PŁ Design Students at the European Finale of FashionTEX 2023–2026
From Łódź through Chemnitz and Amsterdam to Riga – PŁ Design Students at the European Finale of FashionTEX 2023–2026
Three years of collaboration, 12 partners from 11 European countries, two student editions and 48 young designers. The international FashionTEX – European Academy for Young Designers to Study Innovative Technologies in Digital Fashion Design project, implemented under the Creative Europe programme, concluded with a spectacular European finale in Riga.
On 30 September and 1 October 2026, Riga became a European centre of digital and sustainable fashion for two days, with Design students from Lodz University of Technology among the participants in the finale. FashionTEX Festival 2026 brought three years of collaboration between European fashion schools and partner organisations to a close, demonstrating how contemporary fashion design can be created and presented simultaneously in both physical and digital environments.
The festival took place at Riga Makerspace and LEDunit Virtual Production Studio, under the theme “Digitalisation and Sustainability in Fashion: Benefits & Challenges.” The programme included lectures, panel discussions, technology presentations, studio visits and expert debates addressing, among other topics, the role of digitalisation in educating future designers and in the transformation of the contemporary fashion industry.
The highlight of the festival was the presentation of projects by 24 participants in the second FashionTEX edition at LEDunit Virtual Production Studio. Physical garments presented on the runway were combined with animations, digital 3D models and visualisations displayed on an impressive 26.5-metre LED wall. This enabled the collections to exist simultaneously in physical and digital space, on a scale extending far beyond the format of a traditional fashion show.
The finale also showcased the work of 24 participants from the first FashionTEX edition in 2025. As a result, the event in Riga became a summary of the achievements of 48 young designers from the two editions of the project.
Lodz University of Technology was represented by students of the Design programme, Clothing Architecture specialisation: Zuzanna Russek and Michał Piotrowski from the 2026 edition, and Monika Maciąg and Oliwia Ruczyńska from the first edition.
The European journey of PŁ students had previously taken them through Chemnitz and Amsterdam. In 2025, projects from the first edition were presented during the FashionTEX finale in Chemnitz and later at a spectacular holographic fashion show at Fabrique des Lumières in Amsterdam. One year later, the next edition concluded with a large-scale presentation combining physical and digital fashion in Riga.
The projects presented during the 2026 finale were the result of a full year of work at the students’ home institutions, followed by intensive two-week Riga Makerspace workshops. Participants developed their concepts using technologies including CLO3D and Blender, as well as 3D printing, laser cutting, digital prototyping and other tools enabling physical garments to be integrated with their digital counterparts.
FashionTEX also had a lasting impact on the development of the Design programme at Lodz University of Technology. Digital garment construction, modelling and visualisation had already been part of the curriculum, using other CAD systems. The project made it possible to introduce CLO3D into regular teaching, strengthen 3D modelling and animation, and support the development of more unconventional forms, details and accessories using Blender and CLO3D.
The curriculum was also expanded to include virtual prototyping, simulation, digital twins, new forms of fashion presentation and VR technologies. As a result, students are able to combine traditional design and garment construction skills with digital tools used in the contemporary fashion industry. These technologies also support the development of sustainable fashion by enabling earlier evaluation of construction and material solutions and reducing the number of physical prototypes.
The project at Lodz University of Technology was coordinated by Dr Magdalena Owczarek from the Institute of Textile Architecture, with Dr Andrzej Foder and Dr Maciej Jabłoński, members of the teaching staff of the Design programme, Clothing Architecture specialisation, also contributing to the educational team.
During the FashionTEX Awards 2026, the Experts’ Award was presented to Han Nguyen from Accademia Koefia in Rome, while the Audience Award went to Leticija Orlova from the Art Academy of Latvia.
FashionTEX was implemented from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2026. Although the three-year project has formally come to an end, its impact remains at Lodz University of Technology. The competences, working methods and educational solutions developed within the project have become part of the education of future designers at the Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design.
The European journey from Łódź through Chemnitz and Amsterdam to Riga brought the three-year FashionTEX project to a close, while at the same time opening a new stage in the development of digital fashion design at Lodz University of Technology.
PŁ students in FashionTEX 2026
Michał Piotrowski – Digital Textures, CLO3D and Creative Connections
Zuzanna Russek – CLO3D, AI and New Impulses for Digital Fashion Design
🎬 FashionTEX Festival 2026 – official video:
🔗 FashionTEX Festival 2026:
🔗 Full report from FashionTEX Festival 2026 in “Życie Uczelni”:
The FashionTEX – European Academy for Young Designers to Study Innovative Technologies in Digital Fashion Design project was co-funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe programme, Culture strand.
Funded by the European Union.
Lodz University of Technology was a partner in the project. Activities on behalf of the University were carried out at the Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design, and the project at Lodz University of Technology was coordinated by Dr Magdalena Owczarek from the Institute of Textile Architecture.
More about the FashionTEX project:
Dr Magdalena Owczarek
Institute of Textile Architecture
Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design, Lodz University of Technology
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