Baku
Baku is a sustainable digital fashion project that combines 3D design software with virtual reality to create waste-minimizing garment prototypes showcased in an immersive African-inspired virtual world, emphasizing both environmental consciousness and Black representation in digital fashion spaces.
Context
The fashion industry faces significant challenges with material waste during design and manufacturing processes. Traditional garment production methods often result in fabric scraps and unused materials that contribute to environmental problems. Additionally, there has been a historical lack of African representation and Black creative voices in digital fashion spaces and virtual worlds. These gaps present opportunities for innovation that addresses both sustainability concerns and the need for diverse cultural perspectives in digital fashion experiences.
Approach
Khumo Morojele and Mbangiso Mabaso approached these challenges by leveraging advanced 3D software including Blender, Clo3D, and Unity as tools to reduce fabric waste in the fashion design process. Their methodology involved creating digital prototypes that could be refined virtually before physical production, significantly minimizing material waste.
The team developed an immersive virtual world accessible through VR headsets and controllers, hosted on platforms like Mona and VRCHAT. This virtual environment features distinctively African landscapes and urban settings, including the mountains of Cape Town and a futuristic Johannesburg complete with skyscrapers and flying Siyaya taxis that transport users between virtual showrooms.
Central to their approach was cultural representation, with garments exhibited on Black avatars walking runways and standing on podium pedestals shaped like Coca-Cola crates—a familiar sight on Johannesburg streets. This deliberate design choice grounds the futuristic experience in recognizable African urban culture and aesthetics.
Output
The Baku project has produced three experimental fashion looks specifically designed to minimize waste in both conception and manufacturing. These sustainable garments are showcased in a richly detailed interactive virtual world that viewers can explore through VR technology.
The resulting digital experience provides users with a unique African digital lens through which to engage with sustainable fashion. Every aspect of the virtual world—from the environmental design to the garment presentations—contributes to a cohesive narrative created entirely by Black creatives and artists.
Beyond the fashion pieces themselves, Baku represents an important statement on representation in digital spaces, demonstrating how virtual environments can both address practical sustainability challenges in fashion while simultaneously creating platforms for cultural expression and historically underrepresented voices in the fashion and technology industries.
Credit
Developer
Sisanda Tech
Artist
Khumo Morejele
Sponsers
Eletric South
TWYG