LAN parties… but make it fashion: behold the superb crossover of Kepler Interactive and Robyn Lynch

If there’s one thing that seems to seep into all corners of gaming development, it’s the dedication to world building. Creating a whole new universe for your players to get lost in, finding beauty and fulfilment in all of its finer details. But this world building was also something the team at Kepler Interactive, the global video game publisher, noticed when they saw the fashion designer Robyn Lynch’s FW23 collection show. So, the team broached a collaboration – a collection designed by Robyn, inspired by visuals and graphics of Kepler’s brand and many games.

The thing is, for the team at Kepler Interactive, the creative mediums and disciplines we often put in their own separate boxes, work much better in conjunction.“We believe games are an art form in the same way music, art, architecture and fashion are,” says head of creative Simon Sweeney. “We’re the first generation of people who have grown up with games, that they are part of creative culture seems obvious to us. The games we love look outward and take influence from other forms of art and culture, so the next logical step is engaging with that culture ourselves.”

The collection came together through a series of workshops, “opening up Kepler and its influences to Robyn and her technical ability”, says Simon. Through garment dying and enzyme washing, graphics from Kepler were reworked and recreated on apparel, with some of their characters even making it onto the pieces, with embroidery applied with 3m reflective tonal thread. The process continued to be one of collaboration and spontaneity. The models shot wearing the pieces are members of Kepler and Robyn’s “shared community”, says Simon, those who love Kepler’s games and Robyn’s pieces. When the shoot took place, Robyn noticed one of the models, Ben, was holding a screen much like you would do a skateboard. “Everyone turned to look at each other, scrambling to get an image of a skateboard on the screen,” says Simon. “It’s my favourite image in the book.”

The lookbook is brimming with brilliant shots, all inspired by printed video game media from the 90s and early 2000s. One particularly fun one shows all of the models together, in the midst of playing games and in various states of confusion, concentration and frustration. The image references LAN parties, a phenomenon established in the late 90s where people would bring their computers and various devices to one location, and play together. There’s also mock printed gaming ads from the era, highly dramatic posters for the next dystopian first-person shooter game, paired with nonsensical ads for more child-friendly productions.

Originally, the collaboration was never meant to be an external product, but a few factors changed this. One, being how proud the team were of what they had created; another, the fact a number of items from the collection actually ended up on reseller sites. So, they decided to make some available, but there was a spanner in the works – there was only one size left of everything. So, in true Kepler style, they created a gamified website that takes visual cues from the lookbook, upon which you can unlock all of the achievements to get yourself in with a chance of winning the apparel. “Hunting achievements on the website will feel familiar to anyone who loves games,” says Simon. “That achievement pings a certain part of the brain.” The final cherry on top is the chance for the winner to also get their hands on every Kepler game release and future releases, forever – redeemable through an interactive membership card stuck into the middle of a lookbook with adhesive glue. Nostalgia, dialled up to the max.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning, head over to the website here. Competition closes on 5 March.