Galleria Sierra Madre

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Galleria Sierra-Madre explores the adaptation of digital fashion in digital experiences for e-commerce on the Metaverse. As a case study, the project approaches an experimental process of brand digitalization of Martex - an Ecuadorian knitwear brand that focuses on heritage garments - by showcasing their last collection in virtual format.

The project proposes an aesthetic VR journey portraying not only the garments but the values and philosophy of the brand and the rich cultural story behind the Sierra-Madre collection through a magical tale that shapes the narrative of the digital experience.

The project is an approach to the inclusion of digital workflows and Vr/Ar into the Latam fashion industry through immersive technology to engage users in interactive digital experiences supported by storytelling, branding principles and digitalization.

Galleria Sierra Madre deconstructs the brand in three main paths: philosophy, vision, and material culture to define elements that can be translated into digital assets to create a dynamic digital ecosystem to populate the brand's metaverse.

Sierra Madre

Digital Collection

Sierra-Madre digital collection uses fashion as an experimental platform to channel traditional brand concepts as digital assets that shape the metaverse brand and the narrative of the experience.

the collection acts as an anchor to expand different elements in the virtual ecosystem; defining the design process as an exploration of material culture for the brand and their philosophy, stories and Latin American heritage concepts that has form the core vision of Martex knitwear over the years.

The Collection is inspired in the tale of Quilotoa, a traditional tale narrating the love between a deity and a human as the war between two worlds shape the volcanic region of Ecuador.

It features 4 conceptual garments representing the main characters in the narrative

Sierra Madre digital collection garments and concept

Digital Environment

Digital Worlds:

Galleria Sierra Madre holds on the Quilotoa tale narrative as the primary level for worldbuilding as a source of concepts and ideas for shaping the brand's metaverse.

The digital experience is build inside the Quilotoa, a striking crater filled with turquoise waters located 3,914 meters above sea level. The experience take users inside this singular space so they can explore the fashion pieces from an unusual perspective.

Google Maps geodata, combined with heightmaps and real-world textures, helped create an accurate digital twin of the Quilotoa crater, giving the user a real sense of location, space, and dimension. Unreal engine's liquid and fluid simulation tools helped to decorate the water in the experience, giving a more realistic feel to the digital world.

These natural elements play an essential role in a narrative sustained by the naturalism of Andean Cosmology. The digital space is a fusion point between water, mountain, and sky - the three main elements from the tale and the Madre Sierra digital fashion collection.

Architecture:

The project approaches architecture as a memory of heritage of Latin American expression. The proposed digital space is inspired by contemporary exhibition architecture, featuring four conceptual rooms that manifest the garment's narrative with different elements.

the cyberspace is design on the notions of minimalism and brutalism; using contrasting light and darkness to enhance the space as it preserves the traditionality of Latam culture and brand roots through digital raw materials that transmit a sense of heritage - ceramics, clay, plaster, and wood, makes a reference to nature and a connection to the traditional.

Open areas creates a more dramatic and photorealistic sense of space through illumination and shadows, as it also enhances the user's harmony between nature and architecture while organic elements become part of the rooms.

Material culture & Spatial details

For martex brand, the poncho is not only their main product, it also acts as a educational catalyst to embrace cultural roots through the importance and history of the garment.

From that philosophy and vision, the brand's metaverse becomes a playground where material culture decorates the environment as it allows users to understand the background and value that each piece reflects for the experience narrative, garments, collection and the brand.

Digital environments can trick human perception and trigger emotional responses linked to past experiences; in this way, to create a meaningful digital immersive experience the project takes as advantage elements around the digital world; for example, the merge of architecture and nature as each element in the room plays along the narrative of the garment helping to build a mood in the space.

For example, a room that incorporates the lake's water connects the garment with the natural element; as it uses the water caustics to decorate the walls with slow and runny movements, reinforcing the concept of fluid identity for the garment and the brand.

On the contrary, the room that features a massive rock encrusted in the walls triggers a sense of diminutiveness in the user. The dark room, illuminated by small spheres of light, presents a feeling of weightiness and strength, the same concepts linked to the poncho thats featured in the space