What happens when fashion meets the future? Enter the world of the 3D garment/apparel designer. The pros turning pixels into pants and software into style. In this episode of Majors, Minors & Maybes, we follow Lila, a digital designer whose “day at the office” includes sculpting clothes in 3D, stress-testing fabrics in virtual wind tunnels, and making sure a gown drapes flawlessly before a single thread is cut.

It’s fast, it’s sustainable, and it’s transforming how the fashion industry works, from haute couture to your hoodie.

Bonus: You’ll even hear from Mikelle Drew-Pellum, a real 3D apparel designer, about why this career is more than a trend. It’s the future of fashion.

If you’ve ever wondered who designs the clothes you can’t yet touch but already love, this episode is for you.

Mikelle Drew-Pellum

383designstudionyc.com

instagram.com/383design

linkedin.com/in/mikelledrew

tiktok.com/@383design

Show Notes:

3D Garment/Apparel Designer: Fashion Built in Pixels Before Fabric

Dr. W launches season two of “Majors, Minors, and Maybes” by spotlighting the 3D garment/apparel designer, a career blending fashion, code, and sustainability by creating virtual garments that drape, stretch, and move before any physical sample is made. Through a day-in-the-life of Lila, the episode shows digital prototyping, instant global collaboration, stress-testing fit and fabrics, and designing metaverse-only couture for avatars. Dr. W explains how tools like CLO 3D and Browzwear speed timelines, reduce textile waste, and expand fashion into digital wardrobes, and includes insights from 3D designer Mikelle Drew Pellum on patternmaking, virtual sewing, accurate fit, and sustainability gains from fewer physical samples. The episode suggests relevant majors, key skills, work settings, a $60K–$100K+ salary range, and teases next week’s career: Aerospace Behavioral Scientist.

00:00 Season Two Returns

01:44 Meet the 3D Designer

02:02 A Day With Lila

03:59 Office Hours Breakdown

05:13 Pro Explains the Process

05:54 How to Get Started

07:29 Why 3D Changes Fashion

08:41 Sustainability Impact

09:55 Digital Fashion Boom

10:58 Wrap Up and Next Episode