on seeing

this is not about creating something new but about creating a new way of seeing.

emerging from a quiet resistance to fashion's relentless pursuit of newness, on seeing is inspired by dieter rams' philosophy of reengineering what already exists and designing "from the inside to the outside." it proposes that originality lies not within the object itself but in the encounter between object and viewer. through presence, context and perception, what already exists can continually be experienced anew.

presented as a manifesto book, on seeing challenges the idea of a fixed publication. rather than offering a singular narrative, it becomes a mutable artefact where image, text and physical interaction resist definitive interpretation. the reader becomes an active participant, constructing meaning through their own memories, emotions and experiences. at its core, the project suggests that what we see is never fixed but constantly rewritten through perception.

the publication is divided into three chapters.

chapter one, seeing through imagery explores photographic perception through a fashion experiment in which three photographers create editorials using the same model and garment. their differing approaches reveal how identical conditions can produce entirely different narratives, suggesting that originality belongs not to the subject but to the eye that meets it.

chapter two, seeing through text presents a single existing text interpreted by three individuals from different disciplines - an actress, one who becomes through the body, a tailor, one who shapes the body and a spiritual guide, one who sees beyond it. through annotations and reflections layered onto the pages, they transform reading into a subjective experience, demonstrating that meaning is shaped as much by perspective as by the text itself.

chapter three questions the relationship between image and reality through ai generated fashion portraits of people who never existed. transparent overlays featuring analogue post production markings contrast historical image manipulation with contemporary digital fabrication, prompting viewers to reconsider the authenticity of the images shaping contemporary visual culture.

rather than offering a conclusion, on seeing ends with reflection. a blank page sealed inside an envelope invites readers to leave behind a thought, memory or truth from that moment in time, returning to it in the future as part of the work itself. the project ultimately proposes that meaning is not discovered but continuously created, revisited and rewritten.

art direction, graphic design and research by celina ludes.