Anand Duncan is a visionary designer who is making waves at the intersection of fashion and virtual reality (VR). With a background in animation for television and film, including the popular series Teen Titans Go!, Duncan seamlessly blends her playful design aesthetic with cutting-edge VR tools to explore the limitless possibilities of “Vr Fashion”. Her work, influenced by retro sci-fi and renaissance gowns, brings a unique appeal to digital clothing, emphasizing body structure and storytelling within the virtual realm.
Duncan’s journey into vr fashion began with her fascination with Google’s Spotlight stories and the immersive potential of VR animation. Inspired by artists like Glen Keane and Liz Edwards, she discovered Tilt Brush and was immediately captivated by the experience of drawing in 3D space. This exploration led her to realize the potential of VR for fashion design, allowing her to materialize her love for avant-garde styles in a completely new dimension.
For Duncan, Tilt Brush is the primary tool in her vr fashion design process. She praises its intuitive interface and the tactile feel of its brushes, which allow for a fluid and enjoyable creative experience. While she has experimented with other VR creative applications like Quill and Medium, Tilt Brush remains her preferred platform for bringing her vr fashion visions to life. The ability to virtually “step inside” a garment as it takes shape in 3D space is a key aspect that distinguishes vr fashion design from traditional methods.
While Duncan’s primary work remains in animation design, the skills honed through vr fashion have positively impacted her professional workflow. Designing in VR has enhanced her spatial reasoning and perspective knowledge, making it easier to visualize 3D forms when creating 2D animations for projects like Teen Titans Go!. This cross-pollination of skills highlights the unexpected benefits of exploring vr fashion for designers in seemingly unrelated fields.
Duncan’s creative process for vr fashion often starts with inspiration from existing garments or a general concept. However, the beauty of vr fashion lies in its unbound nature. Free from the constraints of physical reality, designers can create garments that defy gravity and explore fantastical silhouettes, pushing the boundaries of fashion design in ways previously unimaginable.
The exhibition of vr fashion also takes on a virtual form. Duncan showcases her creations in platforms like the Museum of Other Realities (MOR), Poly, and SketchFab, and has even presented a VR fashion room experience at Oculus. These virtual spaces offer a unique environment to experience vr fashion, allowing audiences to appreciate the garments within curated digital settings.
Looking ahead, Duncan envisions exciting developments for vr fashion. She hopes for more advanced brush options in VR tools, particularly “subtractive” brushes for creating textured and layered effects, enabling the simulation of delicate fabrics like chiffon. Bringing movement and physics to vr fashion, allowing garments to flow and respond to virtual environments, is another feature she eagerly anticipates.
Beyond design tools, Duncan recognizes the broader potential of VR and AR in fashion. While AR fashion offers possibilities like animated clothing graphics, she emphasizes the unique immersive quality of vr fashion. The ability to experience a garment within a deliberately crafted virtual environment is what sets vr fashion apart, offering a deeper connection between the wearer and the digital design.
For those interested in exploring vr fashion and digital art, Duncan’s advice is simple: “Don’t be afraid of the technology. It’s pretty simple to get started. Just start playing with it, and have fun!” Her journey exemplifies how embracing new technologies like VR can unlock exciting creative avenues and redefine established fields like fashion, paving the way for a future where digital expression knows no bounds. To see more of Anand Duncan’s innovative vr fashion designs, you can follow her work on Twitter @flashbunny and Instagram.
