” said Zena, prompting Avril to sit back down. Avril smiled. “Let the EOCE work it’s magic on you,” Zena said with a wink. “It’s that or you ‘ll be trotting down the aisle in an Alaia.” “Vintage,” said Avril, laughing.
White suit: Paulina Camacho
IV. Avril sat in bed unlocking all her remaining passcodes, the EOCE activation flaring signals to her synapses and her Nia guiding it. “Access to your diary entries, Avril?” “Yes, Nia” “Access to your memories?” “Yes.” “Access to your thoughts, Avril?” “Nia,” Avril said, looking at Nia, her personalized-to-look-just-like-her AI. “Give it full access to everything.” Nia paused, looking up at Avril mid-thought, perplexed. “Okay, Avril. Full access granted.”
Jewelry: Jonathan Rubinstein
V. Avril and Zena were sitting in Zena’s boudoir chatting about the EOCE and the dresses Avril had been trying out when Avril device started pinging. “Perfect match found!” sang Naia. “Oooh, let’s try it!” said Zena. “Yes!” said Avril. Avril got up and stood in the middle of the boudoir in front of Zena, the device guiding her to the same scene, the electric garden but this time, an entirely new wedding gown appeared on her body. “Avril! Tell me you just love it!” said Zena. “Zena! It’s perfect!” she squealed back. “It’s silk , a nice ivory color, ruffles, an A line skirt on the bottom and it’s off-the-shoulder with long sleeves,” she said, describing the outfit as she twirled and posed. “Yay! I’m sure Enzo will love it!” “Enzo? Enzo who?” Avril said, admiring her outfit. “Ha! Nice one!” said Zena. “No really, who’s Enzo?”
Dress: Paulina Camacho
“Your future-husband, duh,” said Zena. “What are you talking about Zena?” “Avril, what’s wrong with you? Stop acting dumb.” Avril looked at Zena, who was both annoyed and confused by Avril’s answers. “I’m not acting dumb, I just don’t know what you're talking about,” said Avril, stepping away from the mirror and back to where Zena was sitting. “Alright, you weirdo. Maybe you just need to get some sleep or something,” Zena said, playfully slapping Avril’s arm. “I do feel a little weird. I think I’m going to head home,” said Avril, rubbing her arm where Zena made contact with it and eyeing the door. Avril felt off. Like she didn’t quite know where she was or how she got there. Avril looked around and grew more anxious, the confusion settling in. “Hey, are you okay?” Zena asked, sensing her discomfort. “I gotta go!” Avril said, running out of the boudoir and through the front door. “Avril! Where are you going,” Zena said, trying to follow her out.
VI. “Hi, yes, I’d like to speak to someone about the new EOCE.” “Hello Avril, what can we help you with?” asked the holographic bot. “Hi, um wow, how do I put this?” Avril wondered, speaking into her Nia while running to where she believed to be her house. “I seem to be having some troubles with the device. I was out today and weirdly starting to forget a lot of personal details, like who my husband is. Is that common with the EOCE?” “Avril it’s a bit hard to hear what you’re saying. Are you running?” “Yes, but that’s beside the point.” “Okay. Well, what EOCE prototype do you have, Avril?” “The 860.”
“There is no 860.” “Well, yes, not officially but I have the trial one,” she said, growing frustrated. “Avril, all trial ones have been discontinued because of errors. I don’t know why you’d have one but you need to stop using yours right away.” “Wait, why?” she said, coming to a halt. “Have you given it access to your Nia?” “Yes.” “What features have been unlocked.” “All of them, I gave it access to everything,” she said, angrily throwing her arms around. “What is going on?” “Avril, I’m so sorry,” the bot said, then disappeared. “Sorry for what!? Where are you going? What the hell is happening?”
