OPERATION SUNDEVIL & THE LEGION OF DOOIVI

WHAT
COMPUTERS
CAN DO FOR
THE
FASHION
DESIGNER
Wdlard Van De Bogart
Give the program ten local
body measurements; it will
print out a master pattern for
a blouse/ top/shirt, pants or
skirt. The master garments
can be elaborated into a
custom-designed, custom-fit
wardrobe. Tile d e s ( ~ 1 1 e r IS the
0111y ltuma11 ill the e1111re
process ...
Convert a graphic to knitting
weave structure ... and send
the resulting specs online to
industrial weaving machines.
Design a line of garments;
oversee project management
and direct automated cutting
and assembly, online, under
one integrated system.
Apply a fabric to a form; see the
drape or cling, the texture,
highlights and shadows on a
h\e, though admittedly virtual,
model.
Drop a handful of lea,es on the
true-color, variable-res scanner.
Tune the colors to realer-than-
real, or make them all variable
saturations of magenta or
Pantone 5000. Select only a
corner of a leaf and repeat the
image for a fabric print.
Digitize it, scan it in or draw it; once it's in the machine you can alter it
infinitely, supl'rimpose images, blow it up, pinch It down, play God in
your \'Cry own universe.
Translate a sketch into a pattern by companng it wtth tmages m a
librar) of silhouettes, a library of fabrics, a fashion-history library;
images are asSOCiated w1th their block patterns.
Search the library databases; you are prompted for the name of a style
or a two-word description: "fabric rayon" or "year 1987'' gives you
catalogs of Images to play with ...
Expl01t new matenals "Singing" fabncs Or the new aerogel
fibers CAD-woven u mg orb web algorithms
Create a pl'rfume bottle or a bracelet realistic enough for buyers to base
decisions on.. three-dimensional images complete with reflections,
refractions, shadows and highlights ...
Later ... but soon ...
A traveling designer and a local buyer create private-label clothing
designs on the spot; a telelink with the production facility allows quick
deli\'ery of sample garments.
You're leaPing to rat on Luna so vou dialup something to
Call up \OUr current 3-D bodv image. Rotate the model and consider:
you're female right now, and you've added a little flesh ... That's oka).
when vou change the 1mage to 1 I 6 gravity it looks almost worshipable.
What about Jntique goddess? No nudity: you want to look rock-solid
conservative for the business meeting.
Winged Victory? Pull up the spec and copy her dress to your image,
adjust the length ... there! It
needs work. Make the shoulder
panels nearly weightless, more
supple; yes, now they float like
wings ...
The cloth over the buttocks
needs more weight to drape
properly ... there ... and make
the sides float
Change the apparent fabric
to linen gauze, \'ery art-
historical; make 11 very-low-
density-greyed v. h1te, turn up
the bioluminescence. Oh, no-
they're bioluminescmg every-
thing this month. Let's try
faintly opalescent, pearly-ugh,
that looks bogus: totally neo.
Dial up the Victory again and
copy the surface light: there,
you've got the exact color effect
of the old marble ...
That looks just right. You can
do your skin to match.
Dial it up now, why not? before
lunch.
For a technical rel'iew of available
software and info on designers
currently using it, write to:
Willard Van De Bogart,
MCI E-Mai/429-6900
or FASHIONNET
Fashion Goes CAD
Fashion today is being designed on the
computer. According to a study by
Gwendolyn J. Sheldon for the summer '88
Clothing and Textiles Jo11mal: "The employed
designers predict that designers entering
the industry in five years will need an
understanding of the capability of all
computerized apparel equipment and
hands-on experience with design/
illustration and patternmaking equipment
as well as grading, costing, and color-
matching equipment."
The more computers impact the
apparel industry, the more important it will
be for a designer to create new fashion lines
on the computer. In a total management
information system (MIS), the des1gn
workstation is placed as the front-end
driving mechanism for respondmg to
consumer demands. According to
Professor Allen Hunter of North Carolina
State Uruversity, uthe future applications of
CAD may be a 'traveling designer' who
interactively designs a pnvate label line of
clothmg for the buyer. These styles would
then be transmitted to the production
facility for quick production and delivery
of the sample garments."
-WVB
JEWELRY GOES CAD
CAD systems are now available that create
the shape of the gem stone, the shank of
rings, and even the engraving techniques in
precious metals. There are several major
CAD packages available for the jewelry
designer. The best among these are CAD
]ewe/, available through Gemological
Research Corp in San Mateo, CA., and Gem
CAD, from Vance Info Systems of San
Francisco.
Generic 3D Drafting is a software
package used by The Terzian International
Group that provides a library of over 100
stone cuts and 80 mountings as well as some
chain designs. Michael Golding of Michael
& Mark of Seattle, Wash., modified the
Generic CADD package from Generic
Software Inc., turning rough sketches of
gemstones and settings into precise visual
images. Golding mixes and matches
diamond cuts, ring shanks, and many other
jewelry alternati\'es.
Joan a fine art jeweler from
New York City, has recently released an
entire line of jewelry inspired from a 3D
CAD package. At the Gemological institute
of America in Santa plans are
currently underway to create home study
courses utilizing CAD sketching packages
that will allow student designs to be sent
over modem for evaluation.
GIA is preparing for the big revolution
in data when there will be a universal
digital format that can be stored and
manipulated by the designer. At a recent
convention, I was pleasantly shocked to
hear the hypertext concept mentioned
several times over. With this hypertext
capacity, a new interfacing of words,
sounds, and visuals will be used collectively
by the designer to model and visualize 21st
century design trends.
-WVB