Seoul-based z-emotion drives technology and fashion industry convergence

Fashion ranks among the largest industries in the world, with an influence that extends throughout contemporary culture. It’s also an industry that has seen enormous changes in recent years—and now, digital technology is beginning to transform the way clothing is designed, manufactured, marketed, and retailed.

Seoul, Korea–based fashion technology firm z-emotion is leading that digital transformation, addressing the challenges of the fashion industry with technologies developed for media and entertainment. The company provides apparel makers and retailers with advanced 3D simulation tools—the types of solutions used for visual effects and animations in games and films—for use in fashion design, production, promotion, and merchandising.

In recent years, fashion design and manufacturing have been disrupted by the rise of fast fashion, which requires garment makers to innovate quickly to replicate the latest runway looks at a low cost for a trend-conscious mass market. The global fast fashion market is predicted to grow to USD $197 billion by 2028, bringing with it a negative effect on the environment due to wasteful production, nonrecyclable materials, and the throw-away mentality it encourages in buyers. At the same time, this trend is being countered by the growing demand from environmentally conscious consumers for sustainable fashion—quality clothing made using eco-friendly production methods.

In fashion marketing and retailing, social media that influences consumer clothing purchases is also disrupting the way consumers engage with brands and buy fashion. And as consumer preference for online over physical retail continues to grow, fashion firms gain greater access to broadening global markets through e-commerce technology.

z-emotion has positioned itself as a leader in addressing these fashion industry challenges with technology. The company’s founder and CEO, Han Dong Soo, has a background in developing simulation technology used for visual effects at US semiconductor firm AMD, including virtually simulating soft objects such as outfits for game and movie characters. Han led the development of z-emotion’s z-weave cloth design software, a 3D simulation engine that lets garment makers create true-to-life digital clothing to streamline the entire fashion design and production process.

Using z-emotion’s 3D design and simulation tools, designers can create a clothing collection digitally, visualizing and adjusting garments on detailed avatars for accurate virtual fittings. With 3D cloth simulation capabilities, they can assess how garments flow and perform under various conditions before producing physical samples. The 3D design process also helps them speed up reviews, iterations, and approvals, and create patterns that minimize material waste for more sustainable manufacturing.

In addition, z-emotion developed a set of plugins, including z-maya and z-unreal, that integrate digital fashion creation with industry-standard tools for the media and gaming industries, such as Autodesk Maya and Unreal Engine. These tools bring characters and clothing to life, helping brands more effectively market fashion products—for example, digital previews and virtual fashion shows that showcase collections to a global audience of buyers and media. In addition, detailed images generated from realistic 3D renderings replace the need for product photo shoots, saving time and marketing costs.

Brands and retailers can also enhance the online shopping experience by using z-emotion’s virtual avatars and 3D garments in interactive e-commerce applications. In a mobile app, shoppers can customize 3D avatars, virtually try on digital fashions, see how garments fit on different body types, mix and match outfits, and share looks with friends.

Han describes the improved efficiency of the digitalized design-to-manufacturing process with the example of a printed logo t-shirt. “We’re working with three fashion companies in Europe that have the same problem,” he says. “They have a design team, a technical design team, and a manufacturing team, then a gigantic printing machine that’s connected to the whole manufacturing side. The final design output is a PDF file they use to print the t-shirts.”

In the existing process, design teams create 2D image files of the t-shirt designs that they share with manufacturing partners over email in a lengthy back-and-forth process. After adjustments and approvals, they manually create a final PDF file to send to the printing machine. “The problem is there are multiple t-shirt sizes—small, medium, and large—and they have to create and approve different PDFs for each size, because the logo has to be moved to different locations for different sizes,” Han says.

