Augmented reality (AR) is not only transforming the fashion retail stores but is also progressing constantly in fashion education/training. Thus, through delivering the concept and realization of AR, fashion students, fashion designers, and fashion consumers receive a productive learning and designing opportunity to perceive, experience, and interact with fashion in ways previously unimagined. There is, therefore, endless application of AR in design learning institutions and consumer learning as a means of addressing the trends and history of the fashion industry. People have probably become aware of this all too well with philanthropic organizations trying to help out. As discussed above, AR is increasingly becoming popular, and should be incorporated in fashion design schools and training programs in the follow ways:
In most cases, education that caters for fashion design has for a long time just used materials, drawings and patterns to impart to the students’ relevant basics used in fashion design. However, the growth of digital technology and AR is extending fashion student’s knowledge about the design and production process. From the case of fashion students, fashion courses are made more engaging using AR since students come up with various ways of visualizing, designing and presenting their work.
Virtual Draping and Patternmaking
The surreal application of AR within the concept of fashion education is the virtual draping and pattern making. Preceding, fashion students would build actual specimens utilizing fabric and mannequins on which surveys and metrics would be conducted. With AR, the clothes manufacturers are able to use virtual 3D models to lay fabrics, twist them and see what the garment will look like when worn before any part of a fabric has been cut. This is a resource effective and effective because students can advance through different types of materials and conceptions of their creations without the pressure of having the thing made.
Currently, many fashions academic institutions including but not limited to, the London College of Fashion, the Parsons School of Design have integrated AR into the fashion pedagogy enabling students to employ AR tools like CLO 3D and TUKAcad which mimic the fabrication process of garments in real time. It facilitates knowledge acquisition of how various types of fabrics respond, how the garments are constructed, and how the clothing appears when worn on the human form without constant reference to physical prototypes (Smith & Brown, 2023).
Interactive Workshops and Virtual Showcases
AR is also used in fashion schools to implement workshops and demonstrations of clothes and accessories. Fashion educators can take advantage of AR in teaching instead of the conventional class lectures where a faculty member is standing in front of a class teaching the students fashion lessons; AR allows the student to physically manipulate digital objects and understand fashion ideas and principles in an interactive manner. For instance, Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap: Students can observe virtual garments with haptic feedback; rotate them using 360-degree space; and work with other students virtually.
In addition, fashion schools have lately adopted the use of AR to conduct virtual fashion show and portfolio. The use of AR in showcases helps students to present their work without the conventional physical display centers thereby giving more opportunities for the student designers and establishing a platform for more equality for candidates (Deloitte, 2022).
How AR Is Assisting Fashioners to Realize Their Projects in real time
AR is not only a nice addition to fashion schools, but it is also giving tools that can help fashion designers to perfect their works interactively. The practicality of seeing garments, accessories and even complete collections directly in a virtual space confers on the designers an amount of freedom and choice never experienced before.
Real-Time Visualization and Iteration
It has been argued that one of the best features of AR use for fashion designers is the possibilities it provides for designing a true-timed model. AR applications allow designing garments to virtual mannequins and then projecting the result onto live models so that the designer can see how the piece will look and fit and how it will behave while worn. This enables designers to solve design problems in a relatively short amount of time such as the color, the material used, proportions and others by doing away with the tedious work of having to come up with actual prototypes.
For example, Dutch fashion designer Anouk Wipprett based on wearable technology applies AR to test her creations before engaging in the manufacturing process. By so doing, she is able to predict how the garments will look and respond allowing her to test some of the difficult features such as interactive lighting and smart fabrics (Wipprett, 2021). In such a kind of development it becomes extremely hard to experiment and refine to such a level if one were to do it without the help of AR tools.
The Integration of Cooperation and Distributed Design
AR also assists designers, manufacturers, and clients to work on the same project since the world has adopted the work from home style. Designers can pass on AR-enabled prototypes to other members in the team working from different parts of the world, hence receiving feedback instantly on projects. This can also greatly accelerate the design phase and minimize reliance on material samples which would ultimately be beneficial for sustainability.
