To create the imagery, The Diigitals collaborated with CLO3D to digitally recreate a series of luxury fashion garments. Rather than photographing physical clothing on a traditional model, each look was constructed as a three-dimensional garment simulation and fitted directly onto Shudu's digital form. The editorial featured digital recreations inspired by designs from Cushnie et Ochs, The Great Eros, and Noon by Noor, demonstrating how contemporary fashion could be translated into entirely virtual environments.
The project highlighted one of the emerging possibilities of digital fashion production: the ability to create, style, and photograph garments without the need for physical samples. At a time when most luxury brands had not yet adopted 3D workflows, the editorial offered an early glimpse into production methods that would later become increasingly common throughout the industry.
Beyond the technical achievement, the feature sparked wider conversations about representation, diversity, authorship, and the role virtual models might play within fashion's future. As one of the first mainstream fashion publications to engage seriously with these questions, WWD helped introduce the broader industry to the possibilities and challenges presented by digital humans.
The editorial also demonstrated the collaborative nature of virtual fashion production. While Shudu existed as a digital character, bringing her to life required a combination of photography, 3D modelling, garment simulation, rendering, retouching, and creative direction. The project showcased how technology could expand fashion storytelling while creating entirely new creative disciplines and workflows.
Today, the WWD editorial stands as a landmark moment in the evolution of digital fashion. What began as an experimental collaboration between a virtual model, a fashion publication, and a 3D garment platform helped foreshadow many of the conversations that now define the industry, from digital clothing and virtual influencers to the growing role of CGI and 3D design within luxury fashion.
As Shudu's first major fashion editorial, the project remains a defining chapter in The Diigitals' history and an early example of how virtual fashion could move from technological curiosity to mainstream cultural conversation.
WWD | CLO3D X Shudu
JUN|2018 - Shudu's First Fashion Editorial
Long before digital fashion became a recognised industry, The Diigitals partnered with Women's Wear Daily (WWD) and CLO3D to create one of the first major fashion editorials centred around a virtual model.
The project marked Shudu's debut fashion editorial and represented a significant milestone not only for The Diigitals, but for the wider conversation surrounding digital humans, virtual fashion, and the future of image-making.
At a time when the concept of digital influencers was still largely unfamiliar to the fashion industry, WWD explored the emergence of virtual models through an in-depth feature examining how technology was beginning to challenge traditional ideas of modelling, photography, and fashion production. The editorial placed Shudu at the centre of this discussion, presenting her not simply as a technological experiment, but as a new form of creative expression.