2023.12.19

The Cutting Edge of Digital Fashion: The Innovative Case of 'Tribute Brand' and the Future as Seen by its Founder

Are you familiar with the term 'generative art'?

In a nutshell, it refers to 'art that is automatically created using computer programs', and is also used as one of the methods to generate NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens).

A brand that combines this generative art and fashion to offer products is 'Tribute Brand'.

Not only does Tribute Brand pursue the cutting-edge concept of generative art x fashion, but it also takes sustainability into consideration in product development. It has particularly attracted attention abroad, and in July 2022, it raised 4.5 million dollars in seed funding.

Therefore, we spoke with Gala Marija Vrbanic, the CEO of Tribute Brand, about the background of the product development, its features, and future prospects.

PROFILE

Gala Marija Vrbanic

Tribute Brand's Founder and CEO
Established Tribute Brand in April 2020. As one of the early pioneers in the field of digital fashion, she has set the direction of the market. Her unparalleled creativity and approach are infinitely expanding the creative possibilities of fashion, identity, and self-expression. She has collaborated with globally respected designers like Carolina Herrera and Jean Paul Gaultier, and her work has been recognized by top-tier media and fashion insiders.

The 'ODDS' Combines Innovation & Sustainability

Tribute Brand announced a project called 'ODDS' in May 2023.

The 'ODDS' is a product developed through collaborations with the NFT art project 'Chromie Squiggle' and the 'Waste Yarn Project', which produces zero-waste knitwear.

We asked how Tribute Brand came to collaborate with these projects and develop products.

'We were frustrated with the current fashion production system and the fact that despite the large amount of clothing already in circulation, more and more is being produced.

"Therefore, we decided to produce environmentally friendly products alongside the Waste Yarn Project, which produces zero-waste knitwear using leftover yarn. The 'ODDS' are handcrafted by the Waste Yarn Project, and because they are produced on demand, there is no excess inventory.

"By collaborating with Chromie Squiggle, another generative art project, we utilized the source code of Chromie Squiggle to generate unique sweaters," Gala explains.

Chromie Squiggle is one of the works on the NFT platform called Art Blocks. It is a generative art piece that receives random information upon creation, and uses this information to determine things like color, gradient, and the shape of the squiggles. The information is recorded on the blockchain, so once the form or color of the art is determined, it won't change.

The 'ODDS' mechanism converts the data of this Chromie Squiggle into a sweater design and produces a unique sweater.

Generate Uniqueness in an Instant with Blockchain Technology

According to Chromie Squiggle's information, ODDS applies not only color placement, but also the arrangement of sweater threads and stitches. The unheard-of initiative to 'transform generative art into physical garments' – how was it made possible?

"We conceived the notion of 'generative fashion', which means that each garment is unique based on a digital blueprint generated by a computer. To do so, we realized we needed to collaborate with a blockchain-based generative art project.

"We contacted Erick Calderon, the artist who created the highly valuable 'Chromie Squiggle' in the field of generative art. He instantly liked this idea.