Blog •
15/09/23
In September 2023, I attended Digital Fashion Week London, where designers, technologists and educators came together to explore some of the different directions digital fashion was beginning to take.
What interested me most was the breadth of the conversation. It was not only about creating digital garments, but also about education, virtual identity, gaming, real-time environments and how new tools might connect with existing fashion workflows.
Looking back, several of those themes have become even more relevant as 3D and AI have continued to develop.
This panel looked beyond individual tools and into the wider question of how fashion businesses and educators respond to digital change.
One of the points that stayed with me was that introducing technology is not enough on its own. Digital adoption also depends on people understanding why a tool is useful, where it belongs in the workflow and having enough time and support to build confidence using it.
That feels particularly relevant looking back now. The technology has moved quickly, but many of the challenges around skills, adoption and practical implementation remain.
The Games & Fashion panel explored virtual identity, avatar customisation and digital wearables, and was one of the sessions I found most interesting.
What stood out was how differently clothing can function when it moves into a digital environment. It can still communicate identity and belonging, but the limitations and purpose are not necessarily the same as for a physical garment.
It also opened up questions around where fashion skills meet gaming, real-time 3D and digital character development, areas that have continued to develop considerably since this event.
Whether you’re already working digitally or just starting to explore tools like CLO3D, events like this are a powerful reminder that the future of fashion is already here, and it’s collaborative, creative, and constantly evolving.
Throughout the week, there were demonstrations involving CLO3D LiveSync with Unreal Engine, Twinmotion, Adobe Substance 3D and V Metics.
What interested me was seeing fashion garments begin to move beyond the CLO3D workspace and into wider real-time and visualisation environments. Rather than thinking about 3D fashion as one piece of software, these demonstrations raised the possibility of more connected workflows across garments, materials, avatars and immersive environments.
At the time, much of that still felt exploratory. Since then, the connection between fashion 3D and real-time tools has become a much bigger part of the conversation.
See how this conversation developed: I returned to many of these themes at a CLO x Epic Games event in 2026, where the discussion had moved further into real-time workflows, AI and the difference between visual output and technical 3D evidence.
Read: CLO x Epic Games London – AI Imagery vs 3D Evidence in Fashion Workflows
One of the most useful parts of the week was meeting people I had previously only known through online conversations.
Digital fashion is a technology-led space, but events like this remind me how much of its development still depends on people sharing what they are testing, what is working and where the challenges are. Those informal conversations can be just as useful as the formal presentations.
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