The online training provider The Digital Fashion Group (TDFG) has announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the digital platform Arts Thread. The duo pursues the common goal of promoting digitization in fashion education. The collaboration is part of a broader goal to support the roll-out of digital courses in higher education while expanding TDFG’s reach to new potential online participants.
The group, which has previously worked with institutions such as Parson’s on their Digital Fashion 101 foundation course, is currently hosting a series of workshops and webinars on their platform, all centered around digital fashion design. The latest project “3Design” consists of a series of 3D courses that provide specific skills in the field of digital fashion design and enable students to sell products via DressX. TDFG co-founder Leslie Holden hopes TDFG’s education goal will have an impact on the current fashion education system and the future of fashion overall.
“I knew digital fashion was going to be important,” Holden told FashionUnited. “I’ve had my eye on this part of the industry for a long time.” In his previous role as Head of Fashion at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), Holden spearheaded the introduction of educational structures that still exist at the college today, aimed at to shift roles in the fashion industry in favor of a more sustainable value chain and to give students more choice when it comes to choosing a particular area of the industry.
Overcoming the digital skills gap through fashion education
After leaving the institute, Holden decided to continue to drive this change. Dedicating his time to researching the digitization of fashion, he eventually co-founded TDFG with co-founders Sean Chiles and Burak Cakmak. Holden spoke about the inspiration behind the company and addressed the current issue of the digital skills gap in the fashion industry: “The people who are developing digitization for the fashion industry often do not have a fashion background or know nothing about the industry .”
“We need to turn the fashion industry inside out, replace the word designer with the word creator. We have to integrate them into the value chain,” Holden continues. Digitizing this process will lead to a more sustainable value chain, as wasteful processes such as sampling and fitting will be eliminated.
When asked why TDFG chose to partner with Arts Thread in the first place, Holden said, “TDFG aligns with Arts Thread’s values of creativity and employability.” Through the partnership, Holden hopes educators will be able to create a To take a more hands-on approach with participants that will enable them to better navigate the digital fashion landscape. “We hope to be able to reach out to higher education institutes and advise them on how to offer these courses to their students,” Holden added.
The two partners will pool their networks and resources to support future generations in the hope that this will lead to more job opportunities or the creation of their own businesses, according to a press release made available exclusively to FashionUnited.
Arts Thread co-founder Alex Brownless echoed Holden’s thoughts in a statement, saying that the platform is a staunch supporter of the courses developed by TDFG. “It’s very important that Arts Thread partner with like-minded companies that keep up with the technology,” said Brownless. “It is clear that the fashion and textile students need to embrace the use of modern 3D software as we understand that the industry demands students/graduates with these skills. TDFG is the market leader in teaching these skills.”
This translated article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk.