IMPULSE #8 | Two YouTube Videos – Critical Voices on Digital Fashion 

Critical voices on the topic of “Digital Fashion” are numerous online. I recently watched two YouTube videos of creators voicing their skepticism on certain aspects of digital fashion.

YouTuber “Izzzyzz” offers a critical examination of the digital fashion industry, particularly focusing on the company DressX. Through a blend of humor, skepticism, and detailed analysis, she dissects the lofty promises of this burgeoning field, shedding light on its technological flaws, cultural implications, and environmental contradictions.

In recent years, the tech world has made bold forays into the fashion industry, promising a future where digital clothing would redefine how we dress, consume, and express ourselves. One company at the forefront of this movement, DressX, claims to revolutionize fashion through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI). However, as explored by Izzzyzz, this vision may be more fanciful than feasible, marred by technological shortcomings, questionable environmental benefits, and cultural insensitivity.

Founded in 2020 by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Natalia Modenova and Daria Shapovalova, DressX markets itself as a digital fashion retailer, offering garments designed to be worn virtually—whether in metaverse environments like Roblox and Snapchat or through photos and videos using their Meta Closet app. This app allows users to map 3D-rendered clothing onto their images, ostensibly blending sustainability goals with tech innovation. On paper, the initiative sounds groundbreaking, yet in practice, its execution raises serious concerns.

One of DressX’s primary pitches is sustainability. By replacing physical garments with digital ones, the company aims to address overconsumption and waste in the fashion industry. Influencers, notorious for purchasing fast fashion in bulk to maintain fresh content, are a key target audience. However, the practical limitations of digital fashion—such as poorly rendered designs and awkward interactions with physical bodies—render it a hard sell. Furthermore, the company’s involvement in NFTs contradicts its sustainability ethos, as blockchain technologies are widely criticized for their substantial environmental impact.

Technological flaws also plague DressX’s offerings. The app’s functionality is often compared to basic Snapchat filters, with clothing options frequently clipping, shifting awkwardly, or looking amateurish. These failings are especially jarring considering the high cost of these virtual garments, which range from tens to hundreds of dollars. Even their flagship marketing content, aimed at showcasing the technology’s capabilities, features glaring imperfections that undermine their promise of a high-tech revolution.

Beyond technical inefficiencies, DressX’s broader implications raise cultural and ethical concerns. The app’s clothing frequently appears to favor slim, conventionally attractive bodies, reinforcing harmful beauty standards. Moreover, some of its marketing materials evoke problematic themes, such as the ability to change race or body type through virtual avatars, which risk trivializing significant social and cultural identities.

Despite these challenges, DressX has garnered attention from major brands and media outlets. Publications like Vogue and The New York Times have praised the company’s vision, while luxury labels like Fendi and Diesel have partnered with them to create digital garments. This acclaim has translated into financial success, with the company securing $15 million in funding in 2023. Yet, outside of the tech and fashion elite, consumer reception remains tepid at best. Online forums and social media comments often ridicule the product for its aesthetic shortcomings and inflated promises.

Izzzyzz’s critique highlights a recurring pattern in the tech industry: the promise of innovation often outpaces its practical application. Digital fashion might someday redefine how we engage with clothing, but DressX’s current iteration seems more like a tech gimmick than a revolutionary solution. While the concept of virtual clothing opens intriguing possibilities for creativity and sustainability, its realization requires far greater refinement and cultural sensitivity to truly resonate with the broader public.

Digital fashion remains a nascent field filled with potential and pitfalls. Companies like DressX are navigating uncharted waters, but the road to meaningful impact will require a commitment to addressing technological, environmental, and ethical shortcomings. Until then, the dream of replacing physical wardrobes with digital ones seems more like a speculative fantasy than a viable reality.

Another creator, fashion journalist Bliss Foster highlights in his somewhat critical video “The Problem with Digital Fashion” that he does not have a problem with digital fashion per se, but rather with how it is treated and talked about, as a part of a trend cycle and a technical fad. He acknowledges the value of digital fashion design itself, but also makes the argument that it should rather be treated as a separate discipline altogether. He exemplifies this by discussing a physical shirt that he owns and how all the material qualities and aspects of it are such integral parts of the design that it is impossible to reduce them away from fashion design. 


Sources

Bliss Foster. “The Problem With Digital Fashion,” April 4, 2022. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=who1-kptZzo.

