In conversation: Nicola Formichetti and Yasmin Gross on the launch of SYKY Magazine

The magazine launched on January 2, 2025, with a collectible limited-edition digital cover created by Gross, who uses AI to reimagine award-winning designer Kate Barton's signature aesthetics across a series of still and moving images, creatively directed by Formichetti.

Below, we share an edited version of the pair’s conversation, which explores the creative process behind bringing the magazine cover to life, creating an homage to Kate Barton’s almost-digital-but-not-quite luxury fashion aesthetic, AI as an artist’s tool, digital fashion editorial, and more.

Where did the idea for a magazine come from?

Nicola Formichetti: It started with a conversation that I had with Alice [Delahunt], the CEO and Founder of SYKY. SYKY Magazine was born out of a desire to celebrate all the amazing artists and digital creators we’re connected to and explore the potential of digital and AI art. Alice and I wanted to share not just the work but the actual creative vision and talent behind it, so it was important to find real artists who work in digital to have that conversation and exchange of ideas.

Why did you want to work with Yasmin for the inaugural issue?

Nicola Formichetti: Yasmin’s work is one of the most exciting things I've seen recently. She’s very diverse, but she has a strong point of view and understanding of beauty and fashion.

Yasmin Gross: I also work with a lot of organic things, incorporating the natural world.

Nicola Formichetti: Yes, but we could have gone in a completely different direction, and you would catch it. You have such good taste. That’s the most important thing.

Yasmin Gross: Thank you. And, of course, I was aware of your work, Nicola.
I was very excited about the project, because of a combination of working with you, SYKY, the digital aspect, the theme, and trying something I hadn’t done before.

How did you find the process of working together?

Nicola Formichetti: Initially I treated this how I do other magazine projects; I've been working in magazines for over 20 years and I always start with a fashion idea. We were inspired by Kate Barton's mood, the bag we released with her for SYKY Drops, and her NYFW collection. Kate is an incredible designer; her stuff looks almost like digital, but it's not. She has this obsession with water and fish, so I wanted to bring that in. Yasmin's art was perfect for this. I approached her to start collaborating on different visuals that could support Kate's design DNA. That's how it started.

Yasmin Gross: At first, I tried many different things, with Nicola guiding me. I was inspired by the shape of Kate Barton’s bag. The sharp de

sign is this sort of fish shape, but sexier, which mirrored the forms of the waves when I combined them. The reflections, the metallic part of the fish, the watery surface texture.

Nicola Formichetti: Working with Yasmin was fascinating: her use of this new technology is very refreshing and unexpected. The exchange of ideas is similar to how I collaborate on a photo shoot or music video, but embracing the unknown aspect of this project was exciting. Normally, I'm hands-on. I'm touching the garments and creating on the spot – sometimes mistakes happen and it's a beautiful mistake – but with this project, all the magic happened through exchanging digital conversations. Because of that, you have more time to think, you can process, and you can get what you want to see very quickly. The quick turnaround is really, really special: the speed is insane. If we wanted to change something, we had more dialogue and we changed it. It's different, but the result speaks for itself.

Yasmin Gross: Yeah, you can test things quicker. At a physical shoot, things are set up, and you just have to do it; you can’t redo things. With digital, it's always possible to move the idea and the direction. For me, AI is a thousand tools thrown into one; I can try new things and focus on other ideas that I maybe wouldn't be able to because of timing or other constraints. At the same time, not everything about working with AI is fast.

Nicola Formichetti: Of course, there’s so much post-production.

Yasmin Gross: People assume that it’s much faster, but I do a lot of post-production when it comes to commission work. With my personal work, I try to be more free, but otherwise, there's a lot of retouching. It takes a long time for me to get certain renders. I use so many images and I’ve worked on them for the past year to get the skin texture better. Also, the algorithms are constantly improving, so sometimes I have a good prompt and then later it won't work because the model has changed.

Can you talk more about your creative process?

Yasmin Gross: I work mostly on Midjourney; it has the best rendering because it’s one of the oldest systems. I use a lot of references – I love words, and I love terms, and I love research. I’m trilingual, which helps when it comes to vocabulary and prompts, and I've worked in a lot of different industries from fashion to accessories and design. My house is not very photogenic but it's full of things that feed my work. I'm a bit of a collector of stuff.

Nicola Formichetti: I love that.

Yasmin Gross: All those things help me pull ideas. I do research, but there's a lot of stuff that I have seen already – kind of like a photographic memory – that I know I want to revisit and use in my work.

Nicola Formichetti: I learned a lot from you during this process, Yasmin. I got into the whole AI thing pretty early, and it was scary at first because it was like, ‘My god, I don't know anything.’ I can barely use Photoshop, but I'm a reference person; I love history and finding things out. So for me, in a way, it was easy to get into AI prompts because I could explain in different visual ways what I wanted. For me, AI is one of the most exciting tools we've ever had. I want to make the point that we're not replacing people and creativity, but we're amplifying it.

