Nursah Kardas: Three-Dimensional Digital Designer
Nursah Kardas is a digital fashion designer from Turkey. Using digital rendering and design technologies she designs and creates digital fashion collections and presentations. Her 3- dimensional digital designs highlight the garments and pieces she designs on models, even displaying how the garments would move.
When and how did you first discover digital fashion?
I met digital fashion while studying fashion design at Eskişehir Technical University in 2017. To be honest, the lectures were boring because I had not yet discovered the freedom the program gave me and therefore my passion. When I downloaded the program myself at home and started to design, that's when a spark flared up inside me. Before the 3d part, it was always more enjoyable to do things with a computer, both in my school lessons and in my normal life and working in the digital world.
What programs and technologies do you use to make your designs? Are you self-taught or did you receive formal instruction?
Adobe Photoshop, Clo 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Blender are the programs I generally use. I took lessons for some of them and I am improving some of them by trying myself and watching online videos. However, it is not possible to reach this stage with the lessons learned. You have to lose yourself in the program on your own.
Fashion in the metaverse is a topic that many people aren’t familiar with and may not understand. How would you describe digital fashion and its use?
Digital fashion, in short, is the production of clothes and fashion shows with necessary programs in the virtual environment. The usage areas can vary greatly. The point that attracts me the most is that the freedom it creates for the person increases while the damage it causes to the environment decreases. You can easily eliminate a waste problem such as sample production. It is a valuable tool that the fashion industry should use for a sustainable future.
What do you think the future of fashion in the metaverse is? Some large brands are starting to incorporate digital versions of their designs into their collections and strategy, is this something you see more and more brands doing in the future?
Yes, it's exceedingly popular right now. Yes, everyone should step into digital fashion but the reasons for stepping up shouldn't be to catch trends or make the already fast fashion faster. We are in an age where each of the steps taken is important for the future, I wish people to make their choices in order to take a role in the future rather than catching the trends. Most designers, including me, do this to slow down fashion and live a more ethical business life. We don't want to speed up. I wish brands to think about this issue thoroughly.
Were you always interested in fashion design?
To be honest, no. In fact, I consider myself more of a digital world lover than fashion design lover. I love what I'm doing now, but as long as it's digital.
What inspires you, in both your designs and personal life?
What I do to find inspiration is to close my eyes and zoom out from where I am to the infinity of space and remember how small and worthless I am in the universe. I can say that experiencing this feeling is the biggest inspiration in my life. If I have to put it in a simpler way, I can say that my biggest inspirations are nature and space.
What are your goals or visions for your designs and work in the coming years?
I can say that I have a goal of a future where I am the best version of myself and do what I am happy to do, and I do not deviate from my truth. I also have plans to start my own business, but these are things that will happen in the distant future and can change at any moment.
Have you also worked in real-life garment design and construction? Is that something in which you are interested?
I haven't done it since I started my digital adventure, but while I was studying, of course, I made many real-life garment designs: fabric dyeing, pattern making, sewing, designing. It was four years where we learned every step of it. Right now, it's not a job I want to do other than designing and sewing small things for myself at home.
Social Media.
I use my Instagram account most actively at the moment: @3d.nk
Nursah Kardas
Interview by Flora Medina, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Coordinator, PhotoBook Magazine
*All photos courtesy of Nurşah Kardaş