Z-emotion’s digital pipeline makes the process more efficient, as designers can speed up design and approval using accurate 3D renderings they can quickly share with the manufacturer. “They create a virtual sample that allows them to see if the logo location, color, and size information are correct,” says Han. “They make adjustments and once they get confirmation, they can generate a PDF of the design right away, and it goes straight to manufacturing.”

z-emotion’s technology also creates new ways for consumers to engage with fashion brands. In 2022, the company’s collaboration with Nike Korea offered customers a virtual styling system via an interactive 3D shopping experience. In the online campaign, members could sign up to enter a digital showroom on Nike’s e-commerce website and customize an avatar, create styles from different combinations of Nike apparel and accessories, select their favorite looks, and share them on social media. This interactive experience drew 20,000 members in a week, offered them a try-on experience that mirrored real-life shopping, boosted exposure of selected products, and inspired customer word-of-mouth through social sharing.

In collaboration with luxury brand Louis Vuitton, z-emotion re-created a real-world fashion show, the 2023 Fall/Winter Menswear collection, as a digital catwalk. z-emotion digitized and animated models in different outfits, along with objects and spaces from the runway show, to create an immersive experience exhibited at the Viva Tech conference in Paris. As Louis Vuitton and other fashion brands search for new ways to connect with target audiences, virtual fashion shows offer an interactive game-like environment where customers can feel like they’re discovering the show from inside the runway experience.

In addition to the physical garment business, new opportunities for virtual fashion are emerging in digital animation and gaming projects. For a collaboration with Korea’s National Busan Gugak Center, a performing arts venue and museum, z-emotion transformed traditional costumes, dance, and music into immersive 3D content for an exhibit celebrating cultural heritage. Using motion capture data, the z-emotion team developed avatars and created outfits with simulation technology to re-create historic clothing in rich, 3D detail. The final animated digital experience features realistic characters performing traditional dances as the costumes flow with their movement to the music.

The gaming sector also offers extensive opportunities to create virtual clothing specifically for digital worlds. “Realistic representation is one of the most important features in the gaming industry today,” says Jang Seong-Bok, CFO of z-emotion. “High-level simulation technologies to reproduce realistic clothing and movement of game characters enhance the immersive qualities of the game.”

z-emotion worked with the China-based gaming company NetEase, a global developer and publisher of videogame IP that includes collaborations with Warner Bros. and Marvel, to test costume simulation. “Initially NetEase expected only to configure and render characters on a Maya-based program, but after the test, they told us that it was likely to be used as a solver in AAA gaming production,” Jang says.

By merging 3D design technology with fashion business processes, z-emotion is pioneering an industry convergence that’s bringing its customers improved efficiency, innovation, and consumer engagement:

• Product development is streamlined from initial design to final product, as designers speed up iteration, prototyping, and collaboration with manufacturing partners.

• Cost and waste are reduced by eliminating the need for physical samples and by using digital data to ensure consistency and quality across all digital and physical touchpoints.

• Environmental impact is minimized and more sustainable materials and processes are used through efficiencies in design and production.

Marketing strategies are enhanced with interactive 3D applications influenced by games and entertainment, including immersive shopping experiences that boost customer satisfaction, drive sales, and build brand loyalty. According to z-emotion’s customer data, shoppers who see a 3D asset rather than a flat image of a product are 44% more likely to add it to their cart and 30% more likely to purchase it. This rises to a 65% increase in conversion when the shopper can visualize and interact with a product in 3D.

The company is now exploring new applications of AI and virtual fitting technologies, which would offer customers the ability to try on and adjust clothing style and fit in online sessions using a 3D avatar. “Many enterprises are turning their attention to virtual fitting system technology,” says Jang. “Speed is what matters most in satisfying consumers. This requires integrating AI technology, and to this end, we're deepening our collaborations with tech-savvy companies.”

Looking ahead to the future, z-emotion is seeing an increase in project inquiries beyond the fashion sector, from industries centered around virtual humans and gaming. In leveraging advanced 3D simulation technologies that also build on and extend industry tools like Autodesk Maya, the company is breaking down barriers between fashion and digital entertainment—and sparking a wave of innovation that’s transforming the way fashion is designed, produced, and experienced.