Anita Murnieks (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/anitamurnieks/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@anitamurnieks</a>) takes her Latvian name from her father. She was born in Moscow, lives in New York and at the age of 23 has achieved what many take half a lifetime to achieve. Including in the understanding of how much damage fast fashion causes to nature. Founded by Anita, the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lettonne.eth/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LETTONNE &nbsp;</a>brand is already creating the fashion of the future &ndash; both in the metaverse and in the more familiar reality.

How did you get into the fashion world? When I was in high school, I started helping my mother in her atelier. I was interested in everything - from communication with clients to design. At the age of 14, I created an online store selling used and vintage clothes, and then went to the Fashion Institute in New York (FIT) to study fashion business management. Model: ANITA MURNIEKS @anitamurnieks

How did you come to understand that your LETTONNE brand should be sustainable and friendly to nature? At the end of my second semester at FIT, I participated in a virtual conference dedicated to sustainability, corporate responsibility and innovation. I was already aware of the negative impact of fast fashion on the environment and began to dig deeper. As a result, I came across a message from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that, in terms of irreversible changes, we have only eight years before the “point of no return”. This is what motivated me to create a business that reduces the negative impact of the fashion industry on the climate, rather than exacerbating it. I began to think about how to meet the high demand for new fashion photos from online consumers, avoiding the practice of fast fashion . I learned about digital fashion, took the Clo3D online course and learned how to create virtual clothes. This is how my first digital clothing collection was born, and then the LETTONNE brand itself. Digital fashion is a game-changer – virtual clothing requires 97% less carbon to produce than conventional clothing.

Please tell us more about the U digital collection, which was released on February 24th.
The need to create clothes that help people express their political position without harming the planet arose immediately after the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. The first charity NFT collection from LETTONNE "U" (from the first letter of the word unity - "unity") emphasizes the importance of collective action in ending the war in Ukraine. It includes seven outfits and thirteen accessories, which will be presented on the <a href="https://lettonne.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LETTONNE</a> website starting February 24th. There is only one physical item in the collection - a balaclava ( BLKLVA ) made from eco-friendly materials, which will be given to all owners of a digital balaclava in NFT format. Also, buyers of all NFTs will have access to digital AR filters, which provide an unlimited opportunity to take pictures and / or record videos with items in the collection at different times and in different circumstances. 100% of the profits from sales of "U" will be donated to the humanitarian organization Razom, which provides assistance to the victims of the war in Ukraine and volunteer organizations in this country.
LETTONNE 's vision for digital anti-war protest will be available at <a href="https://lettonne.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lettonne.io</a> . In order to try on items from the "U" collection and participate in the protest, you will need to submit your photo on the LETTONNE website and receive a finished photo with added virtual clothing by e-mail. LETTONNE is counting on buyers to share their images of the collection's digital pieces on social media to influence Russian audiences and show them that horrific events like the war cannot be ignored.
Realizing that Russians risked jail time after posting images dressed in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, LETTONNE found a safe way to attract Russians willing to contribute to the anti-war movement by choosing green, a combination of blue and yellow, as the main color. By the way, many Russian anti-war activists have already adopted this color and wear green ribbons as a sign of protest against the war.
The theme will continue with our first physical sustainable capsule collection "GREEN" , which will be launched in the second quarter of 2023 in New York.
The collection will be created from remnants of denim ( LETTONNE plans to use denim on a regular basis) and other sustainable materials. The purpose of the collection is to create a new international peace code and give Russians a safe way to express their political position through clothing.

To what extent do you yourself follow the rules of sustainable fashion? Studying cases of fast fashion companies in the last two years has saved me from buying such clothes. But then I realized that this was not enough, since brands in other segments also actively use polyester, the production of which greatly pollutes water and air. From that moment on, I lost all interest in buying new clothes in general. Luckily, New York has the coolest thrift stores, especially in Brooklyn, where I live. True, going to a second-hand store is fraught with spontaneous purchase of unique and beautiful things, but in the end, they do not match your style. Cool, but “not mine” things I sent to children in Ukraine. The only piece of clothing I haven&#39;t yet learned to replace with a sustainable alternative is sneakers. My shoe and bag brand called ˈfyo͞oSHə , a sister brand of LETTONNE , now makes fifteen digital bags and ten digital pairs of shoes, including sneakers. They will be presented in New York in the second quarter of 2023 - also in support of peace in Ukraine. Since ˈfyo͞oSHə plans to create real things with sustainable solutions (we are currently considering 3D printing), I will definitely be able to switch to eco-sneakers in the near future. You can see several models of shoes from the future ˈfyo͞oSHə collection on these pages. Both pairs are made from denim, which is the hallmark of both brands. Broken mirrors, symbolizing the destruction that occurs during war, form part of the sneaker design, complementing the LETTONNE collection, which can be seen on <a href="https://lettonne.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lettonne.io</a> . Handwritten anti-war slogans on high-top sneakers and LETTONNE avatars, as well as graffiti on clothes, speak of real people and their suffering. If we talk about the main difference between LETTONNE and ˈfyo͞oSHə , then we can say that LETTONNE is in search of solutions, and ˈfyo͞oSHə is in search of reasons, bringing the design to an experimental, not an expert level.

