Everything You Need To Know About Fashion Tech
From 3D design to innovative textiles, and virtual and augmented reality, technology is reinventing fashion today and opening new opportunities. Black culture has been inspiring the industry across the board for years, and as such, more and more Black designers are set to enter this space of infinite possibilities. From music to arts, Black culture’s richness is getting even more accessible now thanks to the rise of technology and its surge during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has irreversibly changed our relationship with technology. As consumers’ habits shifted to adapt to the then-imposed lockdown lifestyle, brands had to find new solutions to reach their audience.
To better understand the phenomenon of fashion technology, we must educate ourselves on tech culture to understand its application in the business of fashion. From 3D design & printing to Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR), textile innovation and NFTs, when applied to fashion, these technologies are disrupting the customer experience and taking us into increasingly immersive worlds like the metaverse.
Damara Inglês project for Crypto Fashion Week
But what is the metaverse?
The connection between luxury and technology is not new. It has never been more relevant than today when we look at how it’s reshaping the way we consume—think virtual try-on or 3D fashion shows, for instance. Technology is the special ingredient that will take African fashion to new heights. It’s why demystifying technology notions—which can sometimes seem daunting—is paramount to take up the sought-after digital and immersive world that is the metaverse.
The definition of metaverse differs from one expert to another. Put simply it’s: the convergence of several technologies (3D, VR, AR, Blockchain, AI) that will revolutionise how we use the internet to create unique experiences or solutions that impact real and virtual life.
Let’s look at some technologies taking the fashion industry to a new universe.
1. 3D technology: an innovative and creative technology
From conception to printing, 3D technology has expanded in the past few years to allow fashion designers and brands to explore their creativity and develop new visual and virtual identities.
3D design tools offer the possibility of creating virtual sets to reproduce photo shoots and fashion shows, as well as proposing clothing collections, for example. Designers no longer have to limit themselves to reality constraints. Instead, they can create their own visual imaginations. Designers are increasingly using this technology at the beginning of their creative process, as it reduces the number of prototypes.
Photo | @majestics.digital Instagram
Designers are entering virtual spaces through 3D. When Fagbamila Oluwatoyin began her career in fashion design and pattern making, she did not know that she would soon move into digital fashion. She uses 3D design to promote her digital fashion brand through digital presentations celebrating Black identity. The digital artist's work, @majestics.digital on Instagram, is known for its Afro-futuristic aesthetic that leaves a lasting impression.
Many African artists such as Baboa Tachie-Menson of Balm Labs are worth a look and have collaborated with pioneering digital fashion brands such as Tongoro.
2. AR/VR: towards immersive worlds
A booming market that will reach 198 billion dollars in 2025, according to Statista. Innovative technologies such as AR or VR allow brands to offer "try-on" products and immersive experiences through different touch points and sales.
AR is when textual, visual, or product information superimposed on the real environment. Whereas VR recreates a virtual environment in which we interact using a VR headset.
Digital look by @143dress from digital closet platform DressX
Photo: @keiabeia___
A way of acquiring, engaging and retaining a community, filters are an excellent example of engagement. They allow users to create visual settings or virtually try out brands’ products directly on their website or via applications such as Snapchat or Instagram. It is also great for creating user-generated content and seeing how future consumers perceive a product.
Damara Inglês is a famous metaverse designer and strategist focused on digital fashion and 360 experiences whose trailblazing work has played a key role in the industry. She has worked on immersive fashion shows such as Crypto Fashion Week or The Fabric of Reality. Inglês is an official filter designer for Snapchat.
3. NFT
An NFT is a unique non-interchangeable token with immutable characteristics certified on the blockchain. Buying a virtual garment in fashion usually means acquiring an NFT. The tokenization of a digital asset allows it to have value outside the universe in which it exists. It adds value and materialises assets in the digital world.
Photo | Aisha Oladimeji’s Behance
The 3D creations of designers lead to collections sold on 100% digital fashion platforms such as Opensea or DressX. This is the case of Aisha Oladimeji, a Nigerian virtual fashion artist who unveiled a collection of six looks called a ECLECTIC at Digital Fashion Week NY.
One of the advantages of creating an NFT collection is the purely digital production process. Once acquired, digital garments are immediately available to use on the appropriate social or gaming platforms.
4. From textile innovation through algorithms…
Technology impacts the customer experience and the creative process. It allows innovative textiles production like Diarrablu’s, a womenswear label mostly produced in Senegal. Founder, creative mathematician and artist Diarra Bousso combines algorithms, tradition and sustainability to create Diarrablu collections.
Diarrablu Swimwear 3d rendering by Balmlabs
5. …To 3D printing
3D printing is a way to create innovative custom-made clothing with flexible materials. It offers great design freedom while reducing environmental impact.
Remember the 3D printed costume show that was as incredible as it is innovative in the film Black Panther by designer Julia Koerner in collaboration with costume designer Ruth E. Carter?
Photo I 3D printed Costume for Queen Ramonda character in Black Panther Film
Designed by JULIA KÖRNER | JK Design GmbH in Collaboration with Ruth E. Carter
Tomorrow's challenges
The fashion market in Sub-Saharan Africa is a growing market driven by an ultra-connected and technology-savvy customer base. However, while there is a buzz around virtual fashion and the metaverse, it remains a niche market in the region. Creating NFT collections or using innovative technologies is not enough to take the industry into the metaverse.
The first step is to educate people to grow a meta fashion audience ready to consume digital products. Although accessibility questions regarding network infrastructure quality or costs may rise, future fashion professionals should start to consider fashion tech, staying up to date on tech news and trends and honing their technical skills. The fashion industry is increasingly going digital. New jobs are emerging and current ones are changing (virtual designer, fashion tech analyst, etc.). We are only at the beginning, which already seems fruitful, if the Astra immersive universe is anything to go by.
Sources
Vogue Business I Fashionomics Africa I Jendaya I OkayAfrica