Fashion design students at Melbourne’s Box Hill Institute are creating a new line of activewear using 3D design technology.
BHI teamed up with London-based global fashion enterprise Raw Group to bring the new curriculum to its fashion design students, noting that brands such as Kookai, Veronika Maine and Raw Group are seeking workers with these skills.
The education institute has also partnered with 3D fashion design technology company BrowzWear to deliver a two-day training workshop on June 24.
BHI academic course manager for the Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design), Kylee Mitchell, said while the fashion industry was initially cautious about onboarding 3D fashion, there are many benefits.
“With technology driving the future of fashion design, 3D allows brands to produce photo-realistic designs and take them straight to e-commerce sites, reducing the need for costly and wasteful samples,” Mitchell said.
Raw Group’s co-founder and managing director Adam Walsh said the 3D collaboration with BHI supports the brand’s commitment to sustainability and will drive the next generation of fashion designers.
“I loved the idea,” Walsh said. “Our retailers are using 3D design as a cornerstone of sustainable product development. Collaborating with institutions like Box Hill Institute ensures we have a pipeline of talent who understand fit and construction in online product development.”
The collaboration between Raw Group and BHI began with a sustainability brief in 2023. Students were tasked to make garments using recycled materials with several students showcasing their creations at Melbourne Fashion Week’s Student Runway this year.
Third-year Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design) student Lilly Cavallin said her new 3D design skills will make her attractive to employers when she graduates.
“I think my skills will be in demand because we’re one of the first TAFEs using this software,” Cavallin said. “It was a little bit difficult to learn at the start but having prior knowledge of flat pattern-making certainly helped.”