<h2 style="text-align: center"><img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/f252645328cc4bc592df1553808e8507WhatsApp%20Image%202025-09-21%20at%209.18.58%20AM.webp" class="custom-image hidden-thumbnail" data-id="f252645328cc4bc592df1553808e8507" data-width="1200" data-height="1600">In this User Spotlight, we are thrilled to introduce Elli: 2nd place award winner in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://connect.clo-set.com/contest/mdcc2025vol3">Marvelous Designer Creator's Contest 2025 Vol.3 "FANTASY ARCHIVES".</a></h2><h2 style="text-align: center">ELLi discusses the story of her creation, and methods on how she created her entry for FANTASY ARCHIVES: the usage of Marvelous Designer to bring a rebellious Victorian queen to life.</h2><img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/marketplace/202509/878bf8922dce480e8086207c9c367452/1/thumbnail/WhatsApp%20Image%202025-09-21%20at%209.18.58%20AM.jpeg?w=2560" alt="Award Thumbnail" class="custom-image original-size"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://connect.clo-set.com/detail/878bf8922dce480e8086207c9c367452">Regal Rebel</a><hr>1. Artist Introduction: please tell us about yourself.My name is Ella-Liencha and I live in South Africa. For years I searched for a way to express my creativity. I tried painting, drawing, and writing, but I always felt a pull toward something more - something that would allow my ideas to feel alive. In February 2025, at the age of 31, I discovered Marvelous Designer for the very first time. I had no background in 3D art or digital garment creation, yet the moment I opened the software, I was hooked!My curiosity carried me through every step of the learning process. I was fascinated by how fabric could be shaped to appear structured or fluid, how folds and silhouettes could guide the viewer’s eye, and how each design could evoke an emotion or story. With every experiment, I fell deeper in love with the possibilities.Participating in the Fantasy Archives competition was both an honor and a challenge. I felt I had everything to gain by simply trying. As a lifelong daydreamer, this theme felt like home, an invitation to bring my imagined worlds to life. Since I work a full-time job, most of this came together at night - hours of quiet crafting, stitching digital fabric together while my real world slept. It felt like threading my vision into the garment piece by piece: undoing, redoing, learning, and embracing the unpredictability of the process.Through trial and error, I allowed myself to enjoy the process fully, to follow inspiration rather than control it. That freedom ultimately led me to the piece that placed, and I’m incredibly humbled and grateful for the recognition.<hr>2. We’d like to hear more about the art direction in your Creator’s contest 2025 Vol.3. What was the visual style you were aiming for?To be honest, my initial concept looked nothing like what “Regal Rebel” ultimately became. But the heart of the idea never changed: I wanted to create a queen-like figure who refuses to conform - someone powerful, elegant, and unapologetically rebellious.My visual direction became a blend of Victorian influence and high fantasy - a meeting point between structure and softness, order and defiance. I experimented with how colors, fabrics, and textures could speak to one another: the richness of royalty intertwined with the unpredictability of rebellion.<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/c303deda450e439a836af4f18f0721d7Untitled%20design%202.png" alt="c303deda450e439a836af4f18f0721d7" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="c303deda450e439a836af4f18f0721d7" data-width="3600" data-height="2025">Creating “Regal Rebel” felt very much like creating art itself. It was about pushing against boundaries, letting intuition lead, embracing mistakes, and trusting the process until the character revealed her true form.Several symbolic choices shaped the final design.The external crinoline cage:Traditionally hidden beneath skirts, here it becomes visible and symbolic. It reflects the “cage” of the Victorian era, its expectations and constraints. By placing it on the outside, her rebellion becomes unmistakable.The shorts instead of a long Victorian skirt:Few things scream rebellion more loudly than wearing shorts in a period defined by restrictive dress! The ruffles and lace preserve the era’s dramatic volume without losing the bold statement.Overall, the visual style aimed to capture a fantasy queen who embodies both grace and rebellion - someone who challenges tradition while still honoring the beauty of where she comes from.<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/3d956cfa5d5f4e869d701567b2edab3dUntitled%20design%20%281%29%203.png" alt="3d956cfa5d5f4e869d701567b2edab3d" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="3d956cfa5d5f4e869d701567b2edab3d" data-width="2880" data-height="1620"><hr>3. Would you be able to give us a quick overview of the different tools you use in your pipeline with a focus on Marvelous Designer? Have you encountered any challenges and how have you overcome them?Oh wow! I have so much still to learn, and that honestly excites me more than anything. For Regal Rebel, my pipeline was simple but incredibly personal.Marvelous Designer became my sketchbook, my mood board, and sometimes even my chaos playground. I drafted patterns, stitched them together, tore them apart again, reshaped them, and kept refining until the character started revealing who she wanted to be. It was a very intuitive process, less linear, more like sculpting with fabric and movement.One of the biggest challenges was the armor elements. I wanted them to feel structured but not rigid, elegant but protective. Getting them to behave correctly in simulation meant playing and tweaking.<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/f3fa4f7bf82a49fda904d744d8b10f502D-3D%20Marvelous%20Designer%203.JPG" alt="f3fa4f7bf82a49fda904d744d8b10f50" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="f3fa4f7bf82a49fda904d744d8b10f50" data-width="1917" data-height="1005">I also made heavy use of pressure simulation for the ruffled blouse and subtle gathers. Small changes in pressure and layering brought the softness and movement that helped balance the harsher armor.The external crinoline cage was another adventure. Normally it would hide under a dress, but here I wanted it to stand proudly. Marvelous Designer’s curve tools and thickness settings let me shape it like a structural frame - symbolic, expressive, and unapologetically visible. Once the garments felt alive in Marvelous, I moved into Blender for the atmospheric side of the story.<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/358ee9bf08ab4d28bcc0f032873090982D%203.JPG" alt="358ee9bf08ab4d28bcc0f03287309098" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="358ee9bf08ab4d28bcc0f03287309098" data-width="1902" data-height="1028">Creating the boot cuffs and lacing was surprisingly one of the most time-consuming steps. I rebuilt those pieces several times in Marvelous until the tension and direction of the straps felt believable. But once they finally worked, they grounded the entire silhouette.<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202512/5f1d01f0486d47c6a3e697123df9c2a1/images/40799857c8784b2c8582183b588e393a2D%20Close-Up%203.JPG" alt="40799857c8784b2c8582183b588e393a" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="40799857c8784b2c8582183b588e393a" data-width="779" data-height="996">In the end, Marvelous Designer gave me the structure and movement, and Blender let me wrap everything in emotion. Both tools together helped me bring Regal Rebel to life - a queen who stands in elegance, defiance, and power.<hr>4. Are there any tips and tricks with Marvelous Designer that you can share with the community?If there’s one thing Marvelous Designer has taught me, it’s this: play. Be curious, be bold, be messy, be experimental. Don’t worry about always being “right” - worry about being alive in your creativity.I came into the 3D world with no background at all, and I realized very quickly that Marvelous Designer rewards those who explore. Every time I pushed a button I didn’t fully understand, every time a simulation exploded into chaos, every time I stitched the wrong line and everything collapsed, I learned something new. You are never too old, too new, or too inexperienced to follow your passion. But above all else: enjoy the process. Marvelous Designer is both a tool and a playground. Approach it with curiosity, and it will reward you with unexpected beauty.If you’re stepping into 3D for the first time - welcome. It’s never too late, and your voice, your vision, and your story absolutely belong here. I am in awe every time I see the creators on Connect - their visions, their stories, the worlds they bring to life. They inspire me constantly. Being part of this community feels like my heart could burst; it’s one of my greatest motivators and one of the biggest joys of this journey.<hr>

