A partnership project UKFT Scotland is involved in, funded by Interface, researching the potential in innovating bespoke tailoring/manufacturing. Academics met with the two participating companies and finalised the areas of research.

Research detail:

For company 1, the central requirement is for the visualisation of various textiles, from a range of textiles producers, onto quite simple patterns. The aim here is to allow customers to upload an image of their print which will be applied to the 3D model of the product, the user will be able to adjust the orientation and position of the textile map on the mesh, as well as placement of details such as zip position. This allows the customer to be sure they have they placement they want, similarly it gives a record of the order to the manufacturer. This will be achieved by digitising a sample set of fabrics and creating an app which gives the user control over UV Map(digital image which stretches over a 3D model) position, scale and orientation.

For company 2, the focus is more on the scaling of the garment patterns and generating high quality 3D material maps. They are also keen to develop a digital version of their famous changing room, both to add to the user experience and to provide a more engaging visualisation as well as a personalised touch to the app. This part of the project will focus more on scaling 2D garment patterns, however this will be limited to 4 textiles, for the time being, as a sample set in order to determine the workflow to achieve high quality 3D digital equivalents of their fabrics. We may also create some photogrammetry models of their suits.

This will be made using a variety of software, Photoshop for creating textures, Rhino and 3DS Max for modelling and Unity for creating the app. Unity can build apps for any platforms. Initially we will create an iOS app for an iPad, as well as a VR visualisation with a view to creating a web app.

The project will also output some SOP, demonstrating the workflow for digitising garments and fabrics into models and high-quality texture maps for use by textiles Scotland.

Update – The research completed in January 2021, with a timeline severely extended by lack of access of academics to their industry partners. Potential key further research has been pinpointed and Strathclyde University is going to work directly with companies to apply for further support to continue this activity.