Couture designer Ada Zanditon has teamed up with LA based artist and architect, Nusi Quero, and AR artist and fashion designer, Sarah Mayer, from Antwerp, Belgium to create the Phoenix Crown AR Filter for Instagram.
The Phoenix Crown represents hope, renewal and the continuation of life triumphing over adversity and aims to inspire its users in a globally challenging time.
On the collaboration, Ada Zanditon says, “I loved Nusi and Sarah’s AR filters on Instagram and deeply admire both of them as creatives. This all started when we connected on Instagram and bonded over our shared aesthetic identities that beautifully connected us across continents. I was thrilled that they were keen to collaborate on a filter inspired by one of my designs.”
The original Phoenix Crown Headband is made from five of Ada Zanditon’s modular shapes assembled using her signature technique of interwoven structures in laser-cut, up cycled materials embellished with Preciosa Crystals and placed on a headband to create a glimmering crown of flames inspired by the legendary Greek mythological bird. Ada has dressed countless icons including Lil Kim, Tinashe, Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey to name a few.
You can tap the screen for three different colorways of the crown and beauty environment. The first colorway is an ultra femme Rose, Pink and Violet Candyland romantic aesthetic reminiscent of Ada’s SS19 Collection shown at London Fashion Week in 2018. The second colorway is a much darker Cyber Goth Gibsonesque energy with lurid green lashes and flashes of red, against black / transparent black layers, and with darkened eyes creating a powerful mood. The third colorway is a pulsing celebration of Queer inclusivity, where all the colors from the new Pride Flag (LGBTQ+) including black, brown and the Trans flag colors reverberate through the crown like visible sound waves dancing across the structure.
During the first step of creating the AR filter, Quero translated the physical crown into digital layers and artwork. The beauty of making the crown into an AR filter is that the geometry can be set free from the constraints of the real world and elevated to a staggering degree of complexity. Once Quero created the initial digital artwork, Mayer began to extrude the layers and create the beauty environment, luscious lashes and shimmering skin.
“I wanted to capture the sort of geometric language that is so intuitive for Ada. The sensual curves and exotic shapes in her work are all perfect attributes to accommodate the acts of performance and intimacy her work is built for. Having worked with Sarah before on some AR filter masks, I knew that her craftsmanship and ability to realize and translate ideas would be perfect for this project. I am so very pleased with the result of our collaboration.” Nusi Quero
“With my background in fashion it makes a lot of sense to collaborate with a couture designer like Ada and give the world a chance to try on one of her pieces in AR. Utilizing the patches I work with at @popul_ar.experience to create the Phoenix Crown AR Filter, made for a great result influenced by Nusi’s fantastic virtual constructions and Ada’s glamorous vibes”, said Sarah Mayer on the creation of the filter.
Header image by Nusi Quero