Izzzyzzz. “‘Digital Clothing’ Is the Newest Tech Scam,” November 15, 2024. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWKrK91fk2U.

IMPULSE #6 | Film: “Padmavaat” 

Recently, I watched the Indian movie „Padmavaat“. The film, which released in 2018 stirred up multiple controversies among some communities of the Indian public. Directed by acclaimed Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, „Padmavaat“ is set in medieval Rajasthan. It revolves around the story of Queen Padmavati, who marries a noble king and lives a prosperous live. Soon, an ambitious Sultan hears of Padmavati’s beauty and forms an obsessive love for the Queen, sparking a plan to steal her away for himself.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is known for his elaborate period dramas, had faced multiple instances of backlash from the Rajput community since the production of the film started. The controversy hinged mostly on grievances about the portrayal of Rani Padmavati, which were seen as insulting and misrepresenting. Protests even turned violent, with protesters vandalising sets and even attacking the director himself. After a rescheduling, the movie was finally released on 25 January 2018. 

One of the details of the movie which spurred backlash was the performance and costuming featured in the song. “Ghoomar”. Diegetic songs and choreographed dance numbers are a prominent aspect of Indian films and are featured in a large majority of films of all genres. On Twitter, critics argued that the song misrepresented the Rajput queen Padmavati, leading to claims of disrespect. Protests erupted in November 2017, with some asserting that Rajput queens never danced publicly. Women from the Rajput community joined the protests, voicing concerns that the depiction of the queen in revealing attire was inappropriate. They stated that a Rajput queen would neither perform before an audience nor expose her midriff.

The controversy also drew the attention of the Central Board of Film Certification. On 30 December 2017, the board requested edits to scenes showing Padukone’s midriff to present a more modest portrayal of Queen Padmavati. Instead of reshooting, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali used computer-generated imagery to implement the changes. A revised version of „Ghoomar“ was released on 20 January 2018, featuring Padukone’s midriff digitally covered.

The achievement of this digital clothing insertion is quite remarkable, since the dance number features complicated movements that not only pose an immense challenge for rendering a realistic movement and lighting of the fabric but are further complicated by the tracking the body of the actress Deepika Padukone. The original shot was not captured with tracking in mind, which must have made it extremely challenging for the CGI artists. Unfortunately, I was not able to find details on the process of how the digital clothes where inserted. It would have been a fascinating case study.

Why is this Topic Relevant for my Thesis?

The insertion of digital clothing to meet standards of modesty in different film industries around the world is quite a common practice. A different and more recent example apart from “Padmavaat” is the 2023 Hollywood film “Oppenheimer”, in which a nude scene featuring actress Florence Pugh was altered for some distribution markets by inserting a digital black dress.3

This censorship through digital clothes is one application of “digital fashion” that presents a very concrete real world use case. The implications of using these digital clothing insertions are worth discussing as a separate topic. Several aspects can be discussed, such as the validity of these modesty standards in the first place (which of course is a much larger and much more intricate topic). Alterations that are performed to the original vision of the costume designer by inserting these digital garments for censorship reasons are also an interesting discussion to have. I have not been able to find sources discussing whether the digital clothing designs were discussed with the costume designers of the respective movies. But the issue of whether or not they align with the original vision of the costume designer is questionable to say the least.

Images


1 “Padmaavat (2018).”

2 “Padmaavat Before and After: Look How They Secretly Covered up Deepika Padukone’s Midriff in Ghoomar.”

3 Rubin, “Florence Pugh’s Nude Scene in ‘Oppenheimer’ Covered Up by CGI Black Dress in India and Middle East.”

Sources

IMDb. “Padmaavat (2018)” January 25, 2018. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5935704/.

Hindustan Times. “Padmaavat Before and After: Look How They Secretly Covered up Deepika Padukone’s Midriff in Ghoomar,” January 20, 2018. https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/ghoomar-before-and-after-look-how-they-secretly-covered-up-deepika-padukone-s-midriff-in-padmaavat-song/story-6wceiAO2DAu3u0GgmJhdAM.html.

Rubin, Rebecca. “Florence Pugh’s Nude Scene in ‘Oppenheimer’ Covered Up by CGI Black Dress in India and Middle East.” Variety, July 24, 2023. https://variety.com/2023/film/news/oppenheimer-florence-pugh-nudity-india-cgi-black-dress-1235678665/.

