Anti-Trends in Education. What to Unlearn in Fashion

Modern fashion education is undergoing a digital transformation: according to McKinsey, 75% of fashion companies will require employees to work with 3D design and artificial intelligence by 2025. Key trends include the transition to hybrid programs where traditional design is combined with courses on AI trendsetting (algorithms are already 30% more accurate than humans at predicting color trends, according to WGSN), digital fabric modeling in CLO3D and the creation of NFT collections.

Universities like the London College of Fashion and Parsons are introducing VR labs for virtual merchandising, and Coursera is recording a 200% increase in requests for courses in sustainable fashion, responding to a demand from the industry, where 67% of brands plan to switch to eco-materials by 2027 (Global Fashion Agenda).

At the same time, highly specialized programs are becoming obsolete: employers are now looking for graduates with a cross-disciplinary background who can simultaneously develop a physical collection, its digital counterpart for the metaverse, and analyze big data from marketplaces.

There is a special demand for micro-degrees in "fashionable" neuroeconomics — neural networks already generate 15% of the designs of mass-market brands (BoF), which requires designers to manage AI assistants. Paradoxically, automation does not reduce, but transforms professions.: IBM predicts that by 2030, 40% of new roles in fashion will be related to managing human-machine creative processes.

• How have the industry's requirements for graduates changed over the past 5 years?
• Should education become more technologically advanced in fashion?
• Is there a need for a "textile cluster" involving universities, factories, and brands?
• Why would a designer study neuromarketing and behavioral economics?
• "AI vs. fundamental skills": Should a student first master hand-cutting before working in CLO3D?