The F21 Thread Screen is a massive machine (200,000 parts, weighing over 1 ton) that re-created people's hashtagged Instagrams via 6,400 mechanical spools of thread. All live on the internet, all in real-time.

There are shockingly few brands that are utilizing Instagram's API to provide an interesting and new experience for consumers. The Thread Screen was designed to show the world the potential of what you could do with this platform.

From initial concept to build, a year and half passed, but it wasn't pedal to the metal the entire time. We had to find the right time in Forever 21's marketing schedule to launch, and as such, some months had more people working on it than others. The majority of the initial build and assembly occurred over the first 6-7 months, with the rest of the time being a lot of optimization, testing, learning, and fine-tuning.

The entire machine and experience was designed, coded, and manufactured from the circuit board up. Of the 200,000 parts (8 times the number in your car), only the screws and a handful of other small parts were not design and manufactured by the team. That meant creating custom colored fabric, turned and stamped wooden spools, injection molded chassis, stepper motors, PCBs, wire harnesses, facade, idlers, a massive aluminum superstructure, and so much more

• Zero dollars spent on any promotion/pr/media/etc

• Campaign ran 24 hours for 7 days, reaching 280 million impressions in that time.

• To date, we estimate that it's achieved 400 million.

• The F21 Thread Screen received more media and social impressions than any other campaign in Forever 21 history.

• In the 168 hour live period, the number of Instagrams that could be shown was maxed out, which was 9k images.

We believe that the F21 Thread Screen might be the most complex machine ever built for any campaign, achieving a long list of firsts in tech, software, and marketing.

It was conceived, designed, and built entirely from the ground up, and is made of over 200,000 parts – 8 times the amount that are in your car.

While the engineering might be impressive, the experience isn't overshadowed by it. The experience to the end user of seeing themselves made from thread is truly enjoyable, leaving the tech as an afterthought, which is always our ultimate goal.

Forever 21's target audience is 24-33, which also happens to be the largest age group on Instagram. Forever 21 also is one of the most followed accounts on Instagram, having (at the time) more followers that Lady Gaga and Adele.

Our focus was to give Instagram users something they've never seen before, something they'd truly enjoy, and something that could be experience no matter where in the world you were.

This is why, despite creating a physical installation that's impressive to see in person, directing all traffic online instead allowed millions to experience it, rather than just a couple thousand.

Forever 21 was looking to experiment with something quite different than what they've done in the past, with the ultimate goal of creating a massive amount of social and media buzz around Forever 21, positioning them at the crossroads of fashion, tech and art.