IMPULSE #1 | Film: “Notebook on Cities and Clothes”

About the Film

In his 1989 film “Notebook on Cities and Clothes”, Wim Wenders documents Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto’s journey through developing a collection for a fashion show in Paris. Although Wenders previously expressed a disinterest in fashion, he accepted the commission to create a film on Yamamoto when he was approached by the Centre Pompidou in Paris for the production.
In the film, Wenders intercuts interviews with Yamamoto with documentary scenes shot in his atelier while he develops a collection with his team. In the process, Wenders finds appreciation and understanding for the process of fashion design by finding parallels to his own creative practice. Wenders labels this project as a “diary film”, shooting primarily without a team and filming most of the material himself.1 

About his approach to fashion before making the project, Wenders says in his voiceover in the film: “The world of fashion… I am interested in the world, not in fashion. But maybe my judgement was premature. Why shouldn’t I try to approach the topic without prejudices. Why not look at fashion like any other industry, the film industry for example?”

“Filmmaking…should sometimes just be a way of life. Like going for a walk, reading a newspaper, writing something down, driving a car, or making this film. From day to day it writes itself, driven by the curiosity for the topic.2

About Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto was born on the 3rd of October 1943. He is among the most notable modern Japanese fashion designers. Yamamoto is based in Tokyo and Paris. Noted as a masterful tailor, his brand identity is marked by his avant-garde tailoring which also incorporates Japanese design aesthetics.3

Why is this Film an Impulse for my Thesis?

In the course of my research, it is becoming more and more clear that my thesis will deal at least in part with an exploration of the material component of fashion and clothing, the role materiality plays in our relationship to clothing and the challenges this poses for extending the fashion design discipline into the digital world. 

In the film, director Wim Wenders mentions his starting point for his exploration into the world of fashion design – a jacked he owned that gave him a special feeling when he wore it. The piece was by Yohji Yamamoto.2 This is an example for the importance of materiality in fashion design, especially in how the wearer builds a relationship to garments. 

Wenders and Yamamoto connect over the famous August Sander photo documentary work “People of the 20th Century” in which Sander “documented” everyday people in their environments through portraits (The word “documented” is in quotations because we know today that some of the images were staged by Sander and are not truthful to the real circumstances of the portrayed people). While Wenders admires it as an iconic work of photography, Yamamoto is fascinated by the clothes and demeanour of the portrayed people. Yamamoto appreciates how clothes back in that time reflected and communicated a lot more about a persons circumstances in life.2
This can be seen as positive or negative. Clothing as a tool of social stigmatisation is also a common occurrence throughout history. 


Personal Key Moments from the Film: 

  • Digital craftsmanship – Wim Wenders interjects the elaborations of Yamamoto on Sander’s work by questioning the value of digital craftsmanship in comparison to classical craftsmanship. Especially connected to the people depicted in Sander’s portraits. Wenders essentially questions whether digital processes will ever be able to compare to the value of physical craftsmanship.
From: Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989).
  • Craftsmen’s morals – “[…] in short, to find the essence of a thing through the process of fabricating it”.2 – Another instance of an argument in favour of the importance of physical process. 
From: Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989).
  • Designing time – Yamamoto postulates that if he could design anything, it would be time. He says some materials are alive, they age and the true finished garment is a product of time.2 Here, we see another component of the analog fashion’s life cycle that cannot be translated into digital space. Or does digital fashion have the ability to age? What would digital aging look like? Will digital fashion age through outdated formats, low resolution, outdated shading and 3D modelling conventions?
From: Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989).
  • Importance of collaboration – fashion as a collaborative art form is brought up in the final scenes of the film. Yamamoto and his team come together to review the collection shown at Paris fashion week and celebrate. Wenders acknowledges the importance of each of their contributions – does this collaboration get lost in the digital fashion design process?

1“Notebook on Cities and Clothes | Wim Wenders Stiftung.”
2 Notebook on Cities and Clothes.
3 Wikipedia contributors, “Yohji Yamamoto.”

Bibliography:

“Notebook on Cities and Clothes | Wim Wenders Stiftung,” n.d., https://wimwendersstiftung.de/en/film/notebook-on-cities-and-clothes/.

Notebook on Cities and Clothes. 35mm Color, 1989. https://www.primevideo.com/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.52af787f-a727-4c08-92cd-19e1ac0a8357.

