publishing

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interface 273 pia myrvold 

Edition #5, entitled Fashion is..., featured 12 men’s suits. It 

was the first time that Myrvold had produced menswear, and 

she charged the suits with bold detailing that gave them an 

edgy, almost raw energy. Fashion is… was presented in September 

1998 at SEHM, the annual menswear fashion fair in 

Paris. The suits were hung on a circular device that was powered 

by a mechanical belt. A month later, she presented the 

suits again at a fashion performance she held at Les Bains 

Douche nightclub with 12 Paris-based Rap Music artists. The 

performers updated the rarefied tradition of bespoke men’s 

tailoring for the urban club scene by rapping lines such as 

‘Fashion is in the garbage’ and ‘Fashion is the way you drive 

your car’. 

Edition # 5, med tittelen Fashion is…, viste 12 herredresser. Det 

var første gang Myrvold hadde laget herreklær, og dressene 

hadde dristige detaljer som ga dem en uforferdet, rå energi. 

Fashion is… ble vist i september 1998 på SEHM, den årlige herremotemessen 

i Paris. Dressene ble hengt på et sirkelrundt stativ 

som ble drevet av et mekanisk belte. En måned senere viste 

hun dem igjen på en motevisning i nattklubben Les Bains 

Douche med 12 rappere fra Paris. De opptredende oppdaterte 

den eksklusive herreskreddertradisjonen til den urbane klubbscenen 

ved å rappe tekster som “Fashion is in the garbage” og 

“Fashion is the way you drive your car”. 

Clothes as publishing Edition #5 Fashion is... 

"Fashion is in the Garbage", transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is in your Closet”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is how you drive your Car”, transfer print on cotton toile. 

“Fashion is a Metro ticket”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is a Plastic Bag”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is the way you Dance”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is 

what you Drink”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is in the Junkyard”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is putting on Lipstick”, transfer print on cotton toile. “Fashion is on the 

Beach”, transfer print on cotton toile. 

“Fashion is what you Read”, transfer print on cotton toile 

interface 272 pia myrvold



Clothes as publishing Edition #6 Post Machine 

Edition #6, entitled Post Machine, was launched in October 

1998 in an alternative art venue located in Paris’s tenth arrondissement. 

The collection was accompanied by a sevenscreen 

video production that amplified many of the 

messages imbued in the garments. The collection explored 

the boundaries and perceptions surrounding human nature 

and technological progression. Many of the garments referenced 

early analogue communication devices by featuring 

images of typewriter keys, circuit boards, radios and record 

players. Although the garments relayed a fairly low-tech 

approach to communication, the synergy between the 

collection and the video projection emphasised their interactive 

potential. 

Edition # 6, hadde tittelen Post Machine og ble lansert i oktober 

1998 på et galleri for alternativ kunst i Paris. Kolleksjonen 

ble akkompagnert av en videoproduksjon som ble vist på 

sju monitorer, og som forsterket mange av budskapene som 

lå innbygd i plaggene. Kolleksjonen utforsket grensene og oppfatningene 

rundt menneskenaturen og det teknologiske fremskrittet. 

Mange av plaggene henviste til tidlige, analoge 

kommunikasjonsverktøy ved å vise bilder av skrivemaskintaster, 

kretskort, radioer og platespillere. Selv om plaggene hadde en 

relativt lavteknologisk innfallsvinkel til kommunikasjon, ble det 

interaktive potensialet understreket av synergien mellom kolleksjonen 

og videoprojeksjonen. 

Wrap around top and miniskirt with jacket. Tulle transfer on stretch cotton. 

“Colombia” print, made from a typewriter dating from the 1880s. 




Front, back and silhouette of two-piece dress in reversed satin LYCRA®, edged with bias cut ribbons, with “post machine” print. 

Top right: Linen bias cut top and skirt with bias cut ribbon edgings. 

Bottom right: Black denim jacket and skirt with cotton LYCRA® T-shirt, all with silver print images of “old interfaces”, such as 

typewriters, telephones, radios and phonograms. 

Two piece dress, wrap top and skirt, with bias cut details. 

