Abstract:

The rapid adoption of 3D and AI technologies today is reshaping fashion practices, redefining the entire apparel industry from design to manufacturing and sales. While these new technologies are already embedded in the industry workflows, fashion design education is still lagging behind, resulting in continuous misalignment between emerging professional practices and academic training. This paper proposes a modular university-company collaboration model that aligns fashion design education with 3D and AI technologies through complementary educational formats. This model conceptualizes various formats as modular and combinable elements that target different teaching and learning purposes. The short-term format exposes students to AI-enabled design practices and decision-making processes, the medium-term format enables students to apply digital competencies to real company briefs, while the longer-term format integrates 3D and AI functionalities to support sustained skill formation and reflective design practice. These formats can be implemented sequentially or independently, depending on the curricular objectives and context. The model is illustrated through three case studies. Analysis of student performance, teaching activities, and company feedback suggests that such a model strengthens digital competencies and enhances workforce readiness. Thereby, positioning fashion design education as an active mediator between emerging technological design pipelines and evolving professional fashion practice.

Keywords:

University–Industry Collaboration, Digital Fashion, 3D Design, AI Fashion.