For instance, to facilitate their design team situated in different areas, the luxury brand, Balenciaga has adopted AR. Since the use of AR gives the feeling that the teams are working together on the design where in fact, they are miles apart makes the designer’s work to be done efficiently and effectively (Balenciaga, 2022).
The Function of AR in Educating Consumption for Fashion History and Trends
Apart from enriching fashion education and designing the concepts of augmented reality forehead the consumer education to raise awareness of fashion history, trends, and manufacturing processes of popular garments wear. One of the most appealing ways consumers can become exposed to details about the evolution of fashion is using technology to create secret interactive experiences.
How apparel lovers got a real taste of fashion history – with AR.
There is a developing trend in fashion museums and exhibitions, and that is the use of augmented reality in recreating the outfit on display. By using augmented reality, visitors can explore digital replicas of famous garments, get extra information about them, and make further actions like changing their position to look at them from all sides, or zooming them.
For example, the Museum of Fine Arts based in Boston recently created an augmented reality where customers would be able to use smartphones to discover as to how the gowns in the eighteenth century would fit a mannequin. The museum adds a new perspective by digitally mapping these garments on physical mannequins, which makes the visitor’s experience much richer and a much better understanding of the history of fashion (Museum of Fine Arts, 2022).
AR for Fashion Trend Learning
Apparel retailers too are embracing AR to proactively inform the customers of the latest fashion and how to wear products. With the help of AR-powered apps customers, they get suggestions on different combinations of the clothes and how some items of clothing can suit the other. Through specific codes on the label, a consumer can get the Augmented Reality content where the way the garment can be worn differently, its fabric, and how it was made, or even the culture behind it. What is more, it informs consumers, which in turn improves their attitude toward the product.
Some companies such as H&M have integrated AR into their applications, where they use it to let the consumer scan different pieces of clothing and provide all relevant information about their construction, materials, and sustainability, as well as new ways of wearing a specific garment. This brings in a more aware customer clientèle (H&M, 2023).
Challenges and Opportunities for AR in Fashion Education
As confirmed by the literature review, AR has huge potential for fashion education and training; nonetheless, some issues must be solved to optimize this technology.
Accessibility and Cost
However, there is evidence of those obstacles and some of the most significant challenges, such as the impracticality of AR for learning fashion due to the high cost of technology. At this time, not all students, schools or designers are in the position to afford better Quality AR hardware and software. AR applications demand both processing power and trained professionals; however, in many cases, less-known learning institutions or independent designers cannot easily implement AR into their portfolio.
Technical Limitations
Secondly, at the same time, AR technology is still in the development stage, and there is a lack of realistic reconstruction of virtual garments. Getting the realism with which fabric falls and how it moves is not easy and designers may have to revert to using physical models to determine the true nature of their clothes in real life.
Nevertheless, as the rating of AR technologies increases, and as new relatively cheap solutions appear in custom contexts, the usage of AR in the educational and training processes connected with fashion is likely to expand. With the adoption of AR in fashion education, design, and consumption, it calls for an opportunity to transform fashion education, design, consumption, sustainability, globalization and engaging customers.
Conclusion
Augmented reality: the decisive technology in the fashion educational process and training, design schools, fashion designers and consumers. The benefits of AR in fashion are broad and range from virtual draping and real time visualization of garments, interactive learning spaces and education for consumers, to sustainability, and the innovations will continue to reshape not only fashion, but what it means to be a consumer in this industry. Thus, the incorporation of AR technology will only grow in impacting fashion education, offering more potentiality in producing unique creativity collaboration and convincing innovation in fashion.
References
- Balenciaga (2022). How AR Technology is Transforming Remote Design at Balenciaga. [Online] Available at: https://www.balenciaga.com
- Deloitte (2022). Virtual Fashion Shows: The Role of AR in Fashion Education. [Online] Available at: https://www.deloitte.com
- H&M (2023). Using AR to Educate Consumers About Sustainable Fashion. [Online] Available at: https://www.hm.com
- Museum of Fine Arts (2022). Augmented Reality Brings 18th Century Fashion to Life. [Online] Available at: https://www.mfa.org
- Smith, J. & Brown, L. (2023). The Future of Fashion Education: AR in Fashion Design Schools.
