“I always saw fashion as an art form.”
When Flora Miranda speaks, it’s with quiet conviction. Her words stretch beyond trends or timelines into something deeper, more curious, more human. Known for combining technology and fashion in unconventional ways, Flora Miranda approaches design not just as a visual language, but as a system shaped by data, code, and emotion.
Based in Antwerp, Flora studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. “... you basically study fashion at an art school.” For her, fashion was never about trends or mass production. It was a place for research, experimentation, and artistic expression.
And research is exactly what Flora has been doing, for over a decade, through coding, couture, and the concept she calls IT Pieces: generative design systems that transform (personal) data into visual, wearable forms. Using inputs like financial flows, social media histories, or biometric rhythms, the systems produces garments that are entirely unique and deeply personal.
“You can imagine it like, let's say, I write a program, and it produces the image of a sky with clouds. And to this program, I can connect data, and depending on what data flows, the clouds start to look different.”
What results isn’t always a textile. It might be an animation, a digital texture, or a ready-to-make textile. “You can export different kinds of material or digital artworks from it.”
Flora shared that she didn’t begin with a technical background. The ideas always came first. Then came the tools and the people to make them real.
“I first always started with creating the bigger concepts, and then I assembled a team to work out the coding and the development, the software. But with the years I also learned it [programming] myself.”
Her approach is less about designing clothes and more about designing systems—systems that are flexible, reactive, and deeply human. In one collaboration with a ballet company, for instance, each dancer’s costume was generated through the same codebase; visually cohesive yet individually distinct.
“It's about a group of people, where it means that also each dancer can look like [they're] from the same world... But again, each design looks a bit different. So, we [also] have this customization possibility, which is really nice.”
“It's about a group of people, where it means that also each dancer can look like [they're] from the same world... But again, each design looks a bit different. So, we [also] have this customization possibility, which is really nice.”
One standout project involved a Belgian research institute which studies nuclear waste reduction. Flora translated particle accelerator data into a 150-meter-long textile work, which was turned into garments for the scientists after it’s exhibition. It was not only symbolic, but circular. “A way to make something meaningful, collaborative and functional.”
That desire for meaning drives all her work. For Flora, fashion is not just about form but also about feeling. About the invisible connections between data and narrative, numbers and nuance.
“What is the point of culture, you know? It’s the question of “What makes a life worth living?” It's not the hard facts, but more the emotions between us, the stories, the things that keep us inspired to go on in life... that is the importance of art and of culture in general.”
Data, in her view, isn’t only for decision-making. It can be poetic, emotional, and alive.
“With IT Pieces, it's also about that the data also comes from somewhere “real”, and there is a story to tell. Because you cannot only use it for making decisions. You can also create art with it, and culture, and bring emotion with it.”
Of course, this kind of creative approach isn’t without its tensions, especially around sustainability. Flora reflects openly on the challenges it presents.
“There is a sort of conflict between creativity and sustainability... because if you are busy with this topic as a creative person, you think that basically the best would be that you don't do anything anymore... just lie under a tree and look at the sky and how the clouds change. Nature already created amazing art, right?”
She tries to navigate this conflict through intentional choices: mono-fiber fabrics for easier recycling, local production, and suppliers that use bio-cotton or recycled PET. “In my artistic work, the pieces are unique. They’re not made for scale.”
But she also acknowledges the complexity: “But we humans, we like to consume. We like new things, we like to create, and we like to sell a lot, so that we can have the feeling [of making] a lot of money... It’s a complex dynamic. I think that’s the challenge.”
Despite the rise of automation, Flora sees a growing appreciation for handcraft. “During the pandemic, people started baking, doing embroidery, pottery… they realized what kind of work goes into making something with your hands. And that created new respect for artisanship.”
But that respect comes at a cost. “If something is locally made in a crafty way, it is a luxury product. It must be very expensive. I don’t know any other way.”
Her outlook on technology carries the same nuance. AI might appear intangible, but she reminds us it’s anchored in very real, physical systems. “It seems like the digital world is nothingness… but it’s really physical. Every server, every computer has a footprint.”
So her work pushes for a future that’s both smart and sensitive. “It’s not just one fixed drawing anymore... the system is alive.”
Asked what advice she’d offer younger creatives, she leans into intuition and strength:
“Lead your life with your strengths, you know, the thing that makes you, the thing that you bring to this world. This means curiosity, this means self-empowerment, this means you contribute to the world in a good way with the things that you have.”
“Lead your life with your strengths, you know, the thing that makes you, the thing that you bring to this world. This means curiosity, this means self-empowerment, this means you contribute to the world in a good way with the things that you have.”
“Don’t just follow some patterns... with technology, yeah, keep on learning. You don’t have to feel small just because you don’t know everything. You cannot know everything. But you have to constantly learn.”
Her hope for the future is found in crossover where fields blend and new questions emerge. “If one person is studying fashion, but then discovers, I don’t know, physics, and then combines these two fields, then I’m sure something interesting will happen.”
And to the industry?
“Just do the best you can in the most responsible way with a lot of love. Everyone has a unique brain, a unique network. Use it.”
In the end, Flora’s work isn’t about code or couture. It’s about empathy. Whether she’s working with data sets or silk threads, she’s trying to create something personal. Something real.
“When you paint a portrait, you’re empathic with that person. You create something unique just for them. That’s what I do whether it’s with data, textiles, or code.”
Her latest publication, I AM DIGITAL, continues this exploration of identity, technology, and craft.
→ Get the physical book or the digital edition.
→ Get the physical book or the digital edition.
Photo Credits:
Algorithmically designed garment, currently on view at MAD Brussels. Image by Laetitia Bica.
Flora Miranda’s master collection from 2014 was digitised by Mutani into a 3D collectible.
Algorithmically designed garment, currently on view at MAD Brussels. Image by Laetitia Bica.
Flora Miranda’s master collection from 2014 was digitised by Mutani into a 3D collectible.
An IT Pieces project with animation, socks, pencils and booklets as output. Visualising the network of the Austrian science community over the past 20 years.
Ballet costumes based on music frequency. Images by Thomas Schermer.
Particle accelerator data in unique shirts for scientists. Image by Michael Smits.
From the latest collection “The Logician”. Photographed by Laura Kelemen.
The “Time To Tech Up” dress is currently on view at Designforum in Vienna. Image by Elsa Okazaki.
Image from the collection “LaLaLand”. Image by Athos Burez.
From the collection “Phaser”. Image by Laura Feiereisen.
The book “I Am Digital” about Flora Miranda’s work. Published by Hopper&Fuchs and designed by Tim Peters.
