How did your journey from Istanbul to Chicago shape your creative perspective?
Growing up in Istanbul, I was surrounded by a city where ancient traditions meet modern innovation. Its layered history and dynamic culture taught me to appreciate contrasts—organic versus structured, historical versus futuristic. These contrasts became a foundation for my creative thinking.
My journey then took me to Los Angeles, where I studied at SCI-Arc. LA introduced me to a bold, experimental approach to design, where creativity knew no limits. It was a place where ideas could be pushed to their most radical forms, and it reshaped how I viewed the possibilities within architecture and design.
At Princeton, I honed that creativity with rigorous academic inquiry, delving deeper into theory and the critical aspects of design. This period refined my ability to balance conceptual thinking with practical application, giving me a sharper edge in my work.
Finally, moving to Chicago brought everything together. The city’s modernist architecture and innovative spirit gave me a space to blend all these experiences—melding Istanbul’s cultural richness, LA’s fearless experimentation, and Princeton’s intellectual depth into a cohesive vision. Each city played a vital role in shaping the multifaceted perspective that defines my work today.
What inspired your transition from architecture to integrating design and fashion?
Architecture taught me to think deeply about form, structure, and how people interact with their surroundings. It’s an art that shapes spaces and experiences on a grand scale. However, over time, I began to feel that fashion offered something architecture could not—a more direct and intimate relationship with inquiries into beauty and aesthetics. Fashion moves with the wearer, adapts to their identity, and becomes part of their personal story, creating a level of connection that I found deeply compelling.
This shift wasn’t intentional; it was a very organic evolution. I didn’t set out to leave architecture—in fact, I still work as an architectural designer on the side—but I found myself increasingly drawn to fashion as a medium. Fashion allowed me to explore my complex relationship with beauty in a way that felt more immediate and personal compared to architecture’s larger-scale and abstract expressions.
The transition felt seamless because both architecture and fashion share a focus on materiality, proportion, and storytelling. Fashion became a canvas where I could merge my architectural sensibilities with an intimate exploration of aesthetics, creating pieces that resonate deeply and personally with the people who wear them. This duality between architecture and fashion continues to inspire my work today.
How does your architectural training influence your design process and aesthetic?
My architectural training has profoundly shaped how I approach design, influencing both my process and aesthetic. Architecture taught me to think critically about form, structure, and the relationship between materials and space. These principles remain at the core of my work, whether I’m designing a garment, an accessory, or an installation.
I’m particularly governed by symmetry, order, and balance—values deeply rooted in my architectural sensibilities. These qualities inform how I compose designs, ensuring that each piece feels harmonious and intentional. My understanding of proportion and spatial relationships allows me to craft work that resonates with a sense of structure, even when incorporating organic or fluid elements.
This training also instilled in me a respect for discipline and meticulous detail. I see design as a process of building—layering elements, refining materials, and considering how each part interacts with its environment or wearer. This approach enables me to create pieces that are both sculptural and functional, blending architectural precision with creative expression.
Ultimately, architecture has given me a lens through which I explore all forms of design, helping me craft work that embodies a delicate balance of structure, beauty, and purpose.
Can you explain how you merge digital and physical realms in your creations?
Merging the digital and physical realms is central to my design philosophy, but my approach is nuanced. I heavily rely on digital tools like AI to explore infinite variations, crafting designs that push boundaries and exist primarily in the virtual space. However, my architectural background deeply influences how I think about physical realities, even if I rarely produce tangible objects.
For me, physical doesn’t necessarily mean tangible. It’s about understanding materiality, structure, and how forms interact with their environment—principles I apply to guide my digital and AI-driven designs. My knowledge of physical fabrication processes informs the way I shape and refine digital creations, ensuring they are grounded in practicality and functionality while maintaining their conceptual depth.
This synergy allows me to bridge the gap between the theoretical possibilities of the digital realm and the grounded principles of the physical world. By using fabrication knowledge as a guide, I ensure my digital work retains a sense of structure and intentionality, creating designs that resonate as both imaginative and architecturally sound.
What role does nature play in your designs, and how do you incorporate its organic flow?