Wikipedia contributors. “Yohji Yamamoto.” Wikipedia, November 5, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yohji_Yamamoto.

21 | Proseminar Master Thesis | Task III – Evaluation of a Master Thesis

For this evaluation task, I have selected the master thesis “Digital fashion for sustainable change a strategy for digital fashion at Tommy Hilfiger” by Charlotte Joliijn Hoekstra. The thesis was submitted in March 2021 at Delft University of Technology for the completion of the masters degree in Strategic Product Design. The evaluation considers the following criteria:

  1. Level of Design The thesis is well designed and comprehensive owing to its employment of color coded layout and clearly structured chapter marking. The reading flow is easy and the overall appearance of the thesis is appealing. Graphics and statistics are also designed in a uniform way, which contributes to the cohesive appearance of the work.
  2. Degree of Innovation
    The topic of the thesis is quite innovative and new, especially for the time of publication. There research topic of digital fashion is not yet extensively researched in academic context at time of writing. Additionally, the concrete and precisely narrowed down scope of the thesis makes it a useful case study and an important reference basis for further research in this area of study.
  3. Independence
    The thesis demonstrates a high degree of independence and effort on the part of the researcher. The outcomes are tangible and underline the amount of independent research that was conducted for the paper.
  4. Outline and Structure
    The structure is extremely reader friendly and clear. The researcher provides a table of contents that includes an executive summary as well as a reading guide in the beginning of the text. The thesis is then divided into five main areas, titled “Discover”, “Why”, “How”, “What” and “Conclude” which each of the sections being color coded and further divided into subchapters. This is extremely helpful for readers in guiding their reading experience of the paper.
  5. Degree of Communication
    The degree of communication high, the manner of communication is effective and the research topic, though extensive, is well communicated. The author manages to relate the basis of the topic and the background information needed to understand the most important aspects of the research in a clear and understandable manner, enabling even readers who are unfamiliar with the research area to understand the thesis. 
  6. Scope of the Work
    The scope of this work appears to be quite extensive and becomes evident primarily in the discussion of the research objectives, the scope of the deliverables and the research methodology. The researcher employs various methodological tools, such as the Vision in Product design method on the design side and scientific research methods current state of the art evaluations and focus group research. The paper consists of 85 pages including the bibliography and title page, and I would evaluate this as a quite extensive scope for a paper at this level.
  7. Orthography and Accuracy
    Orthography and accuracy are on an appropriate level. No obvious mistakes in orthography, grammar or mistakes of any kind in the writing could be detected while reading the thesis. 
  8. Literature
    The author cites 44 sources, which I would classify as a number on the lower end of the scale especially in relation to the extensiveness of the work. However, the novelty of the topic and the limitations in existing research justify this quite low number of referenced works. The cited references are varied and diverse and draw from different categories of sources. Overall, the literature is satisfactory but could be slightly more extensive. 

Overall Evaluation
Overall, this thesis is very well written, has a clear and appealing layout, an excellent reading flow and demonstrates a high degree of innovation. The slightly low number of literature sources is compensated well by the extent of independent research conducted by the author. In the Austrian grading system, I would grade this thesis as a 1 (very good).

Source:
Hoekstra, Charlotte. „Digital fashion for sustainable change: A strategy for digital fashion at Tommy Hilfiger.“ (2021).

20 | Designing A Digital Fashion Garment – The Final Project

For my final project, I decided to draft a pattern for pants in CLO3D. I am following a tutorial for the basic shape and will modify the garment according to my design preferences.

Preparing the Avatar

To begin the process, I decided to modify one of the default avatars from the CLO library to my own measurements. This was relatively easy and it’s a quick method to get a fairly accurate representation of your body in the digital space. However, the problem with this method is that body proportions vary greatly from person to person and the distribution of certain measurements creates a very different base shape of the body. Even though CLO allows you to input a lot of specific measurements, such as knee, leg and calf circumference, it does still calculate the spaces between the input custom measurements automatically, resulting in certain idiosyncratic body shapes to be lost in the process. For example, the difference between my high and low hip measurement is quite substantial and creates a dip at the hip area but there is no way (that I could find) to represent the shape between those two measurements inside the avatar editor. So to get a very accurate representation of your own body, you would have to make a custom model from scratch and load it into the program. For this project, I decided to go with the approximately correct model achieved by modifying the default avatar.