Tulle shirt with “Columbia” transfer print image, edged with bias cut ribbon with “post machine” print 




The next collection, Fast Forward, was presented in March 

1999. Like Post Machine, the collection was produced with a 

video component, but it was not actually a part of the 

‘Clothes as Publishing’ project. Fast Forward signalled Myrvold’s 

departure from the rigid catwalk format imposed by 

the Chambre Syndicale, breaking away from the many of the 

fashion system norms that she regarded to be limitations. 

The video engaged with a political theme and reflected 

Myrvold’s distrust of the mechanism of big business and 

global politics. ‘I designed the collection at a time when I felt 

really dissatisfied with the fashion system and the politics 

within it’, Myrvold explained. ‘In a subtle way, the fragmentation 

I felt translated into the mosaic patterns and the broken 

pixel motifs I designed for the collections. I wasn’t bitter 

– I knew that I had reached a turning point in my fashion career 

and felt excited about pursuing a new direction.’ 

Neste kolleksjon, Fast Forward, ble vist i mars 1999. Kolleksjonen 

ble, som Post Machine, vist med en videokomponent, men 

den var imidlertid ikke en del av Clothes as Publishing-prosjektet. 

Fast Forward markerte Myrvolds avskjed med det rigide catwalk-formatet 

til Chambre Syndicale, og hun brøt ut av mange av 

motesystemets normer som hun nå så som begrensende. 

Videoen hadde et politisk tema og avspeilet Myrvolds mistro 

til mekanismene i storkapitalen og verdenspolitikken. “Jeg 

designet kolleksjonen i en periode da jeg følte meg virkelig utilfreds 

med motesystemet og politikken bak,” forteller hun. “Jeg 

gjorde mosaikkmønstrene og de ødelagte pixelmotivene jeg 

tegnet til kolleksjonen, til et bilde på fragmenteringen jeg opplevde. 

Jeg var ikke bitter – men jeg visste at jeg hadde kommet 

til et vendepunkt i min motekarriere, og jeg gledet meg til å 

stake ut ny kurs.” 

Clothes as publishing Edition #7 Fast Forward 

Top two: Stills from video premiered at “Les Bains” nightclub 

in Paris. 

Above: Entrance to “Les Bains”, with reflective 

“Fast Forward” banner, during Paris Fashion Week. 

Top left: Double tulle top with beaded edge and reflective PVC print. Double tulle skirt with reflective PVC print and beaded bottom fringe. Bottom left: Knit collar and sleeve, silk yarn and 

transparent fishing line. Double tulle skirt with PVC “molecule” print. Right: Silk and transparent fishing line knit dress, glove with feathers, featured in Evans and Wong Catalogue. 




Details from “Fast Forward” collection, knitwear with silk thread and transparent fishing line, reflective and fluorescent PVC print on double tulle. 




Clothes as publishing Edition #8 Dream Sequences 

CYBERCOUTURE 

As Myrvold resolved to move beyond the traditional fashion 

system, the possibilities afforded by cyberspace began to 

appeal to her more and more. Myrvold’s fascination with 

multimedia and information technologies led her to the interactive 

potential of the Internet. Web interactivity, though 

still dependent on photo-based media, made a new information-based 

approach to fashion possible. The Internet had 

enabled Myrvold to establish a forum in which to merge fashion 

with ideas reflecting art, architecture, philosophy and 

music, and it also allowed her to operate outside the traditional 

fashion system. 

The joint launch of the Cybercouture collection and the 

www.cybercouture.com website was held at The Web Bar in 

Paris. Presented as Edition #7 in the ‘Clothes as Publishing’ 

series, it was entitled Dream Sequences. Cybercouture’s genesis 

resulted from Myrvold’s mission to circulate the ideas 

behind her collections - essential to grasping what each garment 

represents - simultaneously with the clothes. It also 

gave her a means of confronting unethical workshop conditions 

and beauty ideals, rather than work within the system 

that reinforces them. ‘My challenge was to have the freedom 

to design the type of clothes I wanted and compete within 

the system without promoting its ideals’, she said. 

Because she set up the interactive design studio at short 

notice, Myrvold ran out of time to manufacture ready-made 

garments to print on. She quickly solved the problem by 

buying standard-sized hospital scrubs and workwear, which 

she took apart and prepared for printing. Dream Sequences 

featured a selection of prints accompanied by a corresponding 

short film and a soundtrack. These were based on 16 

statements selected from visionaries such as Lao Tzu, 

Jesus Christ, Hildegard Von Bingen, Francis Bacon, Le Corbusier, 

Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin 

Luther King. 

