Classification and analysis of fabric types for shirts: A comparison between virtual and real fabrics

The 3D virtual simulation technology is widely applied in the fashion industry tasks, including product planning such as 3D sample work, design development, marketing, and display, enabling styling of virtual models for differentiation. Achieving a digital representation of fabrics that closely resembles actual materials requires additional information obtained through experiments, beyond basic fabric characteristics like fiber content, weight, and thickness. However, research reflecting changes in fabric properties is relatively lacking. Therefore, this study aims to propose criteria for the physical characteristics of shirt fabrics and compare fit variations of virtual garments based on fabric properties to enhance the usability of virtual garment simulation. Thus, we compared and analyzed the characteristics and draping properties of shirt fabrics using two different fabric testing methods, KES-FB and CLO Fabric Kit, and investigated correlations based on each measurement device. Additionally, virtual clothing was performed based on various fabrics to compare clothing suitability. Consequently, we classified fabrics into three clusters for each measurement method and confirmed the characteristics of each cluster. Furthermore, by visually comparing the fit of shirts based on fabric properties, we observed changes in clothing pressure and deformation rate among clusters. Therefore, we believe that the results of this study can assist designers with low proficiency in 3D virtual garment production when applying virtual materials to designs. These findings are expected to be valuable for utilizing 3D virtual clothing simulations in the fashion industry for online sales and marketing, as well as in the gaming industry for avatar costume design.