Relating innovative 2D ideas into 3D garments, in terms of structure, using ‘Sculptural Form Giving’ as an intermediate step in creation

The paper describes the development of a fashion design methodology that seeks to reliably translate two-dimensional ideas via a structural design sculpture into 3D designs. It is aimed at fashion designers and fashion technologists and scrutinises their indivdiual and collaborative working practices when realising a finished garment from an initial idea, and the use of drawing and 3D modelling within that co-creational process.
The research utilised mixed methods to investigate three distinct parts of the project: developing a sculptural form giving method, testing it in a mixed workshop and analyzing the data. The method applies the idea of conceptual sculpture onto the fashion design process, akin to those used in architecture and toy design with which fashion shares some processes for realizing design ideas. This research investigates and formalizes the processes that utilize the measurable space between the garment and the body, to help transfer garment variation and scale.

Using the new model was found to be more understandable and valuable for the co-creational design process than designing from the sketch alone either in fashion design process or fashion design education. This research has implications for the design realisation and the teaching of fashion design because it offers an innovative method by which educators, design translators and fashion designers can enable their students to transform two-dimensional ideas into three-dimensional garments. It also offers some important insights into the fashion design process. In summation, this research enables fashion designers and technologists to produce a creative method that helps to collaborate on imaginative concepts through intermediate modelling.