The success of Dream Sequences made Myrvold realise 

that a truly interdisciplinary audience could be reached by 

linking web technology to her collections. ‘The web had none 

of the limitations of other media’, she said. ‘Sound, image, 

Readymade jacket with deconstructed 

details, like PVC edges and selected 

“Dream Sequences” prints. 

Idet Myrvold bestemte seg for å bevege seg utenfor det tradisjonelle 

motemiljøet, ble hun stadig mer tiltrukket av mulighetene 

ved bruk av cyberspace. Fascinasjonen for multimedia 

og informasjonsteknologi styrket ønsket om å utnytte det interaktive 

potensialet ved Internett. Internett la til rette for en ny interaktiv 

og informasjonsbasert tilnærming til mote, selv om 

fotomediet fortsatt var grunnlaget. For Myrvold ble Internett et 

rom der hun kunne kombinere mote med tanker som gjenspeilet 

kunst, arkitektur, filosofi og musikk. I tillegg fikk hun en mulighet 

til å operere uavhengig av det tradisjonelle motemiljøet. 

Den felles lanseringen av Cybercouture-kolleksjonen og nettsiden 

www.cybercouture.com foregikk på The Web Bar i Paris. 

Kolleksjonen ble presentert som Edition # 7 i Clothes as Publishing-serien, 

med tittelen Dream Sequences. Cybercoutures 

tilblivelse var et resultat av Myrvolds ønske om å spre idéene 

bak kolleksjonen – noe som var en forutsetning for å forstå hva 

hvert enkelt plagg representerte – samtidig med klærne. Det ga 

henne også mulighet til å konfrontere etisk uakseptable arbeidsforhold 

og skjønnhetsidealer, istedenfor å være henvist til å arbeide 

innenfor et system som støtter slike ting. “Min utfordring 

var å ha frihet til å designe den type klær jeg ville og konkurrere 

innenfor systemet, uten å fremme systemets idealer,” sier hun. 

Fordi det interaktive designstudioet ble satt opp på så kort 

varsel, fikk ikke Myrvold tid til å produsere konfeksjonsplagg 

til å trykke på. Det løste hun raskt ved kjøpe rengjørings- og 

arbeidsklær til sykehus i standardstørrelser, dekonstruere dem 

og gjøre dem klar til trykking. Dream Sequences hadde et utvalg 

trykkmønstre fulgt av tilhørende kortfilmer og lydspor. De var 

basert på 16 uttalelser fra visjonære historiske skikkelser som 

Laozi, Jesus, Hildegard von Bingen, Francis Bacon, Le Corbusier, 

Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi og Martin Luther King. 

Dream Sequences gjorde suksess, og Myrvold skjønte at det 

gikk an å nå et virkelig tverrfaglig publikum ved å knytte nettteknologi 

til kolleksjonene. “Nettet hadde ingen av de andre medienes 

begrensninger,” sier hun. “Lyd, bilde, film, tekst eller 

stemme kunne fritt overlappe hverandre og skape nye sammenhenger.” 

Internett utgjorde en stabil plattform som kunne 

oppdateres for hver ny kolleksjon, bare ved at Myrvold lastet opp 

Pia Myrvold created these 

print images based on texts 

by historic visionaries, 

creative geniuses and 

civil disobedient. 

Top: Situationist International 

1964, Confucius 500 B.C., 

Hildegard von Bingen 1141, 

Le Corbusier 1962. 

Other texts were sampled 

from Lao Tzu 479 B.C., 

Emmeline Pankhurst 1905, 

Arthur Rimbaud 1875, 

Mahatma Gandhi 1927, 

Francis Bacon 1566, Mother 

Theresa 1989, Henry David 

Thoreau 1849, Christine de 

Pizan 1405 and Martin Luther 

King 1963. 




film, text or voice could overlap freely and create new contexts.’ 

The Internet provided a stable platform that could be 

updated for each collection, requiring only that Myrvold uploaded 

new garment designs and new prints each season. 

