Codes of Culture | Issue 81

In AI wearables, living couture, and virtual worlds fashion enters its next phase

Welcome back to this mid-week’s Codes of Culture. As tech giants scale hardware and heritage houses explore biotechnology, the lines between body, brand, and interface continue to blur. From Meta’s $3.5B play for AI eyewear dominance to Iris van Herpen’s living algae couture, the convergence of emotion, intelligence, and spectacle is reshaping how fashion sees, moves, and breathes through the world.

In this week’s roundup: Dior expands its global education program with UNESCO, Adidas reclaims cultural cachet through an intergenerational Superstar reboot, and H&M experiments with AI avatars to future-proof its campaigns. Meanwhile, Brussels stages a quiet creative coup, and Roblox becomes a new breeding ground for IP with a Japanese twist.

Scroll on for ten stories shaping the week in innovation, fashion, beauty, and design.
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