Digital design has been a source of endless possibilities for the creation of innovative assets to communicate fashion collections. Today we share relevant examples and useful ideas you can use for your fashion marketing strategy.
The fashion 3D design revolution is playing an important part in technology development for the creation of virtual garments and avatar characters featuring the latest fashions.
As we stated before in Digital Fashion Designer: 3D Disruption in Fashion and the Design of the Future, the fashion designer will be dealing with high-level hybridizations between the physical world and the digital world, transforming-and innovating- the design, and of course, fashion’s communication processes.
If we create virtual clothing as an alternative way to showcase our fashion collections, it is important to think about the digital strategy of it, as well as what the communication concept behind that particular collection is.
The integration of social media channels, such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, as the brand’s main communication touchpoints allows any project to directly connect with its community, creating attractive videos and photo layouts to portrait the essence of the brand.
In that sense, including and creating 3D assets for fashion campaigns, brings the edgiest point of view for the collection, and definitely a very high technical standard in terms of new fashion communication ideas.
Virtual Runways and Presentations in Fashion Communications
Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, many fashion brands began to digitize their marketing and communication actions, focusing on audiovisual, fashion’s “star format”.
However, with the possibilities offered by 3D design software, there is a strong trend in producing entirely digital fashion shows with virtual avatars, the leading characters wearing the fashion collections created entirely in a computer.
It is a very experimental and avant-garde format, which some brands are introducing into their communication strategy. The Italian ready-to-wear brand Sunnei, for example, is a reference for this trend. With the Canvas collection, both SS21 and SS22 seasons have created a universe full of virtual models that dress, transform, and change clothes thanks to the digital software which allows a 360 degree view and thus the option to see the garments from different viewing angles.
Their signature pieces in plain white serve as the basis for customization sold exclusively through a virtual platform. “3D practice is the chosen medium for both the development of the collection and the creation of animated avatars that will guide the ultimate translation of the brand’s lexicon”, the brand stated during the project’s launch.
Founders Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo have found a balance between new formats such as digitalization, virtual reality, and classic physical presentations in the fashion week schedule.
Special Fashion Communications Projects and Capsule Collections With 3D Garments
Digital garments give us the possibility to alter the large cycles of fashion design and sample-making. Thanks to 3D tools, small collections can be created virtually and sold through e-commerce platforms.
When we produce communication actions in 3D, not only do we save time in modifying and editing the final garments, but the processes of photography and campaign concept are simplified, as digital makes it a more agile and time-sensitive action.
For example, Prada Timecapsule is a special project inside the Prada brand, merging technology, signature design, and exclusivity. The “drop” presents a limited-edition bowling shirt for men and women on the first Thursday of every month, an online exclusive item available for only 24 hours. Animated by one-of-a-kind colorful prints, the cotton poplin designs feature a distinctive logo, together with a serial number and sophisticated dedicated packaging, making each one unique.
The Timecapsule section is now available in Europe, as well as Japan, China, USA, Canada, Singapore. The project will reach other markets over the course of 2021, as it refreshes monthly with new designs, with a communication campaign based on 3D video graphics, and the possibility of showing different perspectives of the garment.
This project represents a fashion-forward campaign integrating the best of 3D technology, new communication formats, and the “Pradaness” view on design.
Retail Windows and Fashion Advertising Campaigns
For example, Nike, a sports-meets-technology pioneer brand, launched a sneakers campaign with brand activations in different points of sale using 3D technology. In some cases, this campaign was carried out on advertising displays in Amsterdam’s streets, inside retail stores, and bus stops thanks to Holocube technology. The Holocube is a 3D projection platform that makes a virtual simile of any product with an amazing resolution capacity. The projection can be seen through a window which provides a powerful and eye-catching 3D effect.
New formats are emerging inside the fashion communication landscape, as technology is driving change and innovation inside the fashion industry.
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