Drafting the Pattern

After the Avatar was prepared, I started developing the pants pattern according to this tutorial. 

First, I had to calculate some measurements as listed below.

Pants measurements

Avatar:
Hip: 97 cm  (31.2in)
Half hip: 48,5 cm (19in)
Waist: 65 cm (25.6in)
Outseam: 95cm (37.4in)
Inseam: 75cm (29.5in)
Knees: 18in
Ankles: 13.75in

Measurement Percentages (of half hip in inches):
21% 3.99in
55% 10.45in
47% 8.93in
10% 1.9in
20% 3.8in

Math:
Front Waist: 25.6 / 4 + .375 = 6.775
Back Waist: 25.6 / 4 – .375 = 6.025
Front Knee: 18 / 2 +.75 = 9.75
Front Ankle: 13.75 / 2 – .375 = 6.5
Back Ankle: 13.75 / 2 + .375 = 7.25 

The pattern drafting process was very similar to the analog process on paper and gave me lots of flashbacks to pattern drafting class. Especially when following an instruction with different measurements, there can be some confusing moments in the process and my lack of practice over the last years definitely showed while I was developing the pattern. 

Following the tutorial was a very helpful way of getting familiar with all the tools in the 2D Pattern drafting window. Some of them I found to be less intuitive than I originally thought while going though them in the overview tutorial series. For example, the curving tools don’t respond in the way that I would expect and the way I know these types of tools from other programs, so they were challenging to use in the drafting process. 

At the end, I did manage to construct the pattern and I could move on to arranging the pieces on the avatar and sew and simulate the garment.

Fit Issues, Modifications and Fabric Choices 

I tried to correct this issue by re-measuring the inseam of my avatar, going back to the pattern in the 2D window and comparing the measurement to the inseam on the pattern. By gradually editing the curvature and approximating it to the inseam measurements, I managed to somewhat resolve the issue, although the result was still not perfect. 

After sewing, I noticed some significant bunching  issues around the crotch area, a typical issue in pant patterns.

After I was mostly happy with the base pattern, I started modifying it by changing the leg shape, adding a waistband and a zipper. I also experimented with the fabric options from the CLO library and settled on a black woven cotton fabric for the final pant model. 

Sewing Issues and Draping

After I made my modifications, I simulated the sewing again and ran into some issues, especially resulting from new pattern pieces on the waistband and zipper fly that where supposed to be sewn over top of each other. As you can see in the screen capture below, the program was confused as to how to arrange the overlapping seam lines and unfortunately, I was not yet able to find a solution for this issue. Another problem I had was with the developing of the waistband, which was not included in the pattern pieces from my original pattern so I had to develop it myself and as mentioned before, my lack of practice showed once again. The waistband could be improved, especially in the curvature on the side seams.

After the sewing, I draped the garment on the avatar, which was fun but also confusing sometimes, because the mesh of the avatar sometimes interacts strangely with the mesh of the garment model.

When I was happy with the draping, I took the garment model into the final processing step in CLO.

Animation, Render and Import into Blender

As a final step in CLO I took the model into the animation workspace. This workspace is quite easy to use and intuitive for anyone who has used a similar 3D program before.

I chose a preset walk cycle from the CLO library, which worked very well and smooth. For the final render, I went with the invisible avatar render. I exported the model, including the walk cycle animation as an alembic (.abc) file. I then loaded the model into Blender, where I had some issues with the fabric of the model not translating well from CLO. Because I wasn’t able to find the cause of the issue, I decided to use a similar cotton fabric material from Blenderkit for the pants model. Finally, I created a little scene, animated some camera movement and rendered the model with Cycles.

Final Product

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed the process of getting familiar with CLO3D. During the initial phase of learning the basic functions of the program, I had the impression that it would be quite easy to work out the final project. However, while working on my final piece, I realized which functions of the program are still not as clear to me as I thought and which features I need more practice with. Additionally, I learned that there are other methods of developing pattern in CLO, as I have seen some tutorials where users cut out and drape on the 3D model in a more free-form approach. This is something I would like to try out in future projects, because I realized while developing the pattern in the „traditional“ way, that my knowledge on pattern development is quite rusty and I need to either brush up on it or find other methods for reaching a good end product. Another aspect I would like to work more on in the future is the fabric export and modification options because I had some issues with this in my final project.

