The Era of 'Realistic' Fashion... Dongseo University Fashion Design Department and iStaging Lead Korean-Style Fashion XR

Collaboration with Sejeong, Completion of Virtual Reality Store Implementation Demonstration

Education and Performance Sharing Meeting for Fashion Workers in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam

The Department of Fashion Design at Dongseo University (President Jang Je-guk) is undertaking an innovative project that applies immersive technology (XR) to the fashion industry in collaboration with the global technology company iStaging.

Earlier this year, Dongseo University signed an industry-academia cooperation agreement with iStaging Asia and carried out a joint industry-academia technology development project with the global XR company iStaging Asia titled “Development and Demonstration of Mixed Reality-Based Fashion Retail Implementation Technology.” In connection with this, they collaborated with Sejung Co., Ltd., a leading fashion company representing Busan, to complete the demonstration of three virtual stores.

Dongseo University is conducting employee training and a performance sharing session under the theme "Immersive Technology (XR) Meets the Fashion Industry."

Building on these achievements, a training and performance sharing session for working professionals was recently held on the 6th floor of the Busan Fashion Biz Center under the theme “Where XR Meets the Fashion Industry.” About 70 attendees, including professors and students from fashion-related departments at Busan National University, Dong-A University, Ulsan University, and industry professionals from the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region, showed great interest. This event was organized with the support of Dongseo University’s LINC 3.0 Project Group and provided an in-depth discussion on the potential integration of XR technology with the fashion industry.

The event first introduced cases of fashion content production and marketing using XR technology, followed by presentations on virtual reality store development cases realized through the collaboration of Dongseo University, iStaging Asia, and Sejung Co., Ltd. Subsequently, the potential use of digital twin technology to transform the future of the fashion industry and innovative business models based on it were proposed, attracting strong attention from attendees.

iStaging Asia (CEO Choo Sun-woo), which collaborated with Dongseo University on this joint industry-academia technology development project, is the Asian branch of the global company iStaging (CEO Johnny Lee), headquartered in the UK and established last year. iStaging is currently collaborating with the LVMH group, which owns world-renowned luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

Through this collaboration, iStaging Asia plans to pioneer new markets by applying new technologies to fashion brands in the Asian region.

Based on the results of this joint industry-academia technology development project, virtual reality stores were created for three locations: Sejung’s online-exclusive brand “WMC” first pop-up store (Hyundai Department Store Pangyo Branch), jewelry brand “Didier Dubot” (Starfield Suwon), and the select shop “DAECHI 342.”

For this project, fashion design students gained practical experience in virtual reality store implementation through special lectures by iStaging Asia practitioners, providing them with an opportunity to experience new technologies and develop capabilities in response to changes in the fashion industry.

Currently, detailed discussions are underway with Sejung Co., Ltd.’s Strategic Planning Team to further develop the virtual store implementation results and actively utilize them in business.

In this way, Dongseo University is leading innovative research and practical education based on immersive technology by integrating XR technology with the fashion industry to propose new business models. In particular, this project is recognized as a new exemplary case of industry-academia cooperation that accelerates the digital transformation of the regional fashion industry through collaboration with a global technology company.

Professor Kim Hyung-sook of Dongseo University’s Department of Fashion Design, who is leading this project, stated, “It is urgent to integrate XR and AI into the fashion industry to digitalize the fashion sector and to cultivate the workforce capable of implementing this. Using this joint industry-academia technology development project as a seed, we will strive to develop core technologies and discover commercialization models through continuous research and development with the global XR company iStaging, while focusing on applying these to local companies and nurturing talent.”

Choo Sun-woo, CEO of iStaging Asia, emphasized the need for workforce supply, saying, “We aim to adapt the technological know-how developed with global fashion industry leaders such as Louis Vuitton and Dior to the Korean market in collaboration with Dongseo University, using it as a testbed to expand the scope of technology application across the Asian market.”

A representative from Dongseo University said, “This year, by joining forces with Dong-A University, we were selected for the Glocal University 30, leading transformation into a future-oriented university,” adding, “Dongseo University plans to establish an innovative model encompassing education, research, and community contribution, positioning itself as a digital fashion hub connecting the local and global.”