Toby OrtonWhen regular camouflage isn’t enough to shield you from the prying eyes of CCTV and other High-Tec surveillance methods, the answer to the conundrum of how to hide yourself turns out to be as simple as a new patterned garment. A form of disruptor fashion created by Italian startup label Cap_able, this collection of jumpers, t-shirts, and jogging bottoms feature a garish, kaleidoscope of patterns – not a million miles away from the iconic Coogi jumpers of the 90s – will upset the tech behind facial recognition software.
The Manifesto Collection is described as ‘a wearable algorithm to protect our identity’. What this means is patterns that have been woven with ‘adversarial patches’ that protect the biometric data of the wearer, confusing AI into miscategorising the wearer. The clothes are designed as a response to the company’s belief that the personal liberties and freedom from profiling is being eroded away by governments all over the world. Speaking on the project, Cap_able say, “The Manifesto collection is an example of Cap_able’s modus operandi and broader project: it wants to educate the population on the importance of privacy and human rights by addressing the problem of misuse of facial recognition technology. The need to protect the individual from the abuse of new Artificial Intelligence technologies is felt more and more and the doubts about its ethical sustainability in the long term are still many.”
Shop the collection here.
Images © Cap_able