Childlike Whimsy
As part of the Domus Academy Fashion Styling & Digital Content Creation Workshop in collaboration with L’Officiel, Fashion Styling & Visual Merchandising Master students Funda Torun, Minrui Zhang and Jiayi Long developed Childlike Whimsy – a collaborative styling and visual art project created for L’Officiel Art that blurs the boundaries between fashion and contemporary art.
As part of the Domus Academy Fashion Styling & Digital Content Creation Workshop in collaboration with L’Officiel, Fashion Styling & Visual Merchandising Master students Funda Torun, Minrui Zhang and Jiayi Long developed Childlike Whimsy – a collaborative styling and visual art project created for L’Officiel Art that blurs the boundaries between fashion and contemporary art.
Project Leader | Mentor
Lucio Colapietrio
Project Authors
Funda Torun
Minrui Zhang
Jiayi Long
The project draws inspiration from the surreal playfulness and boundless imagination of childhood, exploring the emotional space between innocence and expressive audacity. The concept revolves around three contemporary macro trends:
- Playful Surrealism
- Naïve Fashion
- Whimsical Maximalism
Childlike Whimsy thus becomes a symbolic playground where nostalgia, colour, and texture coexist in joyful chaos, reflecting the ongoing dialogue between art and fashion.
Production & Visual Language
The production took place in a studio environment transformed into a surreal interior landscape. Every element – from the model’s expression to the lighting and props – was carefully curated to convey a dreamlike tension between imagination and reality. The editorial layouts combined typography, compositional balance, and colour rhythm to preserve the ethereal tone of the concept, ensuring each spread functioned as an artwork in itself.
Digital Extension: “Find Your Childhood”
The project extended into the digital sphere through an interactive social media narrative titled “Find Your Childhood.” This storytelling series follows a woman searching for fragments of her lost innocence through hidden symbols – butterflies, stars, and balloons – scattered across the posts, inviting the audience to engage with the narrative actively.
Project Vision
By combining styling, design and storytelling, Childlike Whimsy celebrates creativity as a return to wonder – a space where imagination becomes a bridge between art, memory and the dreamlike essence of being human.
FAQ – Frequent questions
1. What is Childlike Whimsy?
Childlike Whimsy is a collaborative styling and visual art project created by Domus Academy Master students for L’Officiel, blending fashion and contemporary art through surreal playfulness and childhood imagination.
2. Which trends inspired the Childlike Whimsy project?
The project explores three contemporary macro trends: Playful Surrealism, Naïve Fashion, and Whimsical Maximalism, creating a symbolic playground where nostalgia, color, and texture coexist
3. What did Fashion Styling & Visual Merchandising Master students learn through Childlike Whimsy?
Students developed skills in styling, visual art direction, editorial design, and digital storytelling by creating a complete project for L’Officiel Art that bridges fashion and contemporary art.
4. How does Childlike Whimsy reflect the Domus Academy approach to fashion education?
The project demonstrates Domus Academy’s hands-on methodology, combining real industry collaborations with creative experimentation, allowing Master students to work with prestigious brands like L’Officiel on professional-level content