VII. As soon as Avril got home she rebooted her Nia and tried to reprogramme her EOCE device so that it couldn’t have access to her anymore. “Nia, restrict EOCE access.” “I’m sorry Avril, I don’t understand. You want me to restrict EOCE’s access?” “Yes, Nia.” “Hmmm.” “What?” Avril asked, annoyed at the seemingly intellectually dumber, but physically identical, version of her, standing five feet from her face. “Restriction denied.” “What? Why?” “I cannot restrict the EOCE from having access to you, Avril. It’s beyond my capability. I’m sorry.” “Sorry!? You’re sorry! You’re useless!” she screamed. “Get out of my house Nia! Deactivate!” Nia stood there in shock, then disappeared.
VIII. Meanwhile, Enzo was in his vehicle, on the way home from Ersatz. Enzo works as Ersatz’ lawyer, checking in from time-to-time to make sure all legalities are kept in order. “Call from Zena,” said his Etta. “Accept.” “Hey Enzo, are you home yet? I’m really worried about Avril, she’s been showing some really weird symptoms. And I think I may know what’s going on.” “What do you mean? Is she okay?” he asked. “Enzo, you have to promise me you won’t get upset.” “What? What is it, Zena?” “Avril’s been infected. She’s been infected by the new EOCE device. “How?”
“Well, Emilio was just supposed to be taking a look at it, it’s just a prototype, but I, I guess I just got carried away you know with the wedding and I let Avril test it out to see if it could help her find a dress. It’s malfunctioned in the lab and now they’re pulling it from hitting the market. I’m so sorry Enzo.” “Zena, why the hell would you do that?” he yelled. “Etta, end call. “Etta, where is Avril?” Enzo asked “Avril is at home, in the bathroom,” said Etta, his AI.
IX. “Niaaaaa! Niaaaaaaa!” Avril wailed. At this point, Avril had tried to flush and force the EOCE out of her system by using a blood transfusion machine she had from the lab, drank an entire bottle of Pinot Noir, called Zena, then freaked out when she picked up because she couldn’t recognize her voice or remember who she was. She had tried to shower and change but got lost in the house and then forgot how to use the house Nia, ending up in a panic, crying and screaming on the floor of her shower, completely soaked and still in her wedding dress. “Nia has been deactivated,” the house AI said. “What? Why?” yelled Avril. “What the hell is happening!?” Avril started crying again. When she eventually calmed down and looked up, she realized she couldn’t remember where she was. “Can I join you in there?” Enzo said, approaching the bathroom door. “I need to get it out. I need to get it out of me right now!” Avril said, panting and running around the bathroom pressing different holographic devices, hoping one of them will activate what it is she’s looking for. “Avril honey, what are you saying. Are you hurt? What happened?” said Enzo, coming closer to the door, trying to hear her better.
“Get it out of me!!!” Avril screamed at the top of her lungs. Enzo tried to open the door, but he was hit with resistance. “Avril! Unlock the door!” Enzo stepped back and tried to bust down the door by kicking it in. “Avril, please just unlock the door,” he pleaded. “Etta, unlock the door,” he asked, in hopes she could help. “Door unlocked,” she voiced. Enzo walked in, to Avril on the floor. He looked at his fiance, hair a mess, completely drenched and absolutely terrified, in the fetal position, mascara smudged, wearing a wedding dress, and a milky white haze coating her eyes. “Perfect dress, achieved,” Avril said, staring into oblivion.
Enzo picked up his bride-to-be-still curled up and repeating the words “perfect dress, achieved,� Over and over again, without blinking--and walked out of the bathroom.
Credits Creative Director/Producer/Stylist/Graphic Designer Maria Santamaria Writer Asli Shebe Photography Kristopher Dobbins Hair Stylist Valentina Gomez Makeup Artist Christina Garcia
Fashion Designers
Models
Jose Criales Paulina Camacho Theo Gough Stephen Street
Camila Bengoa..........Avril
Accessory Designers Jose Criales Theo Gough Valentina Angulo Esmerly Sime Ana Karina Serfaty Jewelry Designer Jonathan Rubinstein
Bernie Colon.............Nia Isabel Jimenez............Zena Ricardo Chiuz.............Enzo