This week we are super excited to be launching our very first Biomechanical inspired, Steampunk apparel range. The Artwork depicted in this range carries classic Victorian steampunk elements with its cogs, compasses, gears and gauges and blends it with an ultra futuristic AI, biomechanical feel depicting elements of hybrid human-mechanical body parts. This design can only be described as mind-blowing and it gives us great pleasure to further explore the inspiration and meaning behind our latest collection of wearable art!
Steampunk is an art, fashion and culture movement inspired by the industrial revolution. Steampunk, before it became the fully fledged sub-culture it is today, started out as a science-fiction sub-genre in the 1970s. Steampunk is an aesthetically and imaginatively driven alternative history in which the technology of the Victorian age reigns supreme over that of modern technology. The Steampunk movement reaches directly into the pocket of Victorian England and predicts what the world would be like today had its inhabitants and inventors prevailed over modern technology, essentially steampunk imagines a future where technology never expanded past steam engines and Tesla coils. The steampunk art and design concept combines imagery from the industrial era such as machine parts like cogs and rivets, clockwork, and laboratory equipment, with Victorian art and design and futuristic concepts such as robotics and AI. The result here of being ultra-modern throwbacks designed to delight the imagination and invoke the romance and brutality of the Age of Steam.
Biomechanical, AI art on the other hand was established in 1979. The sci-fi/horror film genre was about to be forever changed with the birth of the cult classic film, Alien. The genius behind the forms in this graphic film was H.R Giger, the artist credited with developing the biomechanical art and design aesthetic. Biomechanical art is a combination of both organic matter and robotics and mechanics. This artistic style still carries some serious weight throughout the film, music, and art industries today. As a painter and artist, Giger worked to create a medium that combined human forms with alien shapes and visceral systems. His work became massively popularised in the 1980s, thanks to his association with outsider art groups in the horror film and punk music scenes. His signature biomechanical style was then cultivated into the popular art form it is today. The fusion of biomechanical art and steampunk art in design is the epitome of what evolves art and design concepts. Art and design is ever changing and developing by bringing together different elements of design and niches and creating something totally new.
The artwork featured on this range features typical steampunk elements including cogs, compasses, pulleys, gears and gauges. The front of the hoodies, zip hoodies, sweaters and other tops features a biomechanical heart behind a window, creating an optical illusion of being able to "see" the wearer's heart, surrounded by a typical steampunk gear and pulley “system”. Behind this system is a reflection of a rib cage concealing more steampunk elements giving the idea of mechanical internal organs. The back of the design showcases a lock mechanism hinting at the fact that the wearer can be "unlocked" further surrounded by gears, cogs and pulleys, a compass, a gauge and another “window”.
We hope you love this design just as much as we do! Please do let us know what you think of this design and if you would like to see more designs just like this!
-Lunafide Team <3
