Ai Tominaga Debuts as a Digital Twin Dressed in TOMO KOIZUMI — A New NFT Project Led by Startbahn and CyberAgent

Startbahn, Inc. has launched an NFT Project with CyberAgent, Inc. to produce a digital twin of supermodel Ai Tominaga, the first official 3DCG model for the Digital Twin Label. The model is wearing TOMO KOIZUMI, the world-renowned fashion brand known for their iconic kaleidoscopic palettes and extravagant designs. The NFT project concept theme is Light of Life, and the work will be sold globally as an NFT artwork. It will be available for purchase on OpenSea around the summer of 2022.




■ Background

There has been a boom in NFT art over the past year, and the digital space is rapidly expanding to become a new venue for artists to explore their creativity. In the fashion industry, sales in the metaverse are expected to be one potential solution to counter mass production, consumption, and disposal.

Startbahn operates Startrail, a sustainable and scalable blockchain infrastructure that assures the reliability, authenticity, and traceability of works in the art and creative industries. Startbahn has worked on cutting-edge fashion exhibition projects supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, in conjunction with many top artists and designers. In this new work, Startbahn is delighted to be working with renowned fashion designer Tomo Koizumi, whose eponymous label "TOMO KOIZUMI" is known for colorful, voluminous silhouettes. Along with Ai Tominaga, global celebrities such as Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Joan Smalls and Gwendoline Christie have walked for Koizumi, and he has dressed the likes of Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, to name a few.

CyberAgent launched "Digital Twin Label," a service for casting celebrity digital twins, in August 2021. Since then, CyberAgent has created and managed official 3DCG models that serve as alternative digital selves for celebrities, supporting the promotion of celebrity activities in the metaverse. Together with CyberAgent, Startbahn is working on expanding the opportunities for digital twins in the digital space - touching upon all aspects of creative innovation across art, advertising, and entertainment.


■ Outline

Startbahn has launched this NFT project to explore new business opportunities that seek to push forward the digital transformation of the fashion industry in new and exciting ways. In the traditional apparel manufacturing process, scrap materials and other waste are generated when samples are created. In response to the apparel industry's sustainability challenges, a new digital production process — one in which the garments are digitally designed, presented, and manufactured with sales forecasts based on customer response — will enable more efficient distribution and decreased waste. In addition, the digital production process is expected to diversify sales and expand business opportunities, for example, by developing derivative works such as NFT art.


■ NFT Project

Rendered and reborn as a digital twin, Digital Twin Label has faithfully recreated supermodel Ai Tominaga for this NFT. A rhythmic luminescence emanates from the digital twin Ai Tominaga, breathing a whole new life to this digital being. Together with the floral in nature and playful TOMO KOIZUMI piece, Ai Tominaga’s digital twin captures this “light of life” expression, suspended and radiating in perpetuity.

This NFT artwork will be released and available for purchase on OpenSea in Summer 2022.


■ Technology Overview

Ai Tominaga's digital twin was created by a sophisticated scanning system owned by CyberAgent's Digital Twin Label. CyberHuman Productions, a CyberAgent subsidiary company that specializes in photogrammetry technology and 3DCG production, supervised the 3DCG model along with professional hairstylists and makeup artists. Meanwhile, the digital outfit was created in collaboration with Tomo Koizumi and Startbahn, with the material texture of the fabric simulated and expressed in great detail in 3DCG. A dynamic backdrop of endless space, drifting particles, and reflected luminescence completes the overall art piece.

CyberAgent is also engaged in creating a safe and healthy market in the digital space; leading research initiatives in deepfake detection with its AI Lab. Together with Startbahn, CyberAgent is committed to implementing innovative technology that enables new value creation in art and fashion through the use of digital twins and NFTs.


■ About TOMO KOIZUMI


TOMO KOIZUMI is one of Japan's leading young designers and has been called a “breakout star” by The Business of Fashion. He has been selected as one of the 500 most powerful figures of the fashion industry by BoF500. Born in Japan in 1988, Koizumi studied arts at the National Chiba University, during which time he launched his namesake brand, and graduated in 2012. While working as a costume designer, Lady Gaga wore one of his designs on a visit to Tokyo in 2016. He debuted TOMO KOIZUMI at the Autumn/Winter 2019 shows in New York, attracting international recognition and acclaim. In 2020, he was one of the winners of the LVMH Prize. Koizumi showcased his Autumn/Winter 2019 collection during New York Fashion Week, orchestrated by Katie Grand, Love magazine Editor-in-Chief. Since then, Koizumi’s work has featured in international editions of Vogue, Love, V and WWD. He has also dressed Miley Cyrus and was commissioned by the actress and singer Miriam Yeung for her world tour. In 2019, Thailand-based fashion editor and entrepreneur Nichapat Sop Hap wore one of Koizumi's designs to the Met Gala and singer-songwriter Misia wore one of his dresses to perform at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 opening ceremony.


■ About Ai Tominaga


Debuted at 17 years old during New York Fashion Week, and rapidly acquired a great reputation in the fashion world. While working worldwide as a top model, she was also in demand as a personality and an actor for TV, radio, and event appearances, applying her passion to these and other areas. As a Japanese supermodel, her career is unique and continues to expand, including significant charity and social action work and efforts to promote traditional Japanese culture to the world and to new generations in Japan. In addition to being JOICEF’s Ambassador, she is the Ethical lifestyle SDGs Ambassador for Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency.


■ About Startbahn, Inc.

Startbahn is a leading Japanese art tech company aiming to enrich society by providing the technology needed by artists and all those involved in the art around the world. Startbahn operates Startrail, a sustainable and scalable blockchain infrastructure that assures the reliability, authenticity, and traceability of artworks.
https://startbahn.io


■ About Startrail

Startrail is a sustainable and scalable blockchain infrastructure that assures the reliability, authenticity, and traceability of works and supports the long-term inheritance of their value. NFT issued on Startrail permanently records a wealth of data that protects the value of your work, including information on the NFT issuer and a comprehensive history of the work's provenance. Also, it seamlessly manages a collection of works across services, by setting Terms & Conditions for secondary distribution and use of works in advance. Due to the nature of blockchain, this information cannot be deleted, tampered with, or duplicated. It can be issued for a variety of art forms, including along with physical works such as paintings, sculptures, and installations, and digital works based on data such as images, video, and audio.
https://startrail.io/


■ About CyberHuman Productions,inc

CyberHuman Productions is a group of creators who aim to fuse "technology (Cyber)" and "humanity (Human)," committed to challenging the conventional concepts of process and time. We believe that this will not reduce the quality of creativity, but rather create room for new ideas. From here in Shibuya, Tokyo, we will create new expressions, archive valuable creative works, and design exciting experiences for everyone — with the power of AI, CG, and other cutting-edge technologies.


■ For more information on this release:

Startbahn, Inc. PR Office
Risa Mizuno
pr@startbahn.jp

CyberAgent PR Team
cyberagent.ai_pub@cyberagent.co.jp