This project was about embracing this shift happening in culture, especially over the last year, and showcasing what's possible. I love when artists come together and then you add technology. It’s like we're doing it all together. It’s not a threat to creativity. I see it more like a celebration of what's possible when humans and tech meet and do new stuff. It's about innovation.

Yasmin Gross: I feel the same. I was curious about AI at the beginning, so I started to explore it. I think it's going to improve the value of real photos, and I also think it empowers smaller creators who don't have big budgets but have great ideas. Once people in the industry try it, they’ll see what a great tool it is, just like any other tool.

Nicola Formichetti: And creating with it is a process of experiences. It’s super cool. Yasmin, I think all the experiences that you have had as a photographer and an artist add to what you’re doing now. I gave you the Kate Barton file to mix the physical product from the physical world into your world and…

Yasmin Gross: Adding the bag took the visuals to the next level.

Nicola Formichetti: It feels like we’re going much more into that territory of what's real and what’s not, the digital world and the physical world merging. What I find so interesting about good AI art, like Yasmin’s, is that it looks real. It has that familiarity. Obviously, your model has wings and stuff, so we know it’s not real, but there's this sense of wanting it to be real.

I think bringing in real items like a bag or an earring stamps it with a fashion statement, so it's not purely fantasy, it’s a fashion image. I want people to see it and think, “My god, it looks real, but it cannot be real, because she's covered in water. But it’s so beautiful.” This work is so tastefully done that it elevates the whole thing.

Yasmin Gross: I love fantasy, too, but it depends on the concept. This one was an homage to the Kate Barton brand and our interpretation of the feeling.

What do you want people to take away from this project?

Yasmin Gross: I hope that people recognize that I do spend time on the work. I’ve been getting amazing responses, which makes me want to continue. It’s interesting because it kind of goes full circle. I’ve had people reach out to me who have physically painted my AI drawings, and I had a makeup artist recreate the makeup from one of my pieces. I’m so happy to inspire someone else, just like I was inspired by someone else, just as AI is inspired by thousands of images that are input.

Nicola Formichetti: When you see what Yasmin has created it's like, ‘Holy s***’. It's so beautiful – you can't deny it. I wish people would embrace it even more. I'd love for people to start experimenting, but also appreciating that this is another art form. All the best artists in the world have been inspired by previous things. I think it's impossible to create anything – even a drawing or painting – from a blank canvas; you're made out of what you've seen. In that way, it’s similar to AI prompts, because artists have to give direction.

Yasmin Gross: I feel the same. Art comes from what we're inspired by and it's impossible to ignore our experiences. Our style is built on what we have seen and processed – even for a creator who works by hand.

Nicola Formichetti: Of course, you cannot copy, because then it’s like, why are you doing it? But it's your interpretation of what you’ve seen. It's a very gray line, which, for me, is exciting.

Yasmin Gross: Yeah, I think it's about the artist, or the magazine, or the client asking: ‘Is this a copy or is this something new? Is this a reinterpretation?’ It’s also our responsibility as artists to make sure that we're not culturally or artistically stepping over any ethical borders. We do our research and we stay conscious. I have rules. For example, I stay away from forcing the system to do an image that exists; I use as few references to artists as possible; and I often use old, dead references.

Nicola Formichetti: I think that is a clear point of view. Working with digital artists like you fits with the ethos of SYKY. It’s the reason I joined. It’s about envisioning the future of creativity and recognizing that fashion and art are always evolving. Digital artists are bringing this fresh perspective, changing the conversation, and using new tools. Supporting them is essential to being more inclusive and forward-thinking. We have to represent what's coming out of creativity and fashion today and in the future.

Yasmin Gross: And it is so important to have people like you and Alice [Delahunt], and platforms like SYKY supporting us. This field has a lot going on, and it hasn’t crystallized yet. It’s still experimental, it’s not always high-end, and there are lots of people who haven’t had the opportunity to work in fashion. So I think it's great to have the opportunity to do this and to have SYKY in the space. I hope you keep doing more of these projects in the future.

Nicola Formichetti: By the way, when I said earlier that you were very quick, I meant it in a good way, because I'm very quick, too. I'm on the spot. Think about it later. That's what I love about working with you – we are quick to try new things and go deeper if we want to. I think if you take too much time then you lose momentum.

Yasmin Gross: Sometimes I have to slow myself down and be like, okay there's no reason to send it this fast; everyone's asleep right now. I think we had a good flow. Worst case, you start from scratch if it doesn't work, but it’s always better to keep it moving. 

The digital cover from SYKY Magazine: Issue 01 is available to collect now until January 9. Keystone Holders get a free mint.