Do we want to talk about fashion school programs today?
A few years ago, I chose to dive deeper into 3D in fashion. I didn’t want to stop at 3D CAD software like CLO or VStitcher.
I aimed to understand the complexity of 3D and translate physical fashion into the digital space.
So, I took a year off just to learn.
My search for a fashion school that could fill my knowledge gaps was, to put it bluntly, fruitless. I found NO FASHION SCHOOL offering programs beyond basic 3D garment creation. NONE.
I decided to learn on my own and later ended up mastering 3D skills at a school geared towards future CGI artists in gaming and cinema.
I also spent additional time adapting these concepts for fashion development.
Years later, it seems not much has changed in fashion education!
Here are some thoughts on digital fashion in current school programs:
-> Fashion companies DO NOT use digital assets for marketing purposes only.
XR experiences, Metaverses, NFTs… these do not add the biggest added value and are definitely not the way to achieve ROI on 3D assets.
Designers, technical teams, vendors, and merchandisers utilize 3D assets from day one. Then, AND ONLY THEN, do marketing and e-commerce teams get involved.
3D assets are expensive and make sense only when used throughout the entire process.
I haven’t seen any fashion school program covering digital fittings or differences between 3D and physical garments to be able to understand the peculiarities of both.
-> Marketing assets aren’t just exported .obj/.fbx/.glb files.
They are optimized low-poly versions and correctly textured for further use.
I have seen UE projects with garments exported with every pattern piece as a single asset. I have witnessed garments that have millions of polygons. I have seen garments with 8k maps for a single button.
Assets have to be OPTIMIZED; this is not something you do in CLO or Vstitcher.
However, optimization isn’t typically covered in basic 3D software training in fashion school.
Sadly, I’ve not found a fashion school program that teaches these essential skills.
Instead, I see expensive courses offering little more than what free YouTube tutorials teach.
To truly harness 3D in fashion, we need specific skills. We need to understand how to translate the physical world into the digital, considering the laws and peculiarities of both.
Keep learning and growing,
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I work on PoC to demonstrate that fashion technology is mature enough to let us sell garments even before one physical piece is stitched!
And that physical ones will look and act the same as their digital counterparts.
I share this journey in detail.
