RTFKT x THE FABRICANT PRESENT: RenaiXance - an exploration of the possible

Have you ever asked yourself ‘What if?’ What might be if things played out another way? This is the thinking that informed RenaiXance, a collab by RTFKT x The Fabricant - a fluid, genderless collection that recognises a spectrum of possibility. Only when we question the status quo can things evolve.

RenaiXance is inspired by the Renaissance period of the 1500s, an era of rapid social change that transformed culture and society, but reconfigures its spirit and energy for the technological age. The digital world has thrown history’s rule book out of the window and we find ourselves able to challenge every aspect of our existence. Technology gives us the power to explore and embrace our beautiful human complexity - in the digital terrain, all things become possible. 

The letter X has always represented a powerful symbol of potential, it is mysterious and  awaits input to be given meaning. X is also a foundational presence within the human condition: each of us shares the X chromosome, regardless of our chosen gender expression. It is the genetic thread that unites us, sitting appropriately central within the word RenaiXance, suggesting movement in any direction. Like the original word, RenaiXance means to rebirth, pointing to the fact that in the digital world we can be reborn time and time again, transforming daily to express multiple selves.

Physical reality has long preferred the fixed and static in terms of self expression. Traditional masculinity is the benchmark to which we’ve all been held, with strength, assertiveness and power only able to be conveyed in a certain immovable way. Conform to these ideas or you are nothing, is the message we’ve all been fed. Its tightly policed boundaries have kept every one of us entrapped. 

People across history were required to adopt masculine symbology to hide their assumed vulnerability, or were persecuted if they crossed invisible lines of what was deemed gender-appropriate behaviour. While those whose gender expression was anything other than binary were eradicated from history entirely or incarcerated after being determined mentally unwell.

More recently, deeply embedded visual signifiers have crept into the gaming environment, taking gender cliches and biases into our digital world. Hyper-masculine characters such as Kratos from God of War - pumped, violent and powerful - pushed the narrative into new realms. Meanwhile ‘Quiet’ a female character in the Metal Gear series, was created with a sexualised outfit unfit for her role as an elite soldier and a name that suggested it was better for her to be looked at than heard.

With RenaiXance, RTFKT x The Fabricant present the idea of what could be if we reimagined possibilities. What if historic signifiers of femininity replaced those of masculinity, and what new expressive potential does it give us? Does a character become any less intriguing if it’s wearing a robe and corset regardless of gender? Or do notions of the depth and power of femininity give it a new and exciting dimension, drawing on a frame of reference that destroys the limitations we’ve become accustomed to?

In the new digital RenaiXance we can create our world anew. Technology allows us to reject the conformist structures of physicality and resist its gatekeepers, reshaping our world for the better. RenaiXance draws on our innate human capacity for fluidity and pushes back against the toxic, fixed ideas of gender. Come with us on this explorative journey of freedom and possibility. It’s time to finally become what we’ve always had the capacity to be.

RenaiXance, by RTFKT x THE FABRICANT: 
drops on The Dematerialised https://thedematerialised.com/ 20.00 CET, Friday 16th April. Request an access code via their site to participate.