GARDE and TOKYO MODE GAKUEN, a professional college that cultivates talent ready to excel in fashion, design, business, interior, graphic, and beauty industries, are launching the “Digital Fashion Award” as a new industry–academia collaboration project.
As the first initiative, a free event titled “The Present and Future of Digital Fashion Development” will be held at TOKYO MODE GAKUEN Hall A on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, alongside the preliminary judging for the award.
■About the “Digital Fashion Award”
In recent years, the fashion industry has rapidly adopted the 3D development tool “CLO”. However, its use often remains limited to sample production or internal reviews, and has yet to be fully leveraged for new revenue opportunities such as marketing, e-commerce, or metaverse deployment.
Through this project, GARDE and TOKYO MODE GAKUEN aim to explore the potential for secondary utilization and monetization of digital assets, using the creativity of next-generation student designers as the foundation.
Under the theme “Casual Party on Metaverse” (avatar fashion for a casual party in the metaverse), approximately 80 student design sketches were submitted. Ten designs will be selected and converted into CLO data. During the event, participants will cast votes in an interim judging session.
The top five designs, chosen through audience voting, will be implemented in Fortnite, the online game operated by Epic Games, and unveiled in early 2026 through a virtual runway that fuses gaming and fashion. The grand prize-winning design will be decided from among these finalists.
Fortnite Official Website: https://www.fortnite.com/
■Background of the GARDE × TOKYO MODE GAKUEN Collaboration
This initiative leverages the strengths of both institutions to highlight new possibilities for fashion in the age of the metaverse.
TOKYO MODE GAKUEN has developed an educational curriculum utilizing CLO to nurture practical digital fashion skills among students, broadening career paths beyond apparel into digital, gaming, and IT fields.
Meanwhile, GARDE, with 11 global offices and extensive experience in spatial design, has also been developing projects that merge physical and digital realms, such as the COCOWARP Virtual Museum. For this award, GARDE will oversee the Fortnite implementation and venue design, ensuring that garment details are faithfully reproduced.
By combining student creativity with GARDE’s technical expertise, the award goes beyond academic training to provide hands-on professional experience. It also offers students valuable exposure to industry partners while enabling the fashion sector to explore new models for digital asset utilization.
COCOWARP Official Website: https://www.cocowarp.com/
■Panel Discussion: “The Present and Future of Digital Fashion Development”
The event will feature a panel discussion with leading voices from the metaverse industry, exploring the latest trends and opportunities in digital fashion development.
Traditionally, 3D data and development tools have been adopted primarily as cost-saving measures. This session will explore how these assets can instead be transformed into marketing and monetization tools in the metaverse era.
Key discussion points include:
- “Are you leaving your 3D data unused within your company?”
- “Have you struggled to see results from implementation and hesitated to take the next step?”
Panelists will share concrete strategies and business models for transforming digital fashion into a core revenue source, creating a cross-industry dialogue on fashion DX and the next stage of digital innovation.
Panelists: CLO Virtual Fashion Japan – Emily Choi, Ami Kamiyama
GARDE – Takuji Kakuda
■Event Overview
Target Audience: Apparel companies; digital and metaverse-related businesses
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Time: 13:00–15:00 (Doors open at 12:50)
Venue: TOKYO MODE GAKUEN Hall A
Address: 1-7-3 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Access: https://www.mode.ac.jp/tokyo/access
Program:
12:50 Doors open
13:00 Opening remarks / Introduction of the TOKYO MODE GAKUEN × GARDE collaboration
Student presentations of award entries
13:30 Panel discussion: “The Present and Future of Digital Fashion Development”
14:10 Networking session / Interim judging for the award
14:50 Closing remarks
Program details are subject to change.
Participation Fee: Free
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/D6f323NEM65WchCs7
Please register via the form above. Registration will close once capacity is reached.
Located just three minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station, TOKYO MODE GAKUEN is a professional college that fosters industry-ready professionals across fashion, design, business, interior, graphics, and beauty.
With an industry-integrated curriculum, it has achieved a 100% job placement rate for 18 consecutive years (since FY2007).
Its three major guarantee systems — the “Complete Employment Guarantee,” “National Qualification Pass Guarantee,” and “Salary Guarantee” — demonstrate its confidence in student outcomes.
Website：https://www.mode.ac.jp/tokyo