Clo3D for Zero Waste Design

In this 6-week, hands-on CLO3D workshop, you’ll learn how to merge creativity with functionality by exploring zero waste pattern making in a digital environment. Perfect for designers, students, and innovators ready to push boundaries.

Workshop Length: 6 weeks

Workshop Duration: 1.5 hrs weekly

Dates: Oct 20 - Dec 11 (skipping Nov 27)

Time: 10 am EST / 3 pm EST - Drop in sessions available for those unable to join

Location: Online - We will send out a google invite link in advance of each class

Topics covered 

• Introduction to zero waste design in digital fashion

• Exploring zero waste pattern strategies and design systems

• Translating 2D zero waste concepts into 3D garments

• Iterative design: testing, refining, and problem solving in CLO3D

• Balancing creativity, wearability, and efficiency

• Estimating efficiency in existing garments and comparison analysis

Workshop Outcomes: 

• A finished zero-waste garment designed and visualized in CLO3D

• Skills in 3D garment creation, pattern adjustment, and simulation

• A strong understanding of zero waste design principles in digital fashion

• A digital portfolio piece to showcase sustainable design innovation

• Confidence to continue exploring advanced projects in CLO3D and beyond

• Digital skills in high-demand in the current fashion industry

Course Cost Includes: 

• 1.5 hr lessons over 6 weeks. 1 Hr demo with .5 hr Q&A and troubleshooting

• Digital recordings to refer to after the course

• Digital toolkit created during class

You will need to bring: 

• A Clo3D license (A free 14 day trial is available)

• Computer that is capable of running Clo3D(https://support.clo3d.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000307168-CLO-system-requirements-July-2025)

• 3 button mouse

• Adobe Illustrator ( Reach out if you are not interested in using this software and we can work out something)

• Complete a basic Clo3D training or have applicable experience in advance of the class. I highly recommend Clo3Ds free youtube tutorial playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqL8Ymi3Z68Dqra76a_j0Y_WCcD5WSq4J

• Internet connection & access to google meets (We will send out calendar invites for the courses and host the course on google meets. We will send out the recordings via google drive

Subsidized Places:

In response to the cost of living crisis, we offer one subsidized seat per class to ease the burden on our community. If you are committed to learning and experiencing financial hardship, please reach out.

Instructor Bio(s):

Danielle Elsener is a Zero Waste System Designer, Educator, Industry Consultant, and Creative Strategist specializing in research and development surrounding the future of sustainability in the fashion industry. For over a decade, Danielle has worked with industry, educational institutions, and entrepreneurial ventures as a consultant and educator to shift the reality of sustainability in fashion. What began as a love for puzzle solving through Zero Waste Pattern Making became a way to fix the fashion industry’s biggest problem. This approach has caught the eye of industry leaders, from Virgil Abloh to Jony Ives. Her design system has won the Evian Activate Movement Grant and iDesign Covid Grant and has recently received accolades in the Smithsonian, Wallpaper Mag, Dezeen, Hypebeast, and Oregon Business Mag. Elsener is currently consulting with global fashion brands, co-running Zero Waste Design Collective, and teaching at Fashion Institute of Technology on the MFA programs Pattern Recognition course, educating the next generation of designers on innovative patterning methodology and 3D design. 

Cassandra Belanger has 14 years of experience hosting workshops in sustainable design and sewing. Her work is an invitation to a more sustainable future and education is at the centre of her creative practice. She is the founder of The Stitchery Studio , is co-founder and Director of the ZWDC and a founding member of Sustainable Fashion Scotland. She is the resident sewing instructor at the Central Scottish School of Craft and a Fashion and Textile Lecturer at Glasgow West College. Her design and teaching practice challenges makers, designers and educators to think through the social and environmental impacts of their practice, exploring issues such as zero waste, intersectionality, transparency, colour therapy, feminism, sizeism, and body image. Cassandra is committed to decolonising her teaching practice.