Utilising Virtual Environments in a Clothing Design Process

• Main Author: Konola, Sanna
• Other Authors: Kähkönen, Päivi
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Lapland University of Applied Sciences 2015
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/person/fieldofscience2010/6/13/2; name=Visual arts and design; Arctic; Lapland
• Online Access: https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/eb0b3e0d-4838-475e-afdc-ca65f8684c35; http://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/96820/B%2010%202015%20Konola%20Kahkonen.pdf?sequence=1

Virtual or digital clothing or clothing design is a concept yet to be defined. Virtual, today, is usually something created with a computer, or existing on the Internet. Digital, or digitalisation usually refers to electronic technology that converts data like text or sound into an electronic form or something that creates or processes data (FDS 2015). Digital watches convert time into electronic form while digital televisions use digital signals. Body scanners today can digitalise human form, create a virtual avatar. Digitalisation can also refer to a phenomena of business activities transitioning to electronic channels and contents (Teknologiateollisuus 2014). The Fashion Digital Studio at the London College of Fashion understands digital fashion as a very all-encompassing concept that that connects to ways we research people and clothing and how we design, manufacture and consume fashion (FDS 2015). Digital technologies create not only avatars and game characters with fancy clothing, but also new product design and management tools, computer aided manufacturing, new shopping and communication possibilities as well as new business models and content. Research has already been conducted on virtual product design and management in Finland, for example in the VIRTA (Virtuaalinen tuotesuunnittelu ja -hallinta) project in 2013, that was coordinated by Finatex and funded by Tekes (Finatex 2013). It is noteworthy that here I am not even mentioning wearable technology and the Internet of Things that can in a way physically digitise garment pieces and turn them into data processing objects. At the University of Lapland, we are utilising as well as researching the formation of these new virtual and digital possibilities with the means we have in our possession. Computer aided design is embedded into the curriculum in the form of digital visualisation software programs as well as 2D patternmaking and 3D virtual fitting software. Researching the possibilities of using virtual patternmaking and fitting in clothing design ...