By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)
Somewhere between a fashion editorial, a film still and a mythological dreamscape is where Nina Sabina Caballero’s images seem to exist.
The Helsinki-based artist, curator and creative technologist has emerged as a distinctive voice working at the intersection of fashion, visual storytelling and generative AI. Since 2022, her work has been featured in publications including Prompt Magazine, Creativa Magazine, Sintetica and Divide Magazine, as well as Neo.Fashion Berlin Fashion Week 2025. She is also Director of Communications and Community Leader at AI/CC (Artificial Intelligence Creative Community), a global non-profit network connecting more than 50,000 creatives worldwide.
Yet technology is only one part of the story.
Trained in fine arts and influenced by Renaissance painting, fashion photography, cinema and mythology, Caballero creates images that feel suspended between past and future. Across her work, sculptural silhouettes emerge from imagined worlds, characters seem caught in moments of transformation, and fashion becomes a vehicle for narrative rather than simply something to wear.
Her relationship with fashion extends beyond image-making. Before working with AI, Caballero spent part of her career at Finnish design house Marimekko, an experience that deepened her appreciation for craftsmanship, visual identity and storytelling. Today, those influences continue to surface throughout her work, whether in the drape of a garment, the construction of a character or the atmosphere of an entire world.
For this exclusive conversation with Couture Troopers, accompanied by a selection of unpublished images shared exclusively with the publication, Caballero reflects on fashion as a language of storytelling, the influence of mythology and cinema on her creative process, and how she balances emerging technology with deeply human forms of image-making.
Couture Troopers: I’d like to start a bit more personally. How did you come into this space of fashion, image-making and AI-driven work? Was there a clear entry point for you, or did it evolve through different practices?
Nina Sabina Caballero: My journey into this space evolved naturally over time. I began as a traditional artist, studying fine arts and classical techniques inspired by the Old Masters. Painting taught me about composition, light, symbolism and emotional storytelling, while photography later expanded my understanding of narrative, atmosphere and visual expression.
Fashion has also been a constant presence throughout my life. My fascination with fashion began during my early teenage years and has remained with me ever since. Beyond a personal passion, I also worked within the fashion industry, with a full career at Marimekko, the iconic Finnish fashion and design brand known for its bold patterns, creativity and timeless visual identity. That experience deepened my appreciation for craftsmanship, storytelling and the cultural impact of fashion.
When generative AI emerged in 2022, I saw it not as a replacement for artistic practice, but as a new creative medium. It allowed me to combine many of my existing interests, including fine art, photography, fashion, mythology and worldbuilding, into a single visual language.
CT: Fashion feels present in your visual language even when it isn’t directly referenced. What draws you to fashion as a visual and emotional reference point in your work?
NSC: Fashion feels incredibly natural to me because it has always been part of my life. What fascinates me most is that fashion exists somewhere between art, design, identity and storytelling.
A garment is never just a garment. Through silhouette, texture, colour and movement, fashion can communicate emotion, suggest a character or hint at an entire world. Even when fashion is not the explicit subject of an image, it often becomes the visual language through which the story is told.
I think of fashion as storytelling worn on the body.
CT: Who or what do you consider your current fashion or visual muses?
NSC: My influences come from many different places. In fashion, I admire designers such as Alexander McQueen, Iris van Herpen and John Galliano for their ability to transform fashion into narrative and art.
My artistic foundation comes from Renaissance and Baroque painting, particularly the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Their mastery of light, symbolism and emotional depth continues to inspire my work.
Photographers like Paolo Roversi, Mario Testino and Tim Walker have influenced my way of seeing fashion photography as an art form.
Cinema is equally important. Films such as Dune and Blade Runner 2049 have shaped my understanding of atmosphere and visual storytelling. I also find endless inspiration in mythology, folklore, nature and the Kalevala, Finland’s national epic.
CT: When you start a new piece, what usually comes first for you: a feeling, an image, a garment or a narrative you want to step into?
NSC: Almost always, it begins with a feeling and then continues as a visual in my mind.
It might be a sense of wonder, transformation, mystery, nostalgia or longing. Sometimes it emerges from a dream, a mythological story, a piece of music or a philosophical idea.
From that feeling, images begin to form. Then I start gathering references, textures, symbols, lighting ideas and visual cues that help shape the world and atmosphere surrounding the image. Fashion often becomes part of that process because it helps define character, identity and mood within the story.
CT: Your work often sits between fashion imagery, film stills and constructed worlds. How do you personally navigate that space when building an image?
NSC: To me, those worlds are deeply connected.
Fashion, cinema and worldbuilding are deeply interconnected forms of creative expression. When I create an image, I often imagine that I am capturing a single frame from a larger narrative.
I ask myself questions such as: Who is this person? Where are they? What happened before this moment? What happens next?
Even a single image can suggest an entire universe if enough emotional and visual clues are present.
That tension between fashion editorial, cinematic atmosphere and narrative worldbuilding is where I feel most creatively at home.
CT: Even within AI-driven processes, there always feels like a strong sense of intention in your work. Where do you feel your hand is most present in the final image?
NSC: My hand is present long before the image appears.
It begins with the concept, the emotional direction, the references I choose, the symbolism I include and the countless creative decisions made throughout the process. AI may generate possibilities, but the artist provides vision.
In many ways, my role feels similar to that of a creative director. The technology helps realise ideas, but the meaning, intention and storytelling remain deeply human.
CT: A lot of AI-generated imagery can feel visually strong but emotionally distant. How do you maintain emotional direction and human presence in your process?
NSC: I always begin with emotion rather than technology.
I am rarely interested in creating an image simply because it looks impressive. Instead, I ask what the image should make someone feel. Wonder, curiosity, melancholy, hope, awe or reflection — these emotional states become the foundation of the work.
My background in traditional art taught me that technique alone is never enough. The image must communicate something meaningful. The tools may evolve, but emotional storytelling remains timeless.
CT: What kinds of images, fashion references or visual cues are you drawn to right now?
NSC: At the moment, I find myself drawn to timelessness.
I am particularly interested in sculptural silhouettes, elegant drapery, natural textures and imagery that feels both ancient and futuristic at the same time. I continue to be inspired by haute couture, mythology, nature, Renaissance portraiture and cinematic worldbuilding.
Many of the images that attract me share a common theme: transformation. I am fascinated by moments of becoming, whether personal, spiritual, cultural or symbolic.
CT: Much of your work resembles fashion editorials that could exist in magazines, campaigns or cinema. What do you think makes an image feel “fashion” to you, even when a specific garment or collection is not the focus?
NSC: For me, fashion is not simply about clothing.
Fashion is about intention, identity, presence and visual attitude. An image can feel deeply fashion-oriented even when no specific designer or collection is being referenced.
The silhouette, posture, atmosphere, styling and emotional narrative all contribute to that feeling. Fashion exists in the way a character inhabits a space and expresses themselves visually.
The strongest fashion imagery transcends products and lingers as an emotion, memory or point of view.
CT: Where does AI image-making sit for you at the moment: as art, as a tool or something that doesn’t fully sit in one category yet?
NSC: I see AI primarily as a tool, but a tool capable of contributing to artistic expression.
Throughout history, artists have embraced new technologies. Photography was once controversial. Digital art faced similar skepticism. Every new medium expands the possibilities available to artists.
For me, AI is another chapter in the evolution of creative practice. It expands the possibilities of imagination and visual storytelling, but it does not replace artistic thinking.
The most exciting aspect of AI is not automation. It is its ability to help artists visualise ideas, worlds and narratives that might otherwise remain unseen. At its best, it becomes a bridge between imagination and image.