Visitors could scan through each new collection quickly, and 

with a click and a drag of the mouse, decide how to they’d 

like their choices put together. Each garment was initially displayed 

in white; once selected, the image rotated threedimensionally 

to display the garment’s construction and 

detail. Visitors browsed among the current range of prints 

and dragged them onto the garment to get a scaled view of 

how the pattern looked. Some garments even featured several 

different prints; for example, the sleeves were made in 

one print, and the body made in another. 

It was also possible to order the garments online. Each 

order included the precise measurements of the client, as 

each piece would be made to measure. The orders would be 

emailed to the centralised workshop, where the garments 

would be cut according to specification, then printed with 

the selected patterns. Skilled craftspeople would then sew 

the garments together and ship them to the clients more or 

less immediately. Because the clothing would only be 

printed on demand, Myrvold wouldn’t run the risk of overproducing, 

which would, in turn, save resources and reduce 

environmental waste. 

The most radical part of Myrvold’s interactive ethos was 

actually her decision to allow the web visitor to complete the 

design. Myrvold conceived her garments as a ‘blank canvas’ 

that would draw the wearer into her design process by enabling 

them to create their own garment within the range of 

materials she provided. Giving the wearer direct involvement 

in the construction process and access to the concepts 

underpinning it makes the interactive platform a hands-on 

creative process that dislocates the immediacy that characterises 

fashion. It also invokes questions of authorship, 

where the designer no longer assumes responsibility for the 

finished product. As a new fashion culture emerges, the idea 

that fashion can be a communicative device as well as an interactive 

platform in itself is driving both its physical and virtual 

components forward. 

nye plagg og nye trykk hver sesong. Besøkende kunne raskt 

skaffe seg oversikt over hver ny kolleksjon, og ved hjelp av “trekk 

og slipp” kunne de bestemme hvordan valgene deres skulle 

settes sammen til et plagg. Hvert plagg ble først vist i hvitt; når 

plagget var valgt, roterte bildet tredimensjonalt og viste detaljer 

og konstruksjon. De besøkende kunne da bla gjennom det aktuelle 

utvalget av trykkmønstre og trekke det de ville ha, over på 

plagget for å se hvordan det så ut i riktig målestokk. Enkelte 

plagg hadde til og med valgmuligheter for flere trykk – for eksempel 

kunne ermene være i ett mønster og resten i et annet. 

Det var også mulig å bestille plaggene på nettet. Hver bestilling 

inneholdt kundens nøyaktige mål, ettersom hvert plagg 

skulle målsys. Bestillingen ble deretter sendt via e-post til en 

sentral systue, der plagget ble klippet til etter spesifikasjonene 

og påtrykt de valgte mønstrene. Dyktige syersker sydde så 

plaggene sammen og sendte dem til kunden mer eller mindre 

umiddelbart. Fordi plaggene bare ble produsert på bestilling, 

risikerte ikke Myrvold overproduksjon, noe som igjen sparte 

ressurser og miljø. 

Den mest radikale delen av Myrvolds interaktive tenkemåte 

var faktisk beslutningen om å la den besøkende på Internett designe 

plagget ferdig. Myrvold oppfattet plaggene som “blanke 

ark” som ville trekke plaggenes bærere inn i hennes egen designprosess 

– vedkommende ville få anledning til å skape sitt 

eget antrekk innenfor det utvalget av stoffer hun hadde å tilby. 

Når brukeren på denne måten involveres direkte i produksjonsprosessen 

og får kunnskap om hvilke konsepter plaggene er 

basert på, blir den interaktive plattformen til en kreativ prosess 

som forskyver det øyeblikkspreget som karakteriserer motens 

verden. Det reiser også spørsmål om hvem som har opphavsrett 

til produktet, når designeren ikke lenger har ansvar for det 

ferdige resultat. Når det oppstår en ny kultur innenfor klesdesign 

og mote, vil tanken om at moten kan være et kommunikasjonsverktøy 

i tillegg til en interaktiv plattform i seg selv, 

drive både de fysiske og virtuelle komponentene fremover. 

Stills from “Dream Sequences” 

video clips. Pia Myrvold made 16 

soundtracks to each text, then a 

video with dancers from The 

Norwegian National Opera. 

Center photo; dancer Teet Kask.


Deconstructed worker’s overalls, pants made into skirt, 

with red rubber edge on sleeve. 

Top Right: Mixed media painting. “Dream Sequences”. 

Bottom right: Silkscreen “Dream Sequences” image on 

deconstructed T-shirt and chef’s pants made into skirt. 

