Analyzing fashion shows over the past decade as performance art: Collaborations with three AI programs and interviews about the impact of AI on fashion creativity

This research explores how fashion and art intersect within the realms of performance art and artificial intelligence, paying attention to both their conceptual depth and lived experience. In today's creative landscape, the boundaries between fashion and art are becoming increasingly blurred, while the influence of artificial intelligence on aesthetics, expression, and production has grown into a key area of exploration. Against this backdrop, the research delves into the artistic and social effects of technology-driven fashion performances and how these are reshaping fashion's place as an art form. The study takes a mixed-methods approach. It includes an extensive review of relevant literature and a detailed analysis of fashion shows staged by brands like Avavav, Rick Owens, and Gucci between 2014 and 2024. Additionally, in-depth interviews were carried out with five contemporary fashion designers and artists whose work blends technology and their artistic expression. Last not least, a case study of a collaboration with three different non-fabric generative AI programs Luma, Kling, and Freepick, has been conducted to compare how each program succeeded to alter the textile of an original hand-knitted dress in its own ways. To summarize, the primary aim of this study, which combines fashion art and AI, is to demonstrate the potential of AI-generated imagery in raising awareness within the fashion industry. This study serves as a call to the fashion and textile sectors to embrace cutting-edge technologies as tools for social and environmental advocacy.