The age of the internet is here, and with it came many changes to the way we all experience the world around us. As we push further into what can only be described as a digital revolution, it is likely that Gen Z, dubbed the “first digital generation,” and their successors will be the ones to discover the effects of a life lived via smartphone. 

Good or bad, the boom of social media is real, and Instagram is obviously one of the biggest players with this demographic. According to a study reported in July of this year by EarthWeb, over 60% of Gen Z use the platform daily, so how much room is left over for real interaction and authentic experiences? 

This is the question that Israeli designer Tal Maslavi aims to confront with his graduate collection from Shenkar College in Tel Aviv. The collection gained attention on the social media platform that inspired it at the beginning of October, as an unusual video of a model munching on his tank top circulated fashion accounts all over Instagram. 

Blurring the line between fashion and art, the piece, made using white chocolate and a hand-crafted mould, was reminiscent of images of gym lads holding their tank tops in their mouths to show off their hard-earned abs – only this one was actually made to be eaten.

When asked in an interview with _shift about the collection, Maslavi explained that the inspiration for the collection came from the trend of “satisfying videos” and “ASMR” that has been steadily sweeping Instagram for years now. The videos revolve around the filming of various “oddly satisfying” sensory experiences such as people pushing their fingers into slime, popping balloons full of shaving cream or slicing into bars of soap – some of the videos garnering millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes. “I think that ASMR is a sensory compensation in a world that is becoming so much less tactile and more digital,” he says. “It fulfils the human desire to touch, listen and feel.”

This idea that humans are now searching for sensory stimulation in new ways is one that Maslavi bet on with this collection, arguing that today’s fashion industry “lacks interactive design” – his work certainly fills this void.  In addition to his edible tank top, made from a mould of white chocolate, the collection featured a leather jacket with embedded motors to simulate a massage. It also included a top and shorts combo with plastic protrusions and a message reading “touch me” and shoes that appeared to be sliced into revealing what looked like a cake interior. 

Maslavi’s first collection has made enormous steps into exploring the way in which the next generation view and consume products, fulfilling a desire for interactivity in a fashion industry that can feel so one dimensional from behind a screen. He told _shift: “I want to get people to respond to my art. We’ve all seen clothes and we will see a lot more. Once a garment becomes a conversation it makes people think, feel and react to it.”

And react they did. Just after its release, Instagram-based fashion archive @TheVanillaIssue reposted a video of the collection that amassed over 250k views. Maslavi’s understanding that in a digital age, people are increasingly looking for a side of performance to be served with their fashion main course made his graduate collection a viral success and one that explores ideas left largely untouched by the fashion community before. 

Next to the Bella Hadid in the Coperni dress, Maslavi’s collection made this year’s fashion month an interactive stand out. And I cannot wait to see what he does next.