In the cybercouture interface, there 

were 12 shapes, based on readymade 

garments. Each shape was 

reconstructed and the customer could 

select the text image of their choice. 

Top left: Reconstructed men’s shirt, 

with elastic shoulder ribbon and PVC 

square in buttonhole. 

Bottom left: Doctors’ coat, 

reconstructed with red PVC edge on 

collar, and bottom draped into folds 

in back. 

Right: T-shirt with Ghandi print on 

back. Deconstructed chef’s pants, 

made into skirt.



Clothes as publishing Edition #9 Bergen Identity 

CYBERCOUTURE Version 2.0 

The second Cybercouture collection was included within the 

‘Clothes as Publishing’ project as Edition #8, entitled Bergen 

Identity, in February 2000.The collection had been commissioned 

to celebrate Bergen’s role that year as a European 

Capital of Culture, and the garments featured motifs taken 

from the city’s urban landscape. The collection also included 

updated versions of earlier graphics, enabling visitors to select 

motifs from Paris Identity, Post Machine, Fast Forward, 

Dada Memory and Interference. 

Myrvold returned to the theme of urban identity the following 

year when she launched the City Identity collection at 

New York Fashion Week (City Identity was Edition #9 in the 

‘Clothes as Publishing’ series). Although the collections were 

presented on a catwalk, they were paralleled online with 

texts and information aimed at giving viewers a richer understanding 

of identity within the urban realm. 

The City Identity fashion show was accompanied by projected 

images. With a click of the navigation button, images 

of the cybercouture.com website appeared alongside the catwalk, 

where Myrvold's video, Interference was also shown. 

The fashion show commenced with dancers from the Norwegian 

National Ballet moving dramatically down the catwalk 

en pointe. The collection was graphic and strikingly 

modern. Zippered jackets, wrap skirts and tailored coats 

were simple and linear, sporting printed images of urban 

landscapes and architectural close-ups from Paris and 

Bergen together with those from New York. One repeating 

pattern was based on images of the Institut du Monde Arabe 

in Paris designed by Jean Nouvel, another depicted metal 

manholes photographed on Bergen’s streets. 

Dancers from Carte Blanche performing during 

press conference. 

Den andre Cybercouture-kolleksjonen var en del av Clothes as 

Publishing-prosjektet i februar 2000, som Edition # 8, med 

tittelen Bergen Identity. Kolleksjonen var bestilt for å feire 

Bergens rolle som europeisk kulturhovedstad det året, og motivene 

på plaggene var hentet fra det lokale bylandskapet. 

Kolleksjonen omfattet også oppdaterte versjoner av tidligere 

brukt grafikk, slik at besøkende kunne velge motiver fra de 

tidligere editions Paris Identity, Post Machine, Fast Forward, 

Dada Memory og Interference. 

Myrvold vendte tilbake til temaet urban identitet året etter, da 

hun lanserte City Identity-kolleksjonen under New York Fashion 

Week (City Identity var Edition # 9 i Clothes as Publishing- serien). 

Selv om kolleksjonen ble presentert på en catwalk, ble den også 

vist parallelt på nettet, med tekster og informasjon som skulle gi 

seeren en dypere forståelse av identiteten innenfor den urbane 

verden. 

City Identity-visningen ble akkompagnert av projiserte bilder. 

Etter et klikk på navigasjonsknappen dukket bilder fra cybercouture.com 

opp ved siden av catwalken, der Myrvolds video Interference 

også ble vist. Motevisningen begynte med at dansere 

fra den norske Nasjonalballetten beveget seg dramatisk bortover 

podiet på tåspissene. Kolleksjonen hadde et grafisk preg og var 

slående moderne. Her var jakker med glidelås, omslagsskjørt og 

skreddersydde frakker, enkle og rene i linjene, med påtrykte bylandskaper 

og nærbilder av arkitektoniske detaljer fra Paris og 

Bergen, sammen med bilder fra New York. Ett gjennomgående 

mønster var basert på bilder fra Institut du Monde Arabe i Paris, 

designet av Jean Nouvel, et annet på kumlokk fotografert i 

Bergens gater. 

