Haute Couture Robotics

Bringing Industrial Robots to Paris Fashion Week

ATONATON, led by Dr. Madeline Gannon, helped bring two industrial robots to life at Paris Fashion Week for the global debut of Issey Miyake's IM Men brand. The robots were the central feature of the minimalist scenography for the Japanese brand. Each ABB IRB 6640 robot held a two meter square piece of fabric, and moved synchronously in flowing motions to match the emotional timing of the runway show. With only three-weeks development time and three days on-site, ATONATON built custom live coding tools that opened up the industrial robots to more improvisational workflows. This level of reliable, real-time control unlocked the flexibility needed by the Issey Miyake team to make the necessary last-minute creative decisions for the show.

Background

The runway show for the IM Men A/W 2025/2026 collection was shown in Le Réfectoire des Cordeliers — a 16th century former monastery in the heart of the Latin Quarter. This beautiful, historical venue provided visual and temporal contrast for the ultra-modern, ultra-minimalist environment constructed inside. ATONATON was brought onto the project by Lead Designer Vincent de Belleval to handle the real-time control and safe operation of the industrial robots in this public cultural setting. We also collaborated with artist Jaime Reyes to animate the motion of the robots.

There were several constraints that guided the technical and aesthetic development of the robots’ performance. The timeline was the biggest challenge, with only three weeks for completion and three days of on-site collaboration. While on-site, we also had to work alongside (and on top of) construction, lighting, and video production crews — who also had a tight 72-hour window to transform the historical monastery into a futuristic set. Moreover, we wouldn’t know the choreography or music of the runway show before arriving on-site. Therefore, we knew that we would need more flexible programming approaches to sketch out motions of the robots, make collaborative decisions with the clients, and then dial in refinements at the last possible minute.

Implementation Details

Conventional software for programming industrial robots is mainly intended for automation and manufacturing applications — where robotic precision, efficiency, and repeatability are the priorities. This is almost the opposite for doing dance, performance, or choreography with robots — where you need fluid, flexible, and adaptable timing and motions. And although 3D modeling software, like Rhino/Grasshopper or Mimic for Maya, are excellent for designing robot motion via tool paths, there are often disparities between the virtual simulation running on the computer and the resulting motion running on the real robots.

To bridge these gaps, we developed a custom live coding pipeline that facilitated more dynamic, flexible programming of the two robots. First, we built custom python scripts that corrected differences in motion between the simulated and real robots. For example, they ensured every robot animation was in the same joint space, so we could seamlessly transition between different animations throughout the performance. Once an animation was designed, the joint angles were post-processed with this script and brought into ABB RobotStudio as a unique RAPID module. We developed a TCP/IP-based API for remotely triggering sequences of animations for different states of the show — such as the pre-show, show, finale, and go home routines. This was essential for synchronizing the motion design with choreography and music cues on the fly, and the code is available open-source here.

This project had logistically challenging working conditions, but the pressure to perform helped push us to make new tools and workflows that support spontaneity and improvisation with these traditionally rigid machines. It is always exciting to bring intimidating technology into new cultural contexts, and it was extra joyful to work with such truly amazing collaborators and clients on this one.