SHAPE! Body, Fashion, Identity: Elmo Mistiaen's Digital-Textile Fusion at TextielMuseum

Elmo Mistiaen stretches the human imagination with his AI-generated fashion and sculpture designs. Creating a platform where biomimicry meets gorpcore, Mistiaen draws from insectile and marine animals’ unique biology to boldly envisage how it could transform outdoor fashion. As his primary focus is on ‘impossible textures’, a collaboration with the TextielMuseum felt like a perfect match, and an exciting challenge to bring these digital visions to life. In light of the opening of SHAPE – body, fashion, identity, we caught up with the Mistiaen to learn more about his process, the piece he will be exhibiting, and creative possibilities of nature-technology symbiosis.

Let’s get right to it! Tell me about your relationship to fashion and how you ended up doing what you do.
Yes, a few years ago I graduated from engineering and business engineering. It had nothing to do with what I’m doing now. But the year I graduated, I started experimenting and creating these images on Instagram. Eventually, it started to grow a lot. Companies would come to me and ask to create images for them. And then I started doing more freelance work, while also building my creative universe on this Instagram page. I’ve always loved fashion, and I’m super into these technical textures, things like ultralights and backpacking gear. But I don’t have a formal degree in fashion, knitting, or anything like that.

While your work is digital, of course, there’s also this almost architectural aspect to it. Do you feel that it’s a conscious connection to your background in engineering?
Perhaps, but not so literally. Biological processes is what really interests me. These crazy textures – very technical, durable, ultralight organic textures. This is the part of engineering I resonate with.

Speaking of biology, you describe your work as biomorphic. How does nature inform your work?
I’ve always been fascinated by biological processes and insects, particularly the interplay between microscopic and human scales. This interest drives me to imagine how these ideas could merge with fashion and art. For example, what if hikers had a backpack that could transform into the shape of a bat or dragon bat, inspired by speculative evolution and biomimicry? Not human evolution per se, but designs or accessories with biomorphic, functional elements that mimic nature.

Nature really is the best engineer. Do you have any more specific insights on what you’ve learned from biomimicry?
I’m also interested in marine animals because of their soft tissues. If you try to integrate that into fashion clothing, into an extra biomembrane, or a mask that you protect with gel – to protect your body from radiation or something. The translation from the marine creatures to the human creatures, and fashion clothing, is so interesting and cool. And digitally, you can do this. You can create impossible shapes with AI, with Photoshop, Blender…

There really is no limit to what you can imagine anymore. Could you talk me through your creative process?
I started using AI tools to explore hyper-realistic textures and create images that blur the line between real and surreal. Initially, I want people to question if the image is real, only to realise it’s impossible—textures so surreal they contradict themselves. AI helps me prototype these ideas, like turning them into backpacks or applying them to AI models for visualisation. From there, I refine the designs to create coherent images or potential products. I love how these textures, even in impossible shapes, feel tangible—like you could touch them. Whether it’s a membrane or a surface, they evoke a sense of texture and sound that makes you want to test them in reality.

Let’s talk about the collaboration with the Textile Museum! How did it come about?
TextielMuseum reached out to me on Instagram around a year ago, to see if we could collaborate with their Textile Lab to bring these impossible shapes and these images into real life. Their lab has really amazing tools to make it happen. So, I started creating some designs, and going back and forth with their product developer. And now, in two weeks, it will be open!

And can you tell me more about the piece?
The piece comes from the universe I’m creating, called Symbiotic Metamorphosis. It’s like a wearable second body—a protective exoskeleton or suit made of a hybrid material. For example, it’s a hood with strange, growing capsules or cells, like nutrient pods or eggs, that seem to grow out of the wearer. It’s a symbiosis between the person and the garment. I started by designing and creating images of these concepts. Then, with Sarena Huizinga from Textilab, we worked to recreate these shapes, even though some were almost impossible because of how strange they were. We had a back-and-forth process, where I would put the designs back into digital tools to expand on the forms and generate new ideas.

I love the symbiosis of biology and technology in your work. What are some inspiration and reference points you had for this piece?
The inspiration comes from marine animals—it’s almost like a living coral. It has to be like a protective body, with some hard tissue parts in darker red and softer parts in gray and pink. It’s like imagining a sponge or coral growing around you and merging with your body. There are also these open capsules, and at the end, on the tail, the capsules are open. Inside, there could be caterpillars, larvae, or other strange insects. You wear the suit for protection, but the suit also uses you. I don’t know what it takes from you, but it extracts something to grow—like a symbiosis. And once the piece is ready, I’m going to take images of it and digitally alter them using AI and software tools. I want to make it look like a cocoon—as if it’s alive, growing, closing in, or going into a hibernation or stasis state.