“Bergen Identity” print. Pia Myrvold took 1200 

photos and several videos in Bergen, and used 

them to construct palettes and paintings for 

“Bergen Identity”. The model wearing the first 

prototype in cybercouture Version 2, is 

photographed in front of the painting that 

became the model for the cybercouture 

navigational infrastructure.


The main exhibition room in the West Norway Museum of 

Decorative Arts. Myrvold painted walls, floors and ceiling 

elements with the navigational infrastructure theme of 

cybercouture Version 2, simulating the virtual environment. 

Mixed media paintings, cybercouture clothes with different print 

versions. The exhibitons featured two interactive workstations 

with wall size projections, where visitors could create their own 

designs and navigate on the website.


interface 292 pia myrvold interface 293 pia myrvold 

Left: Print image from “Bergen Identity”, “Swimmers”. Swimmers photographed from the diving board in the Bergen City swimming pool. 

Middle: Print image from “Bergen Identity”, “Green Tunnel”. Underground tunnel connecting the railway station to the city park. 

Right: Model in New York presentation, 7th on 6, Bryant Park, wearing jacket and wrap skirt with “Green Tunnel” print. 

From left to right: Model wearing jacket and wrap skirt with Post Machine “Radio” print. Model wearing suit with Paris identity - Jean Nouvel 

“Institut du Monde Arabe”. Model wearing coat with Bergen Identity “Haakons Hall” print. Top right: Model wearing complementary knit collection, 

wool and transparent fishing line. Bottom right: Model wearing suit with “Fashion is what you Read” print. 




Clothes as publishing Edition #10 The Bridge 


The collection attracted the interest of Karim Rashid, who 

asked Myrvold if he could collaborate with her. Myrvold had 

just established her interactive design studio, which streamlined 

her production method as it shifted from analogue to 

digital, enabling her to import any type of graphic and print 

it onto almost any textile shape. ‘Working with Karim meant 

that I needed to change my process’, Myrvold explained. 

‘Using e-mail and graphics technology meant we could create 

one-off pieces in a collaborative way without being in the 

same studio together to do it. Once I finished designing the 

garment, I could import Karim’s - or anyone’s - motifs before 

printing them on an ink-jet printer, cutting the pieces out and 

sewing them together.’ 

Myrvold decided to include a selection of Rashid’s graphics 

in her prêt-a-porter collection, entitled The Bridge (Edition 

#10), which included three capsule collections titled 

Hypermix, Slow Tech and Cyberware. The collection was 

launched in New York during the September 2002 Fashion 

Week, and included one-off pieces featuring some of 

Rashid’s graphics. The Bridge was uploaded onto her website 

and launched as the third version of Cybercouture, and 

subsequently distributed online. 

The showcase “Hypermix” 

dress. Pia Myrvold used six of 

Karim Rashid’s print images, 

and created this collage, 

sculpting the icons and print 

images around the body. 

Kolleksjonen fanget interessen til Karim Rashid, som spurte Myrvold 

om å få samarbeide med henne. Myrvold hadde akkurat 

etablert sitt interaktive designstudio, noe som effektiviserte produksjonsmetoden 

hennes i overgangen fra analog til digital og 

muliggjorde import av enhver type grafikk og trykk på bortimot 

enhver tekstil form. “Samarbeidet med Karim medførte at jeg 

måtte forandre prosessen,” forklarer hun. “Ved hjelp av e-post og 

grafikkprogrammer kunne vi samarbeide om enkeltstående 

plagg uten å være tilstede i atelieret samtidig. Så snart jeg var 

ferdig med designet på et plagg, kunne jeg importere Karims – 

eller enhver annens – motiver, før jeg kjørte delene ut på en 

blekkskriver, klippet dem ut og sydde dem sammen.” 

Hun bestemte seg for å ta med et utvalg av Rashids mønstre 

i den konfeksjonskolleksjonen som het The Bridge (Edition # 

10), som omfattet tre basiskolleksjoner med navnene Hypermix, 

Slow Tech og Cyberware. Kolleksjonen ble lansert i New York 

under moteuken i september 2002, og hadde også med enkeltstående 

plagg med Rashids mønstre. The Bridge ble lastet opp 

på nettsiden hennes og lansert som den tredje versjonen av Cybercouture, 

og deretter ble den distribuert via nettet. 

The digital file for the “Hypermix” dress. To obtain the clear colors, Myrvold chose a polyester stretch, which allowed a form fitting shape, with just a front and back piece. 