Overall, I will definitely keep learning more about CLO and hopefully get better and figure out solutions to probelms I was not able to fix this time around.

19 | Designing A Digital Fashion Garment – CLO3D Tutorials and Program Review

After completing the full introduction tutorial series on CLO3D’s official YouTube channel, I want to share my thoughts on the program and the series of tutorials before I talk about making my own garment in my final blogpost. 

Overall, my experience with learning the program through the tutorials is very positive. Not only is the tutorial series very comprehensive and easy to follow, they also provide free practice files and update the videos regularly to reflect updates in the program. The topics are well selected and well paced in the structure of the tutorial series and everything you might need to get started with the program is covered in the videos.
In the unlikely case that the tutorial series doesn’t cover a function you specifically need, CLO also frequently posts tutorials and videos on their channel covering specialty topics and new updates of the program. Additionally, there is a community forum on the CLO website where you can ask any questions that might come up as you use the program.

My final impression of the program so far is that it is an extremely well thought out tool for professional designers. CLO includes many thoughtful functions and modification options which show that it is a program catering to a demographic of professionals. It incorporates many industry standards, from international sizing options, diverse avatars to Pantone color selections.

I would recommend picking up this program to anyone who wants to add a tool to their repertoire of fashion design tools. As for people without a background in fashion design, I think the program is well enough explained to be picket up by novices, but they might struggle with some functions and applications. 

In my next and final blogpost, I’m excited to report on the process of designing my first custom design piece in CLO3D. 

17 | Designing A Digital Fashion Garment – Cloth Simulation in CLO3D

In the tutorial series of the CLO3D software on YouTube, there is a dedicated tutorial all about the basics of the cloth simulation function and the particle distance setting in CLO. Having used other 3D software before, I am familiar with the terminology of these settings, but until now, I have not yet fully understood how they work and what exactly they mean for cloth simulation. 

The CLO3D tutorial is limited to the basic simulation settings offered inside CLO and only briefly explained what particle distance does in the garment settings. But even this small explanation is already very helpful in understanding the purpose of the setting. 

One aspect of CLO that is interesting to mention in contrast to other 3D programs is that the standard mesh construction uses triangular shapes rather than square or rectangular mesh. This is because the triangular shapes are better suited to creating fabric that is meant to drape over the body. CLO offers the function of changing this setting but it is advised to keep it at the triangular setting for optimal performance. 

Another point that is addressed in the tutorial is the issue of collision. Since 3D objects are constructed of mesh, they can entangle and pass through each other, which is important to know when draping garments in CLO. 

Finally, CLO offers several simulation settings that each have their different pros and cons for different use cases. The settings can affect the accuracy of the garment draping as it is being simulated.  

14 | Designing A Digital Fashion Garment – Understanding Pattern Pieces, Pattern Layouts and Pattern to Garment Relationships

In the previous blogpost, we discussed the preset avatar options and settings and the avatar editor in CLO3D and their implications for 3D body representation in digital fashion design. In this post, we will turn to the two-dimensional side of fashion design – the pattern. We will take a look at how the pattern is laid out in CLO3D, how the pattern representation relates to the garment pieces and how CLO helps to understand the relationship between 2D and 3D representation.  

In dressmaking education, learning how to construct patterns and how to translate design sketches into a pattern and how that pattern and its pieces relate to the finished garment are some of the most challenging skills to learn. It takes a while to understand the relationships and logic between the two-dimensional pattern and how the curves and darts translate to the fit of the garment on the body. 

Interestingly, the practice of drafting two-dimensional patterns comes from the tradition of male tailoring. In women’s dressmaking (also referred to historically as mantua making), tradeswomen would drape a mockup fabric or muslin directly on the clients body to form shapes of the garment rather than constructing a paper pattern first.1 The practice of draping is still in use today. Some fashion designers work exclusively with draping in the design stage, especially for custom pieces, whereas for mass production, the pattern would be translated into a two-dimensional paper pattern. 

After this short excursion into the history of pattern making practices, let’s take a look at the CLO3D interface and how it deals with the sewing pattern.

CLO by default has a workspace layout with two display windows next to each other – one for the avatar and the 3D representation of the garment, one for the 2D sewing pattern. 

