Vacades digital escapism in the new REDValentino collection

Nature and the city are the two predominant elements in the campaign of REDValentino's Spring 2021 collection. A world in which the frenzy of everyday life slows down, leaving room for nature and greenery, while Mother Nature supplants the frenetic and oppressive city rhythm. A vision brought to life by the Roman fashion house together with Timo Helgert, famous for his virtual works that combine urban landscapes with nature, chosen here to digitally shoot the new collection and make it unique according to his artistic and personal point of view.

In this scenario, the REDValentino spirit finds space, unchanged in its audacity and femininity expressed through the garments of the collection in which the street attitude finds a new balance in the dresses and off-pieces. Clothes and accessories are placed in metropolitan environments contaminated by nature, expressed in the form of grass and flowers that intertwine with bridges, roads and subway cars. Among the novelties stand out the Knot Me Up!, a nylon shoulder strap decorated with a maxi knot, the Minimaxi Chain and the Minimaxi Scoubi, characterized by a chain and a scoubidou style braided handle. Elegant and evocative visions born from the mind of Timo Helgert, creative director and founder of Vacades, to whom we asked a few questions to discover his relationship with fashion and the digital future of art.

How would you describe your art and your approach to art?

My approach to art is heavily influenced by current events, but I would describe it as digital escapism with a strong focus on the balance between nature and urban places. Having a background in Visual Effects, but also having worked in the music industry for a long time, my style is very influenced by a lot of different directions. For my art, I use new technology and techniques, such as 3D scanning, 3D
simulation, AI and AR to explore my ideas. Especially with REDValentino’s collaboration, this was very useful, because we could collaborate easily, even though the world is in a lockdown. We didn’t have to go to cities to shoot, but we could use these techniques to work from home and be creative.

Nature seems to have taken back its place at a time when urban lives have stopped. Did you start from here to create some of your works?

Actually the main inspiration for the series was not the fight between nature and urban places, but the lost of nature for the people, who are unable to enjoy forest bathing and having a beautiful time outside. This was the main inspiration and I wanted to use art as a platform to bring nature back to humanity in an interesting way. Now with the collaboration with REDValentino, this concept has been brough one step further, by showing us, how a balanced world, where nature and urban
places aren’t separated, could look like.

What role does fashion play in your life and in your work?

I do have an interesting relationship with fashion. After leaving my hometown to live in Seoul, South Korea, the opposite side of my world, I had to make drastic decisions. The first one was to get rid of all my belongings. Everything I owned, had to fit into two bags, including my computer, my monitor, my wardrobe and books. It was truly a challenge, but I loved it. At that time, fashion to me was all about the essentials. I wasn’t able to own more than three pants at that time, or one coat, so I wanted to make sure, that everything I got, was my favorite and I loved it, and that it was of the highest quality ever. That’s how I got interested in luxury fashion and living in Seoul, which is heavily focused on fashion, just accelerated this. Now that I returned back to Germany, this mindset is set free and has evolved a lot, because now I am able to own more and I find a lot of pleasure in fashion. It gives me
inspiration, I love the influences and I love to research it. When designers tell stories, it’s very interesting to me and I personally, while I’m still truly focused on the highest quality, my mind is much more open and I love collections like REDValentino’s, which explore cultures, centuries and romantic elements.

Do you think that in the future art will be increasingly linked to technology?

Absolutely! We often see art as something clearly defined, with clear rules, but if you think deeper, what really is art? People in the past used paint to express themselves, but imagine if a mind like Leonardo da Vinci was born in today’s world. Would he still use paint? Or would he use the new available tools, like Augmented Reality, 3D simulation and AI. Therefore, I think that art is truly just a form of expression of emotion and humanities dreams and needs. Something that helps us and we can even use to learn from. I think in the future, with better technology and better tools, we soon see artworks which are beyond our current understanding and it will be very inspiring.