All of the collection was based on the principle of importing images into the panels of the garment, thus allowing a revolutionary and highly flexible production method involving altering 

and changing prints. The research Myrvold undertook also provided the foundation for cybercouture Version 3, where an interface allows visitors to the site to drop and drag images from an 

image group into the dress shape. Prototype collection sponsored by Scanachrome, Paris. 





Top left: Rotating the dress, the “Hypermix” dress shows how print images can be draped around the body, to create illusions of folds and pleats. Bottom left, one and two: Jacket and coat with 

reflective PVC laser cutout and reflective piping, from the “Slow Tech” segment of the collection. The title refers to the way the clothes are produced, with normal ready to wear production 

techniques. Middle photo: Model wearing top and miniskirt from the “Hypermix” segment of the collection. Pia Myrvold used intricate cuts, in order to create shape and design qualities to 

each garment, while limiting the number of seams. All digitally printed clothes are edged with reflective piping, a signature feature of cybercouture. 

From left: Model wearing jumpsuit. Second left: Cropped cybercouture T-shirt with low cut asymmetrical pants with inner leg wave splits. Third left: New York presentation, at Felissimo Design 

House, sponsored by wallpaper producer “Wolf Gordon”, who provided catwalk paper and back stage wallpaper photo booth images, with Karim Rashid designs. Right top and bottom: Suit, 

coat and pants with reflective piping, from the “Slow Tech” segment of the collection. 




Clothes as publishing Edition #11 Freeze Dubbeldam 


Edition #11 

Myrvold presented the next installation of the ‘Clothes as 

Publishing’ project in January 2005, when she developed 

Edition #11 in collaboration with the New York-based Dutch 

architect Winka Dubbeldam. Dubbeldam is a visionary designer 

who has folded and pleated whole facades, draped 

interior structures, and made graphics a central consideration 

in her practice. Intrigued by the architectonic graphics 

Dubbeldam published in her ‘From Hardware to Softform’ 

series, Myrvold made them the basis for a random collage of 

overlapping graphics that she streamed interactively on the 

Internet. Myrvold embellished the outer shells of the garments 

with Dubbeldam’s imagery and sewed them into 

streamlined shapes that mimicked portable shelters. Visitors 

to Myrvold’s site could interact with Dubbeldam’s graphics 

as they moved across the surfaces of the clothing. By 

clicking to freeze the graphic motifs, web users could create 

a unique virtual garment. 

The collaboration was presented at The Center for Architecture 

as part of ‘The Fashion of Architecture’ exhibition. The 

collaboration showed the extent to which graphic elements 

feature in both architecture and fashion as practitioners develop 

patterns and motifs to decorate the surfaces they work 

with. The collaboration revealed the extent to which colour 

and ornamentation can create distinct visual identities in 

both clothing and architecture that can integrate them into 

the local environment, or radically differentiate them from 

surrounding forms. 

The advent of Rapid Manufacturing has revealed the potential 

of producing certain types of clothing on demand. Just 

like Myrvold’s model for Cybercouture, Rapid Manufacturing 

can eliminate the risk of over-producing garments or manufacturing 

too few. Garments can be produced only as consumers 

order them, and even customised to suit the need of 

individual customers. As Myrvold explores the possibilities 

that this new production method affords, she is considering 

the potential to integrate it within her vision for a web-based 

fashion system. 

Navigation infrastructure cybercouture, Version 3.1 

Myrvold presenterte den neste delen av Clothes as Publishingprosjektet 

i januar 2005, da hun utviklet Edition # 11 i samarbeid 

med den New York-baserte, nederlandske arkitekten Winka 

Dubbeldam. Dubbeldam er en visjonær designer som har brettet 

og foldet hele husfasader og innvendige konstruksjoner og 

gjort grafikk til en sentral faktor i arbeidet sitt. Myrvold ble fascinert 

av arkitekturgrafikken Dubbeldam offentliggjorde i sin From 

HardWare to SoftForm-serie, og brukte den som utgangspunkt 

for en slumpmessig collage av overlappende grafikk som hun 

streamet interaktivt på nettet. Hun dekorerte plaggene utvendig 

med Dubbeldams bilder og sydde strømlinjeformede plagg som 

etterlignet leskur. Besøkende på Myrvolds nettside kunne 

påvirke Dubbeldams grafikk når de beveget musen over 

plaggene. Med et museklikk kunne nettbrukerne stoppe billedstrømmen 

og bruke det fryste bildet til å skape sitt eget, helt spesielle 

virtuelle plagg. 

