Given Meta’s recent decision to permanently shut down Meta Spark, I was motivated to hop off all of their platforms (as I have done in the past) in miniature protest.

But, as I doom-scrolled Instagram for, what I thought would be, the last time, I came across a digital fashion creator who sparked (*cough, couldn’t resist, sorry) my interest: Bertha Jimenez (Berta), a 29-year-old, originally from Barcelona now residing in Madrid.

There is something meticulously unique in the way she digitally designs outfits for Clo3D’s Fifi avatar - the ruching, the ruffling and the layering - which gave me the sense that Berta had a talent I could not overlook. So, in true millennial fashion, I changed my mind about the Meta-miniature-protest thing and DMed Berta: I had to learn more about her.

Undefeated

Like many talented digital fashion creators I have encountered, Berta comes from a traditional fashion background, studying fashion design and graduating with her degree during the pandemic. “I was quite lost and didn't know where to start in the workplace,” she explains.

This prompted Berta to move to Madrid where she decided to pursue her studies further, enrolling on a master’s in haute couture. However, after graduating, Berta was once again met with the same obstacles as before. “I spent two years looking for a job related to design and I was very frustrated to see how difficult it was,” she says. “I spent a lot of time doing nothing, creating collections and researching.”

Noticing her struggles, Berta’s partner suggested she try a new medium to create her fashion collections. All she would need is a computer and 3D software. “I sat in front of a computer and he taught me countless tutorials,” Berta explains. “I discovered the wonderful world of 3D fashion design with Clo3D and, to date, everything I have learned about 3D has been self-taught.”

Fashion’s imminent future

As a digital fashion designer, Berta’s toolkit has evolved from needle and thread to mouse and keyboard with tools like Clo3D, Blender, Adobe Substance Painter and Unreal Engine proving essential. “It has made work easier and saved me so much time that today, I can't imagine designing something without them,” she says.

Needless to say, Berta’s attention to detail, flawless execution of garment construction and, my absolute favourite aspect of her designs, her hyper-realistic texturing has immediately set her apart as a top designer in this space.

The digital fabrics she chooses - such as the velvets from her Untitled series here, here and here - appear so incredibly realistic I swear I can feel them with my eyes. How that’s possible, I have no idea but it happens.

Then, of course, her Resiliencie collection is an ode to her depth and range of talent, not only as a haute couture designer but as a self-taught 3D artist. Blown away!

But with the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), my fear is that skilled creators like Berta will be pushed out of the market unless they upskill and integrate the technology into their work process somehow.

However, Berta does not seem to share this fear of mine, saying, “It really hasn't influenced me much. AI can do wonders but at the moment, it has not managed to create work as artisanal, delicate and perfect as those of us who dedicate ourselves to the craft. I believe that digital fashion’s moment is yet to come. 3D in fashion is something new that still needs to be exploited more and I think it will continue to advance.”

That we can both agree on.

Connect with Berta on Instagram.