What do you think will happen to fashion in the next ten years? I believe that in ten years we will live in the era of the metaverse and virtual boutiques will replace the outdated physical stores. In 2033, we will be able to obtain a digital duplicate of each item and learn the history of each item by clicking on a blockchain-based barcode. Our wardrobes will be fully digitized and an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled system will track the regularity of our outfits. When you open your closet, your style advisor avatar will tell you that you haven&#39;t worn your long pink dress in months and offer you to trade it in or resell it on the online secondhand market. With the help of AI, a global network of wardrobes will emerge, instantly capturing the match between people who want to exchange different things. Kind of like the old-fashioned Tinder app, but for clothes. In addition to this, augmented reality will make online shopping much easier. The 4D glasses will allow you to practically put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits you. And thanks to the subcutaneous touch sensor, you will also feel these clothes. All this will solve the problems with the return of clothes and reduce the carbon footprint associated with shipping. If tomorrow you were one of the most influential people in the fashion world with unlimited possibilities, what would you do? I would push for a law to ban the production of oil-based textiles, because when they break down, they form microplastics that pollute the world and eventually enter our body. As well as a law allowing children under the age of fourteen to wear clothes made only from natural and organic materials. I would also impose a limit on the production of textiles and provide each piece of clothing with a blockchain-based barcode with detailed information about how its production has affected the environment.

What is your goal in the fashion business? I would like to create a digital fashion social platform: both for the exchange of electronic clothing and for the communication of like-minded people, who, in turn, can become a support for people in need of help. In terms of creativity, I want to be able to create digital clothing that reflects people&#39;s personalities, memories, interests, moods, values and ideas. I want to make fashion a meeting place for design and artificial intelligence. Another goal of mine is to change the fashion promotion industry by putting the user at the center of advertising with an AR filter that would prevent people from being compared to models. I also want to bring together the most talented and knowledgeable educators to provide designers from around the world with the opportunity to train and then open their own store in the digital mall &quot;next door&quot; to the school. However, there will be no real transition to next-generation fashion if consumers do not make informed purchasing decisions. Therefore, in order to raise awareness of the carbon footprint of clothing and support eco-brands, I plan to hold weekly holographic conferences. All these are the components of my global goal: I want to create a fashion community that has influence and opportunities to change the world for the better.

Model: ANITA MURNIEKS @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/anitamurnieks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anitamurnieks</a> Hairstyle: ANASTASIA YORK @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stacia_york/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stacia_york</a> Makeup: ELENA GUZMAN @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elena_makeup_artist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elena_makeup_artist</a> Photo: Alex Dani @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexdanifotografo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alexdanifotografo</a> Art directors: DOMI PEREK @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/domi_verse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">domi_verse</a> , ANITA MURNIEKS @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/anitamurnieks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anitamurnieks</a> Chief Designer LETTONNE: ANA Designer LETTONNE: ANITA MURNIEKS @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/anitamurnieks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anitamurnieks</a> 3D designer LETTONNE: VICKO Lead Designer ˈfyo͞oSHə: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/llzamono" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@llzamono</a> Designer ˈfyo͞oSHə: Anita Murnieks @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/anitamurnieks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anitamurnieks</a> 3D designer ˈfyo͞oSHə: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/llzamono" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@llzamono</a> 3D designer ˈfyo͞oSHə: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yndeavour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@yndeavour</a> Digital Background: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yndeavour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@yndeavour</a> , Dari @ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/avo0xid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">avo0xid</a> Digital Fitting: VICCO

Anita Murnieks & fashion of the future

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