by Sweety Caroline
Hi my dear fashion enthusiasts,
It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything and finally I’ve made my first ever blog. After 4 years of learning pattern making and garment construction, I’ve made my way into digital fashion. I had a whole new experience awaiting me when I took up the role of 3D designer. And you may ask "Caroline, why are you making a blog about it?" There are multitudes of fashion-tech information today and it is notable that fashion is undergoing an evolution. Like everyone asks, ‘Is virtual clothing the future of fashion?’ Let me shed some light on it.
Table of Content
What is virtual fashion?
Virtual fashion basically comprises digital garments and accessories. As you might have come across a new term, Digital twin, is a virtual replica of clothing available in real life. Let me also take the onus to introduce you to the concept of Virtual Try-ons and digital trial rooms.
Digital trial rooms allow the person who visits your ecommerce website to experience the clothes before they purchase it, by seeing the fit and drape of it on their virtual imagery. This is done with the support of augmented reality (AR) and 3D body scanning. Some platforms offer digital only purchases, which exist virtually forever. These hold unique emotional values for each user and the creator does not incur massive production costs. The power of owning a digital garment doesn’t stop with it. The consumers achieve a form of self expression and individuality that transcends material possession.
What is 'phygital' fashion and its role in sustainable development?
Why do we need digital clothing and how can it help the industry of fashion which has a notorious love-hate relationship with sustainable development? There’s this idea of phygital fashion. As the term suggests, it is the coexistence of digital and physical fashion. In a design studio setting, the designer and the client get to know each other, and ideate on how to bring the designs to life. After the one-on-one, a creative direction is established. The designer further does trend prediction, market research, design concepts, followed by hand sketches and CAD (Computer-aided design) developments. The next step is briefing the manufacturers with tech packs for sampling and production. According to a report published in a journal on ‘Cleaner Environment Systems,’ the textile and apparel industry has consumed 53 million tons of textile fibre and 73% of it has reached the landfill and incineration. These wastes include excessively produced or defective apparels which are canceled before shipping.
The 3D designs created on 2D CAD and 3D clothing development softwares are rendered and simulated to bring life-like details. These are accurate to measurements and can further be graded based on the size ranges. It is one of the few solutions that would also benefit when working out the costing part.
Taking this one step ahead, when the designer can 3D print the sample, the whole process is re-invented. It eliminates the need to redevelop samples at the cost of yards of textile. To make the idea work, it is left to the creative understanding between the client and the designer. A 3D printed sample is a perfect solution to manage the pre-production cycle before it is sent for bulk production.
How do you create 3D clothes?
Now that you know what virtual fashion is, are you curious to know how to make 3D clothes? Let’s get cracking.
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