Fashion and gaming students make history with Fashion avatar project

Ravensbourne BA (Hons) Fashion and BA (Hons) Games Design students have united to showcase their designs on 3D avatars. Their revolutionary project, titled Rave Digital, has been celebrated by the likes of Vogue, Forbes and LOVE magazine. This is the first fashion course in the world to embark on such a project.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ravensbourne students thought of how best to showcase their work in the absence of a physical degree show. National lockdown meant fashion students temporarily lost access to the machines and equipment needed to create their garments so had to consider alternatives. In a period of just six weeks, our Fashion and Gaming students created 'Rave Digital', a downloadable game that displays fashion designs on 3D digital avatars. The game premiered live on the ground-breaking streaming platform, Twitch.

Ten final-year Fashion students quickly learned how to use the Marvelous Designer software, to recreate their garments online. The gaming students then used the software, Unity, to build the game and showcase the clothed and textured avatars. The avatars were animated and uploaded into a digitally-rendered space, allowing users to photograph each outfit from any angle. Users could also explore different lighting and background options.

The game premiere took place via Twitch on Monday 13 July 2020 at 5.00pm. The game attracted a thousand concurrent visitors in the first 3 hours and had a staggering 36,780 unique live views within the first day!

Adam Andrascik, Associate Senior Lecturer of BA Fashion Design, spearheaded the project and said, “The increasing sustainability debate sparked the idea of not being constrained by the properties of physics in real life. The project aims to push the idea that fashion can exist in a digital-only realm and still hold value and creative credibility.”

Lee Lapthorne, Programme Director of Fashion commented, “Ravensbourne students take on a strong digital sensibility from the get-go and our tech team are forward-thinking and able to adapt, constantly coming up with innovative ways of working,"

He continued, "The result has been a truly collaborative project between students from separate courses. The lockdown has enabled us to come together against the odds and continue to showcase our students’ work in the very best light under their own unique creative control.”

“This unique project is a great fit for the 1.5 million people on Twitch at any given second.” Harry Packer, UK partnerships manager at Twitch explained. “Twitch is all about communities coming together around shared passions and interests. With a legacy in gaming, Twitch is the perfect home to explore the intersection between fashion and gaming.”

The class of 2020 have demonstrated an incredible determination to innovate and create solutions for every obstacle that they’ve faced. Although a number of universities have created new platforms during the pandemic, none have ventured into the exciting world of online gaming. Thank you to our exceptional students who have created something truly ground-breaking.

You can view the amazing stories written about the project on the following websites: Vogue Italia, Forbes, LOVE magazine, Drapers, and Yahoo.

You can find out more about the project and all of the designers on their dedicated website, Ravensbourne Digital.