In last blog, I have talked about the application, significance and direction of AI in fashion. It is both positive and negative aspects that the impact of AI on the fashion field has, in order to have a comprehensive understanding of it, we should keep a rational attitude to look at that. After that, let’s turn to look at this blog, and I'm going to write about virtual fashion, where it's headed and what people misunderstand about it.
Virtual fashion, which can be called digital fashion with basing on 3D design. To take it literally, it is not a real costume that can be dressed by human, but a fake one without the function of wearing in real life. This kind of clothes can be edited on the body of human by using 3D computer software without using physical fabric and textiles. (Ananya,2022) Therefore, with the rapid development of social media, it can appear in photos and spread widely through the Internet. In my opinion, it can be understood as the product of the extensive development of the Internet. Many fashion brands have begun to try to enter the field of virtual fashion.
Figure 1 Digital collection by Republiqe for Pride month 2021
After understanding the basics of virtual fashion, let's think about the question,’ who is the customer group of virtual fashion?’ The easiest group to think of are Internet influencers, which need more eye-catching photos to increase the number of views and spread of their pages. How about others? To better understand this problem, let's look at games. In real life, many people like to play computer games as a way to decompress. As everyone knows that , in order to attract players, many computer games will present a virtual world as the background of the game. When they begin to play the game, players will have their own unique identity and appearance, appear in this world in a virtual state. According to the different setting of the game, players would carry out different adventures. In this context, many game companies will create different virtual appearances for players to choose and buy. Once purchased, they can be worn by players in the game's virtual world. Many gamers are keen to buy such clothes in the game. What would happen if the virtual fashions in these games could actually appear in real photos? As a result of that virtual fashion has its own development space.
However, the biggest limitation of virtual fashion is that it cannot be worn in reality, a fatal drawback that many people will misunderstand it——useless. Many people believe that virtual fashion is meaningless and has no more potential for development, except to create unrealistic gimmicks. To everyone’s surprise, the technology of virtual fashion is quietly changing our lives——Virtual fitting, which has began to be used by major brands for online and offline trial installation, in order to improve service efficiency and user experience. Don't think negatively about virtual fashion, it has unlimited potential.
The most promising direction for virtual fashion is sustainability. This is because without the real fabrics and fibers, designers can have use virtual fashion design software to create a pattern, sew, apply any functional or decorative details and change the fabric of an item. (Luxiders,2024) All design and costume effects designers can be seen in the virtual software , as a result of that, designers can effectively reduce unnecessary waste in the design process. For example, printing and dyeing technology, which causes a lot of pollution. By using 3D virtual software, designers can determine the final effect directly on the computer and put it into production, greatly reducing unnecessary waste generated in the design process. At the same time, brands can further reduce costs and improve efficiency. With the improvement of the level of science and technology, the gap between the virtual effect and the real clothing will gradually reduce, and reach the degree of real simulation.
In general, although the virtual fashion technology is still not mature and widely used, the potential behind it cannot be ignored and is worth continuing to explore.
Reference
Ananya R (2022) Digital Fashion Explained & 6 Virtual Clothing Brands to Know, Zerrin
Luxiders (2024) Virtual Fashion Design | A New Aspect To Sustainable Fashion
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