In the 3D window, the pattern pieces can be arranged around the three-dimensional body of the avatar, making it easier to understand how the curves of the pattern correspond to the shapes of the body.  Arrangement points can be displayed on the 3D avatar, making the placement of individual pattern pieces easier. 

In the 2D window, the garment pieces are laid out flat and symmetrically arranged. When selected, pattern pieces in the 2D window are highlighted, as well as the corresponding garment piece in the 3D window. This is another immensely helpful feature that helps you understand how the two relate to each other. It is especially useful for more intricate and complicated pattern arrangements and elaborate pattern constructions that are not obviously easy to understand. 

Speaking from my own experience, the CLO arrangement makes it way easier to understand pattern drafting. However, it might be that because I already have the background knowledge of how pattern pieces work, I find it easier to understand the setup of the program than someone with no prior knowledge. But I think this way of learning pattern drafting, or at least using CLO or a similar digital fashion program along with traditional teaching methods to teach pattern drafting could be immensely helpful for people learning the skill.

1Abby Cox, „Alexander McQueen & The Patriarchy Problem in Modern Fashion“ October 20, 2023, online video, 9:58, https://youtube.com/watch?v=OVwhg8LZnlc. 

14 | Digital Fashion

The OFFF Design Festival in Barcelona offered insights into various design industries and niches. I was particularly impressed by Stephy Fung’s presentation on her work as a Digital Fashion Artist and how she found her way into this specialized field. In this blog post, I will delve into this fascinating topic and provide a brief overview.

What is digital fashion?

Digital Fashion refers to clothing designs created using digital technologies such as computer-aided design (CAD), 3D modelling, and Virtual Reality (VR). These digital garments exist solely in the digital realm and find various applications, including virtual fashion shows, online gaming, social media, and virtual try-on experiences.

What is it used for?

Originally, the idea behind these programs was to save costs on expensive designs. Instead of producing physically, designers could experiment on the computer without consuming material. The digital cut pieces behave like real fabrics, reacting to movement and light, thus providing a realistic representation.

In recent years, the digital fashion industry has grown rapidly, with an increasing number of brands and designers using digital tools to create virtual collections and experiences. Fashion Weeks are held digitally, often in the form of computer games and virtual worlds where avatars are equipped with the latest collections.

What potential does digital fashion have?

Digital fashion allows designers to explore innovative ideas without the limitations of physical materials, production processes, or environmental impacts. It blurs the boundaries between fashion, art, and technology and offers new forms of expression and creativity. Moreover, it has the potential to revolutionise how people buy clothes by offering personalised virtual try-ons and reducing the need for physical inventories.

Can digital fashion make the fashion industry more sustainable?

Digital fashion has the potential to influence the physical fashion industry and promote more sustainable practices, particularly in terms of waste reduction and CO2 reduction through on-demand production. Studies show significantly lower CO2 footprints of digital clothing compared to traditionally manufactured garments.

Stephy Fung

Stephy Fung is a 3D artist based in London. Her work includes 3D motion design and digital fashion. She collaborates with companies to create digital fashion for advertising purposes and sells her art as NFTs online. The purchased pieces can be used on various platforms, including as skins in video games or filters in Snapchat.

Ressources

12 | Designing A Digital Fashion Garment – Getting Started

Today I am starting the journey to designing my first digital fashion garment. The very first step on this journey is – of course – installing the right 3D program. In a previous blog post, I discussed the two current industry standard programs – Marvelous Designer and CLO3D – and compared some of their advantages and disadvantages, their main applications and who primarily uses them for which areas of design. Based on that research and my own background in physical pattern drafting, sewing and traditional analog fashion design, I decided to work with CLO3D

The provider offers a student subscription plan as well as a 30 Day free trial which I am starting today (March 6th 2024).  

CLO3D has a very useful pool of learning resources, among them an expansive collection of video tutorials on their own YouTube channel. Their “Beginner’s Guide to CLO” playlist will be the first point of entry for me. I will follow the tutorials in order to get familiar with the basic steps of the program. 

The main interface is a little busy but well arranged and for users with previous experience of 3D programs, it can be quite intuitive. The user has the possibility to rearrange the setup and change the positions of tools and features. 

The Program also comes with some preset avatars, base garments, materials, accessories and patterns. They are a good way to get familiar with the basic functions. In my next blogpost, I will attempt to get started with the sewing functions of the program.