Thanks to the development of artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies, the professions and job contents in our society are undergoing changes. The title of virtual fashion designer may not sound unfathomable, but if you think it is just a profession serving existing game worlds or virtual worlds, then you are mistaken.
Cat Taylor’s “fabricated” works of Raf Simons and Ryan Hawaii
Ten years ago, in Florence, Diesel transformed the fashion show of their collection into a 3D holographic projection experiment, creating a blue underwater world in front of the guests, where lifelike underwater creatures floated freely on the T-shaped runway, with models weaving in and out among these creatures.
Diesel 3D holographic projection show
Three years later, Burberry brought its Spring/Summer 2011 collection to a press conference in Beijing, also using 3D holographic projection. In addition to six real models walking on site, the other models and clothing that the audience saw were presented through 3D holographic projection, seamlessly blending reality and illusion. Similarly, during those years, the movie “Avatar” revolutionized 3D film technology, fundamentally changing the cinema viewing experience. With the popularization of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, the two-and-a-half-dimensional world is ready to embrace fashion within just ten years.
Burberry Spring/Summer 2011 show
However, in the face of new technologies, fashion designers are often seen as conservatives. “Now that there are mature three-dimensional virtual technologies, and graphic design and fashion design have always existed, no one has integrated these three together,” said young digital designer Cat Taylor, who began to tackle a project that later gave her a sense of accomplishment.
Her collaboration with sportswear brand Nike clarified the meaning and value of her current efforts. Through 3D modeling technology, Taylor transformed all garments of Nike’s 2018 Autumn/Winter Tech Pack series into virtual clothing models, which were ultimately presented in the series’ advertisements, visually illustrating the various functionalities of this clothing line. Indeed, this form of imagery is not novel in itself; in addition, Taylor also attempted to move the Off-White 2018 Autumn/Winter collection into the realm of 3D modeling—using software she was familiar with to simulate the physical motion effects of real fabrics when a person walks, which excited Taylor herself—if the collaboration with Nike merely helped the latter make a more intuitive interpretation, then from the latter case, she saw a potential technological revolution that the fashion industry might face.
Cat Taylor transformed all garments of Nike’s 2018 Autumn/Winter Tech Pack series into virtual clothing models
Portrait of Cat Taylor, photography by: Kate Jefferies
Cat Taylor also attempted to move the Off-White 2018 Autumn/Winter collection into the realm of 3D modeling
“Trends are fleeting, while the sustainable aspect of fashion will undoubtedly become a theme of the future. I believe one of the most important reasons this software (3ds Max) was developed is that it can bring sustainability to businesses. Adidas has a 3D design team, and unlike other brands, they replace the traditional sample-making process with pre-modeled clothing, saving a huge amount of time and material resources every year through this innovation. I think this is very important and necessary.” In the predominantly male field of 3D design, Taylor, with her background in art design, seems to have more thoughts than her male counterparts regarding social and ecological resources. Since childhood, she aimed to enroll in the fashion design program at Central Saint Martins, but after gradually engaging with the foundational content of related fields, she ultimately chose the fabric design program at Chelsea College of Art. In her own words, “I am more interested in the tiny details than in more comprehensive (fashion) design.” Perhaps it is due to the innate perception of details and emotional thinking in women that Taylor quickly found her position and direction in the later field of 3D design.
Cat Taylor quickly found her position and direction in the field of 3D design
However, during her university years, when she learned that she was focusing her energy on 3D digital design, her mentors completely could not understand her choice—in their view, the problems to be solved in fabric design had no intersection with the world of 3D modeling, or rather, from the perspective of traditional fashion industry, computer graphics technology would not bring any fundamental change to this industry. But Taylor was very certain: “While it can’t be said to be shocking, my mentors’ attitude towards this issue indeed surprised me. The reason I chose this direction is that I have always been clear that I stand out in digital design, and I hope to develop it into my expertise.” Growing up in a digital age, for young creatives like her, who have been surrounded by digital products since childhood, the digital world is an inseparable part of their understanding of this world.
Cat Taylor looks forward to the upcoming technological revolution in the fashion industry
In the British drama series “Black Mirror,” the screenwriters cleverly use virtual reality technology to construct a worldview that seems not far from our reality, and the debate over the benefits and drawbacks brought by digital virtual technology becomes a core issue of the entire series, allowing one of the characters to live in both the real and virtual worlds, slowly sinking into the confusion of losing and finding oneself. This series has also become a mirror for viewers to examine themselves and their surroundings. We have experienced similar debates and examinations more than once, and the final conclusion is often brutally summarized in one sentence: technology is a double-edged sword. This is clearly a cliché. “People’s initial reaction to new technology is to reject it. In unfamiliar or unknown areas, people tend to first express a negative attitude, and then there will be a relatively long period for them to gradually understand these new things and get used to their existence, ultimately accepting them.” Compared to her university teachers, Taylor is more optimistic about the upcoming technological revolution in the fashion industry.
What Cat Taylor truly anticipates for the future is the comprehensive and substantial penetration of digital virtual technology into the traditional fashion design and manufacturing industry
Initially, Iris Van Herpen’s 3D printed haute couture collection debut in Paris symbolized the last glory of the artisanal haute couture industry finally engaging in a dialogue with future technology. What Taylor wants to do is to push this dialogue further. What she truly anticipates for the future is the comprehensive and substantial penetration of digital virtual technology into the traditional fashion design and manufacturing industry, alongside material science, allowing these virtual technologies to better foresee potential problems before the actual fabric cutting stage and provide better solutions, thus implementing the subsequent production process. This may be much more pragmatic than the fashion industry’s sporadic environmental slogans, saving considerable costs and resources for this industry every year. “I think I might redefine the rules of fashion shows, allowing computer 3D modeling technology to intervene more. I also hope to start from haute couture and let this transformation happen fundamentally.”
Concrete Utopia
Radically Mundane
Radically Mundane