Samarbeidet ble presentert på Center for Architecture som en 

del av The Fashion of Architecture-utstillingen, og viste i hvilken 

grad grafiske elementer er til stede i både arkitektur og mote når 

fagpersonene utvikler mønstre og motiver til å dekorere materialene 

de jobber med. Samarbeidet viste hvor effektivt farger og 

dekor kan skape tydelige visuelle identiteter i både klesdesign 

og arkitektur. Dermed kan disse elementene lett integreres i 

nærmiljøet – eller man kan tvert imot la dem skille seg radikalt 

ut fra omgivelsene. 

Tilkomsten av Rapid Manufacturing har vist potensialet i å 

produsere enkelte typer plagg på bestilling. På samme måte 

som Myrvolds modell for Cybercouture, kan Rapid Manufacturing 

eliminere risikoen for å produsere for mange eller for få 

plagg. Plaggene produseres bare på bestilling. Når Myrvold 

undersøker mulighetene som ligger i denne nye produksjonsmetoden, 

vurderer hun å inkludere den i sin visjon om et 

nettbasert motesystem. 

Top left and the 3 images below: The structures that Winka Dubbeldam made at 

MIT Media lab, titled “from HardWare to Soft Form” are here put into a 

white or black environment, in a randomized system, driven by the internet 

and the visitors’ local server. By clicking the right icon, a mask gives the 

outline of a dress, where the visitor can wait until the perfect moment, click 

and freeze the image, to create a completely unique design. 

Top right and bottom: Examples of designs using the “Freeze Dubbeldam” 

interface: skirt, blouse and hooded evening coat.



CYBERCOUTURE The Future 

Clothes as publishing Limited Edition Reflexology 

Myrvold’s long-term vision for Cybercouture promotes a 

seamless congruence between an information platform and 

an interactive design process that produces ‘couture’ garments. 

‘It’s incredible to think how much the perception of 

cyberspace has evolved since I registered the Cybercouture 

domain name in 1996’, Myrvold said. ‘I thought it would take 

much longer for the public to realise the potentials that web 

platforms have. Because computers are so much more advanced 

these days, the older generation has adapted to 

using them, and the younger generation is so skilled with 

Photoshop and Indesign software that interactive platforms 

are second nature to us now. My next step will be to bring interactivity 

into the garments themselves, so that each fibre, 

layer and tailoring appliqué will conduct digital signals and 

transmit information. That way, clothing won’t merely be an 

end-product of an interactive process, it will be a central part 

of the completely interactive lifestyle to come.’ 

I Myrvolds langsiktige visjon for Cybercouture ser hun et sømløst 

samsvar mellom en informasjonsplattform og en interaktiv 

designprosess som resulterer i produksjon av couture-plagg. 

“Det er utrolig å tenke på hvor mye oppfatningen av cyberspace 

har utviklet seg siden jeg registrerte Cybercouture som domenenavn 

i 1996,” sier Myrvold. “Jeg trodde det ville ta mye lenger 

tid før publikum oppdaget hvilke muligheter nettplattformer kan 

innebære. Datamaskinene er mye mer avanserte i våre dager, 

den eldre generasjonen har lært seg å bruke dem, og den yngre 

er så dyktig med programmene Photoshop og InDesign at interaktive 

plattformer faller helt naturlig. Mitt neste fremstøt blir 

å føre interaktiviteten inn i selve plagget, slik at hver fiber, hvert 

lag og hver skreddersydd applikasjon leder digitale signaler og 

formidler informasjon. Slik vil klærne ikke bare bli et sluttprodukt 

i en interaktiv prosess, de vil være en sentral del av fremtidens 

helt interaktive livsstil. 

Far left: “Wild Rose” print using reflective and matt PVC on tulle. Left: Reflective multicolored PVC, printed on red tulle. 

Middle: Acid green reflective PVC, printed on mauve tulle skirt and blouse. Right: Infrastructure design, white and silver reflective PVC, printed on white tulle.

publishing

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