Is it wearable? Have you put it on?
I actually have! It is wearable, but it’s really heavy, it pushes you down. We’re going to put it on a mannequin doll.

And what is the material?
It’s knitted with Alpaca wool from local Dutch farms. Some details will also have mesh nets made from microbial yarns – it’s made by bacteria.

How does it feel to finally see your work in person, as opposed to digital spaces?
In the beginning, I was afraid it would look too knitted—like a wool sweater or even a Christmas sweater. I wondered how it would ever be possible to translate these organic shapes into knitted material. But it actually translated so well. We were able to create these organic shapes, and what’s amazing is that we also put the material in the washing machine to shrink it. This made the shapes even more interesting—some would look one way initially, but after shrinking, they became so much more organic. It was incredible to see how it all came together.

Sadly, I know about the shrinking of wool from personal experience, haha.
Haha, yeah! But if you do it intentionally, you can get really cool results from it.

I’m sure! How would you say your relationship to textiles in general has evolved through this process?
Before this, I had zero experience actually making things, but I’ve learned so much through the process. I wasn’t in the lab directly changing the yarn or fibers, but I got a good understanding of how it all works. I’d love to create more using these techniques, especially the 3D knitting—it’s incredible. The machine they use is amazing, and seeing it in action was fascinating. It’s this massive, impressive setup that feels almost like a nuclear reactor—it’s just so cool.

Coming back to AI and your practice, you’ve said that one really needs to understand the brain of AI to work with it properly. Within that, how do you navigate certain biases or limitations, if you feel like there are any?
Yeah, the tool you use is really important. For example, AI in Photoshop is amazing because it’s fully integrated with the program, giving you so much control. I’ve tried almost every AI program out there, but they all have limitations or controversies, so I’ve switched between them. But with Photoshop, you can control everything—down to the smallest detail. An easy example: I have a jewelry brand, and for marketing images, I use AI to create imagery that fits my weird alien/insect world. I’ll take a photo of my hands and try to make flowers grow from my fingers or create insect shapes. The AI doesn’t immediately understand this because it’s never seen flowers on fingers before. So to fool the AI, I hide certain things. For example, I zoom in, hide the hairs on my hands, or remove other fingers, so it doesn’t recognize it as a hand. I might even change the color to green or brown, like tree bark, and then the AI will start to generate flowers or other elements. In Photoshop, I can control everything and tweak it, and if I need to, I can remove layers or adjust details. I have full control over the process.

And as for photorealism, do you have any insights on working with AI faces?
I use another tool for AI faces, and then I integrate them into my work or edit them afterward to make them even more realistic. All the humans on my page are AI-generated—none are real. AI faces often look too pale, so I add color or make the skin slightly red to give the impression of blood under the skin. I also adjust other parts to make them feel more lifelike, just like with textures. The level of control is amazing now, especially compared to just a year or two ago. It’s incredible how fast these tools are evolving. They learn and adapt so quickly. Video is also improving. I haven’t experimented much with it yet because it was still glitchy, but now it’s definitely growing.

Do you see yourself venturing into video?
Yeah, right now, AI videos mostly have slight movement, but I’m trying to push it further. Like with my hands, I want the flower to grow out of my finger, but that’s tricky. Maybe I’ll try stop motion, like starting with a small flower and making it grow bigger, but it’s a lot of work. Still, it could work really well for showing a biological process. I imagine the wearable suit evolving too—maybe it starts small, like a Marvel suit, and then grows to have giant wings or something, like an alien creature. It could turn into a parasite, or a new stage of symbiosis. There are so many possibilities. The cool thing about AI and these tools is that you can really experiment and try anything. It’s all about imagination.

Yeah, I imagine this metamorphic nature of your pieces will also come to life differently in a moving image. On the other hand, would you say that this experience with TextielMuseum has inspired you to work more with tangible materials and textiles?
Yeah, I’d love to combine it, but on a smaller scale—not the giant clothing piece, but maybe accessories. If I could collaborate again with a lab or a production center to create smaller products, that would be really cool. It doesn’t necessarily have to be commercial, but just making smaller, unique items would be awesome.

I see that! Thanks so much for your time – looking forward to seeing the piece IRL!
Yes, see you there 🙂