puffer coat-clad jesus and santa model winter apparel

 

Hajar Ali conjures up a Christmas miracle, dreaming up a fashion ad campaign where puffer coat-clad Santa Claus, Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary model for The North Face. The AI-generated series created using Midjourney dresses the iconic figures in red winter apparel, posing them against snow-capped peaks in the cold winter chill.

 

Beyond the renderings’ playful vivid imagery and the protagonists’ smoldering gazes, the series is laden with commentary on racial politics. In a continuation of the artist’s exploration of Reverse Orientalism, the images hint at and question Western society’s controversial whitewashing of Jesus’ racial identity and color of his skin. 

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series
Santa Claus models his iconic red and white | all images by Hajar Ali

 

 

hajar ali questions racial politics

 

Hajar Ali’s conceptual ad campaign dresses up Virgin Mary, Santa Claus, and Jesus Christ at various stages of his life, from childhood to adulthood, in furry hats, winter coats and cozy scarves. The series is an ironic and playful commentary on our perception of Jesus’ racial identity as part of the artist’s Reverse Orientalism works, wherein Occidental images are co-opted to produce Oriental art.

 

A tongue-in-cheek hint at the controversy behind the historic whitewashing of Middle Eastern Jesus reveals itself in his magically changing race, as he transforms from a dark-skinned, dark-eyed infant held in the arms of his white mother, to a blue-eyed, light-skinned teen.

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series
Hajar Ali’s AI-generated series imagines a fashion ad campaign

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series
a teenage Jesus

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series
Mary holds infant Jesus

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series

 

hajar ali imagines santa and jesus as winter apparel models in new midjourney series
the series hints at Western whitewashing of Jesus’ race and skin color

 

 

project info:

 

name: Dressing Jesus for Christmas
designer: Hajar Ali

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: ravail khan | designboom