A Royal Appointed Butterfly
The 21st of July marks Belgium's National Day, a grand celebration traditionally featuring a spectacular parade in Brussels attended by the Belgian royal family. This year, Xavier Segers had the opportunity to work with Her Royal Highness Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg, Princess of Belgium on her outfit.
A visual artist herself, Princess Delphine often partners with Belgian talent from all different creative fields on public projects.
The 21st of July marks Belgium's National Day, a grand celebration traditionally featuring a spectacular parade in Brussels attended by the Belgian royal family. This year, Xavier Segers had the opportunity to work with Her Royal Highness Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg, Princess of Belgium on her outfit.
A visual artist herself, Princess Delphine often partners with Belgian talent from all different creative fields on public projects.
For this special collaboration, Xavier was given the themes of "Love" and "Evolve", which resonate deeply in Princess Delphine's artistic work. Given a palette to choose from, Xavier selected the bold and vibrant cadmium red and hot pink to bring these themes to life. Fusing illustration, fashion and augmented reality culminated into a captivating outcome.
For the concept and design, Xavier drew inspiration from the intricate beauty of Belgian lace and the rich tapestry of communities and cultures that make Belgium unique. The chosen colours, cadmium red and hot pink, were used in a bold colour-blocking style - perfectly connecting in the middle, with a white butterfly gracefully incorporated to symbolise the unification of different parts. This butterfly, which easily can fly over borders, serves as a reminder that we share more in common than differences with each other.
Insects have always been a significant motif in Xavier's illustrative work, making the butterfly a natural choice for this project. Its connection to the theme of "evolve" perfectly encapsulates this.
For the typographic part of the project, the two keywords followed the same symmetrical form of the butterfly. The word "Love" was placed on the back of the outfit and together with "Evolve" featured prominently in the snapchat filter. In the digital version, the words appeared on the butterfly wings, so it was important to keep it visually balanced.
Through the magic of augmented reality, the butterfly design comes to life. A Snapchat filter was created to make the butterfly appear on Princess Delphine. Its wings slowly beating to reveal the words "Love" and "Evolve." Each wing quadrant is made out of 3 separate semi-translucent parts. This digital layer adds an ethereal and elegant presence to the outfit.
By scanning the QR code within the Snapchat app, people of all generations can experience this captivating animation and positive message from the comfort of their own homes.
The Belgium National's Day and all of it's festivities were televised and commented.
The Belgian and international press reported on the event. The bold and eye-catching design of the royal outfit got lots of attention. Media outlets like Marie Claire, Vanity Fair and Tatler elaborated on the symbolic meaning and the technologic aspect of the creation placing it in a wider historical, royal and fashion context.
Client: Her Royal Highness Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg, Princess of Belgium
Concept & Design: Xavier Segers
Pantsuit: Atelier ExC
Styling + Coordinator: Jody Van Geert
Hat: Elvis Pompilio
AR: Xavier Segers + Arcade XR
Photographer: Wim Van de Genachte
Hair & Make-up: Annick Wouters
Concept & Design: Xavier Segers
Pantsuit: Atelier ExC
Styling + Coordinator: Jody Van Geert
Hat: Elvis Pompilio
AR: Xavier Segers + Arcade XR
Photographer: Wim Van de Genachte
Hair & Make-up: Annick Wouters
