Material, Immaterial, and Phygital

This study undertakes a diachronic analysis of the interrelationship between fashion and the concept of seriality, tracing its evolution from the mid-twentieth century (1960s) through its contemporary instantiation within the Metaverse and the context of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). The observed transformation denotes a migration from the materiality of the physical garment to the immateriality of its associated narratives, until the actual integration between the physical and the digital (phygital). Seriality’s functional role has thus evolved:beginning as a productive principle centered on the technical reproducibility of the apparel item, it has expanded through processes of dematerialization. This expansion reconceptualizes fashion as a dynamic narrative system capable of intertextual engagement with content streams originating from other segments of the cultural industries. While common societal discourse posits an intrinsic link between fashion and creativity, positioning the sector as the primary site for advanced aesthetic research and experimentation concerning the evolution of taste, this foundational association has undergone critical modification. This shift is particularly consequential to the exponential growth of brand symbolic value and the implementation of a pervasive, customer-centric technological ecosystem, which collectively signify the dawn of a postfashion era.