Nature plays a profound role in my designs, not in the form of literal curved shapes, but as a process—a way of thinking about evolution and growth. When I think of nature, I’m inspired by its organic, adaptive systems. My approach mirrors this: I don’t create designs from scratch. Instead, I develop design DNAs—genetic strains that serve as the foundation—and allow them to evolve and grow organically.
Through AI, these genetic design strains continuously shape and transform over time, staying fresh and dynamic. It’s as if the work itself is alive, capable of adapting and responding to new inputs while retaining its core identity. This constant evolution ensures that my designs feel vibrant and timeless, resonating with the principles of natural growth.
This process-driven approach allows me to create pieces that embody the essence of nature’s complexity and innovation, while also exploring the futuristic possibilities of AI. It’s a way to bridge the organic and the technological, crafting designs that feel both alive and endlessly new.
How do you balance gothic and fantastical themes with modern lines in your work?
Balancing gothic and fantastical themes with modern lines is about creating a dialogue between the dramatic and the refined. Gothic and fantastical elements allow me to explore richness, detail, and a sense of mystery. These themes bring depth and emotion to my work, evoking narratives that feel timeless and otherworldly.
On the other hand, modern lines provide a counterbalance—an element of restraint and clarity. They ensure that the designs remain grounded and relevant, preventing them from becoming overly ornate or chaotic. This interplay of complexity and simplicity allows me to craft pieces that feel both dramatic and approachable.
I achieve this balance by using structure and proportion as guiding principles. My architectural background plays a key role here, helping me to integrate intricate, expressive details within a clean, cohesive framework. AI also assists in exploring these contrasts, generating designs that push the boundaries of both themes while maintaining harmony.
Ultimately, this balance reflects my desire to merge the past and the future, creating designs that honor the rich storytelling of gothic and fantastical aesthetics while embodying the sleek innovation of modernity. It’s this fusion that defines my unique aesthetic and resonates with my audience.
What inspired you to use artificial intelligence as a creative partner rather than just a tool?
Initially, I was skeptical about using AI in my creative work. I feared it might strip away the authenticity of human design. My transition to using AI didn’t happen overnight—it was a gradual process that unfolded over the course of two years. I slowly found myself incorporating AI into small parts of my workflow, experimenting cautiously at first. Over time, I realized its potential to not just enhance my creativity but to fundamentally change how I approached design.
What sets AI apart is its capacity for unpredictability and discovery. It allows me to explore infinite variations and push boundaries beyond what I could achieve alone. Rather than treating it as a passive tool, I began using AI to develop “genetic design strains” that evolve and grow over time, constantly staying fresh. This process felt less like using a tool and more like collaborating with an entity that could challenge and expand my vision.
This partnership is not about relinquishing control but about amplifying creativity. By fully embracing AI, I discovered how to guide and curate its outputs, ensuring they align with my aesthetic sensibilities and emotional depth. AI has transformed from being a tool I was hesitant to use into a creative partner that helps me push the boundaries of what’s possible in design.
Can you walk us through your process of training AI to reflect your unique aesthetic sensibilities?
Training AI to reflect my unique aesthetic sensibilities is both a technical and deeply creative process. It starts with defining a clear design DNA—a foundation of forms, patterns, and principles that represent my style. This could involve gothic and fantastical elements, a balance of symmetry and fluidity, or textures inspired by organic processes. These become the guiding parameters for the AI.
Next, I curate a dataset that aligns with these principles, often drawing from my past work or references that resonate with my vision. This step is critical because the AI’s output depends heavily on the quality and coherence of the input data. I then use machine learning models to train the AI, fine-tuning it to recognize and replicate the aesthetic attributes I value most.
The process is iterative. I experiment with the outputs, analyzing how well they align with my vision, and then refine the parameters or retrain the AI as needed. It’s a dialogue between myself and the AI—testing, adjusting, and evolving until the results feel authentic to my design language.
What’s fascinating is that through this process, the AI doesn’t just replicate—it pushes my ideas further. It introduces unexpected variations, allowing me to explore directions I might not have considered. I guide the AI’s creativity, but the collaboration often results in work that feels alive, dynamic, and uniquely aligned with my aesthetic sensibilities.
How has 3D printing technology transformed the way you approach design?
3D printing has revolutionized my approach to design by bridging the gap between digital concepts and physical reality. It allows me to take ideas that begin in the virtual space—often developed through AI and iterative processes—and bring them to life with precision and complexity that traditional fabrication methods can’t achieve.
