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Digital fashion has ‘existed’ for at least a couple of years, but it’s not until recently that it has fully taken off in terms of the monetisation of it and the further development of it into the mainstream. One of the main contributors to digital fashion is ‘The Fabricant’ and to quote their website…

“We waste nothing but data and exploit nothing but our imagination. Operating at the intersection of fashion and technology fabricating digital couture and fashion experiences.” (The Fabricant, 2021)

The Fabricant sold their first virtual garment in 2019 for $9500, this was the first digitally block-chained dress called “Iridescence” ever to be sold. But how does virtual fashion work, and why will it be the next big wave within not just the fashion industry but the technological industry as well.

Digital fashion, once understood, is a brilliant concept that has less limits and more sustainable aspects than the current fashion practices we see today. If you wanted to buy a digital piece of clothing, you’d go somewhere like ‘The Fabricant’ or ‘DressX’ and purchase a digital piece you like, and you would own the item as a digital piece in itself. After the purchase, you would take a video or photo of yourself and send it off to the producer of the garment, and they edit the garment on to you. This has been utilised by footwear companies a lot and some of the best images I’ve seen from digital fashion houses have been footwear based. Such as these images from the ‘Buffalo London’ collaboration with ‘The Fabricant’…

Figure 1: Collaboration between Buffalo and The Fabricant (Buffalo London x The Fabricant, 2021) There are many brands developing digital fashion and someone who I think is advancing a lot within the space is the ‘Institute of Digital Fashion’ or as I’ll refer to them in this essay ‘IoDF’ (this makes my life easier). Based in London, ‘IoDF’ are focused on changing the landscape within fashion, not just by using technology but pushing for more diversity and sustainability in the industry.

Figure 2: A virtual showroom, accessible through Instagram filters (ShowStudio, 2021)

This was one of their collaborations with Machine -A which initially caught my attention. This is a virtual showroom, showcasing some of the digital fashion pieces, but the most interesting and unique part of this, is the fact it’s all accessible on Instagram. Through the filters opinion on the Instagram camera, you can ‘walk’ in to the room and inspect all the garment imagery, the accessibility of this shows how versatile and mainstream these sort of things can become.

The work of these brands hasn’t gone unnoticed and the sustainability aspect of this has been noted. Selfridges have had their Project Earth program for some time now and this is all about them making sustainable steps forward in the industry and exploring all the different ways we can be more environmentally friendly. They did a report on ‘IoDF’ called ‘Exploring the future of fashion with the Institute of Digital fashion’, this article talks about the structure of the brand, and how they’re future proofing what they’re doing at the moment in terms of sustainability and diversity within the industry, I think one of the take away quotes from the article is:

“The fast-fashion movement is one we need to push back against, not replicate with digital.” This is a quote from Leanne Elliot Young, CEO and Lead strategist at IoDF (Harling, 2020)

I think that quote sums up what virtual fashion needs to be, something new, something that doesn’t replicate what we’ve already got, but something that shows everyone a new way to consume fashion. The idea that we can create virtual clothing, that can possibly adapt and change and doesn’t need physical production, is crucial to creating a more sustainable and long lasting industry.