When we watch a Fashion Show on TV, we just marvel at the style, the elegance and the creativity of the collection. The amount of work that it took to create it is not the first thing that springs to mind. However when the end comes and the designer bows to the audience, you need to know that this man/woman doesn’t just draw pieces of garment on a piece of paper. He/she is involved in every step of the creation process – collection, business, show. And I can tell you, this catwalk is not a walk in the park!
Now stylists can go a step further in their creativity thanks to 3D and virtual worlds. Through the recent launch of FashionLab.
What is FashionLab?
It is not a brand, nor a product, but an innovative approach defined as a “technology incubator”. I am already imagining the question-mark appearing above your head right now… You are asking yourself: “what is a technology incubator”?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a biological incubator, like a chemical pipe used to grow and maintain biological cultures!!
It is a business incubator. Like a business program or start-up, it is meant to accelerate the successful development of 3D technology and virtual worlds for the Fashion designers. The goal is to provide the stylists with 3D design, virtual simulation and collaboration tools required to create an entire collection. This program name was chosen to symbolize the fusion between the fashion designers’ artistic creativity and Dassault Systèmes engineers’ inventiveness.
3 Fashion ambassadors are working closely with the engineers and R&D
Fashion is moving fast, trends are changing all the time and designers have to stay up to date! Stylists always have to make things faster and better. And they need innovative tools to help them bring their ideas to life.
For that matter, FashionLab is working with 3 ambassadors:
- Julien Fournié, founder of the couture house that bears his name, is the ambassador of FashionLab for haute couture.
- Jonathan Riss, artistic director of the JAY AHR House, is the ambassador for haute joaillerie, accessories, embroideries and ready-to-wear.
- François Quentin, a designer of complex luxury watches and founder of 4N, is the haute watchmaking ambassador.
These luxury fashion designers believe that 3D tools can propel fashion to new heights. FashionLab will provide the fashion world with new breakthrough technologies never seen before on the market. Those technologies will improve stylists’ competitive advantage as well as it will build the future of the luxury goods market.
Designers will be given a complete set of tools to create an entire collection. FashionLab will bring them closer to their customers, enabling them to share their knowledge through social networks. And most of all, FashionLab will help them imagine tomorrow’s fashion world. Better and faster.
To Take a Turn on the Catwalk: www.3ds.com/fashionlab
If you’ve seen our recent announcement about 3D Experience, you might be wondering how the different quadrants of the 3D Experience Platform come into play. So better than any amount of words, the two videos below illustrate the 3D Experience Platform in action with concrete examples: IceDream project (see our post series about IceDream), and the 4N luxury watch. Now just have a look for yourself! 