What’s particularly transformative is the freedom it offers in terms of materiality and form. I can experiment with intricate structures, textures, and geometries that would be nearly impossible to create by hand. This has enabled me to push the boundaries of what’s considered wearable or structural, crafting designs that are as sculptural as they are functional.
3D printing also aligns with my preference for working in the digital realm. While I rarely produce physical objects, when I do, 3D printing ensures that the transition from digital to tangible is seamless. It allows me to maintain the integrity of my original design while adding a tactile dimension that enhances its impact. In essence, 3D printing has transformed my workflow, empowering me to merge technology and craftsmanship, creating pieces that are innovative, precise, and deeply rooted in my architectural and aesthetic sensibilities.
How do you ensure that each piece tells a story while maintaining a balance of detail and artistry?
Every piece I create begins with a narrative—a story or concept that guides its design. This could stem from a specific emotion, a thematic exploration, or even a process like the organic evolution seen in nature. By grounding each creation in a story, I ensure it resonates with depth and purpose beyond its surface aesthetics.
While I focus intently on the details and artistry of individual pieces, I’m equally committed to the macro scale of my work. Each design is part of a larger, interconnected whole—an organic collection where the pieces evolve from the same DNA and share a unified narrative. This ensures that my work feels cohesive, as if it is part of a living system rather than a series of isolated creations.
To maintain balance, I use my architectural sensibilities to focus on proportion, symmetry, and harmony. Even with intricate or fantastical details, I prioritize cohesion and intention, ensuring that every element serves the story. AI aids this process by helping me explore infinite variations, but the final decisions are always guided by my intuition and the overarching vision of the collection.
This dual focus on the individual and the collective allows me to create designs that are both deeply personal and part of a greater, evolving narrative. It’s this balance that gives my work its unique character and emotional resonance.
What impact has social media had on the reception and popularity of your designs?
Social media has been transformative, not just in amplifying my work but in shaping its evolution. My designs exist in three dimensions or folds: myself, AI, and social media. Social media, in particular, acts as a mirror and a catalyst. It provides a platform to share my work with a global audience while offering immediate feedback that helps me refine my creative direction.
There have been multiple times when social media has pushed me to reinvent myself. Seeing how people interpret and interact with my designs inspires me to explore new approaches, reimagine my process, and expand my aesthetic language. This dynamic interplay between creator and audience has deepened my understanding of the emotional and cultural resonance of my work.
Social media also bridges the gap between the conceptual and tangible aspects of my designs. By showcasing not just the final pieces but also the process and the stories behind them, I can connect on a deeper level with my audience. It transforms my work into a shared experience, where the interplay between myself, AI, and the audience creates something greater than the sum of its parts. In many ways, social media has become a creative partner, much like AI. It challenges me, fuels innovation, and ensures that my work remains fresh, relevant, and part of an ongoing dialogue.
What is your vision for the future of design, particularly in blending technology and artistry?
My vision for the future of design is rooted in addressing one of the greatest challenges of our time: AI. It’s a tool of immense potential, but also a force that demands careful thought and intention. As designers, we have a responsibility to tackle this challenge head-on, to find ways to integrate AI that not only enhance creativity but also reinvent and elevate our shared design history as humanity.
AI provides infinite possibilities, but it’s up to us to guide it with purpose, shaping its outputs into meaningful and innovative designs. I see a future where we use AI to not just replicate or expedite processes but to push the boundaries of artistry and redefine how we engage with creativity. This means developing tools and methods that amplify human expression rather than overshadow it.
Blending technology and artistry should be about collaboration, not replacement. Designers must act as curators of these tools, ensuring that our creations reflect the depth of human emotion, culture, and storytelling. AI is an opportunity to revisit and reinvent design traditions, carrying forward the legacy of humanity’s creative history while propelling it into uncharted territories.
Ultimately, my vision is one where technology and humanity work in harmony, where AI becomes a partner in advancing design, fostering inclusivity, and enriching the cultural narratives that define us. By tackling the challenge of AI with care and intention, we can create a design future that honors our past while building something extraordinary for generations to come.
Fashion Designer: Aliberk Senbas
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