Designer Mariam Seddiq not worried about AI threat in fashion

Sydney fashion designer Mariam Seddiq literally sees herself as she contemplates her latest collection at Australian Fashion Week.

It’s not just a reflection of her face in the special sunglasses worn on each model as she walked the runway on Wednesday night.

His pieces are an accumulation of the world in which the Sydney designer lives and breathes.

“I wanted women to be a reflection of me and represent my art, my craft,” she told NewsWire.

This week Seddiq presented her 10th collection, Echoes, at Australian Fashion Week at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

Every garment and accessory featured this week was a reflection of its own story, from Sydney to Florence.

“(The models) were wearing my signature look with sunglasses,” he said. “They were all different versions of things I wanted to wear and make for myself.”

Seddiq has been dressing the modern woman on red carpets and catwalks both on Australian soil and around the world for over a decade.

Having trained at the Accademia Italiana Arte – Fashion Design in Florence and years honing her craft in Sydney, her recognizable designs have been worn by the likes of Bec Judd, Rita Ora and Kylie Minogue.

This latest collection offers her expertise in delicate draping and strong silhouettes in spades, with sheer mesh layering as softly as liquid and leather fringe pieces that disperse in different directions with each step, imitating ostrich feathers.

Other garments are produced using dead fabric and hand-dyed; thus giving each piece a unique and one-of-a-kind look.

For Seddiq, the collection is wearable artwork inspired by the juxtaposition of structure and fluidity, designed in his studio in Sydney.

But he doesn’t do this alone.

Behind the scenes is the dedicated design team who have been given the opportunity to spread their wings and experiment with freedom.

Seddiq also embraces the mistakes that arise along the way.

“I don’t design the entire collection because the process is the magic part where we make mistakes,” he said.

“Sometimes my staff freaks out because they made a mistake, and I’m afraid it’s great.”

He said he encourages his team to roll with the punches even if they’re “scared” about a potential misstep.

“So we’re in trouble, right?” his staff would sometimes ask.

“No, no! Let’s get this done,” he would reply.

Even though she’s been a fixture at Australian Fashion Week for a decade, she’s already looking ahead.

There are many changes ahead for the fashion industry, including the threat posed by new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The call for AI in the fashion industry has hung like a dark cloud over the industry, with some designers rejecting the use of AI altogether.

Others choose to embrace it, such as Melbourne-based designer Karla Špetić, who uses the technology to generate slogans for her T-shirts.

Survey data Roy Morgan It suggests a growing majority of Australians see problems with AI, with 20 per cent fearing it could undermine independent thought and creativity.

The rise of artificial intelligence has put a damper on many designers who feared it would bring down the entire industry.

But Seddiq isn’t worried; At least in terms of parts.

“It’s crazy stuff we’re seeing, but I don’t think it’s going to change the craft of what I do,” he told NewsWire.

“If the customer is interested in the couture side of the business, artificial intelligence cannot replace this.

“All of these textures were made by hand, so there is no way a machine could do this.”

Despite rapidly evolving technology on the horizon, Seddiq said the future of indigenous fashion was bright as long as emerging designers were “recognized and nurtured” by the Australian Fashion Council and embraced by other designers.

He said designers across the country began to come together and form a community; He wants to see this movement grow in the future.

“(Designers) kind of come together and support each other,” he said.

“I mean, there’s still a long way to go on this, but I see a lot of things changing and we’re becoming a community.”

This is the biggest change he’s seen in the fashion industry in the last decade, but he hopes more improvements are on the way.

“I think over the next 10 years the number of Australian designers being recognized abroad will gradually increase,” he said.

“I think if there are good leaders, the future is very, very promising.”