 ELLi: Shaping a Daydream to a Digital Fantasy -  MDCC Vol3 2nd Place Award Winner

impossible-art

Gender & Age

Style

Genre & Mood

Objective

inZOI

VRChat

Garment

Collection A

Conceptual Design Category

<h2 style="text-align: center">"Eagerness to experiment, willingness to fail (A LOT) in the process, and resilience” — this is how Joyce shapes her creativity.</h2><img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202508/00e2aa36ac654381a3ac188608828a7e/images/400ab30edd2e44e3be489a695217f43f01.png" alt="400ab30edd2e44e3be489a695217f43f" class="custom-image medium-size" data-id="400ab30edd2e44e3be489a695217f43f" data-width="1080" data-height="1350"> We interviewed <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://connect.clo-set.com/portfolio/364032/collection/collections">Joyce</a>, who is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://connect.clo-set.com/contest/k-popmirror">the winner of the K-pop Mirror contest</a>, and through the process, we gained many insights into the challenges and creative approaches involved in contest work, useful workflow tips, and smart ways to utilize CONNECT. We’re excited to share her experiences and know-how with you—enjoy the read and watch!✨ Watch Joyce’s interview video <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN3pHv0vZAc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=ZHViNWxscjNwNmRj">[Link]</a><hr><h1>[Part 1. Introduction &amp; Participation]</h1>Q1. Please briefly introduce yourself.I’m Joyce @ Miu Vermillion Studio, a freelance 3D artist with a non-creative day job. 3D art used to be no more than a creative outlet, but it all changed during the COVID lockdown in early 2020. Several independent designers noticed my photorealistic 3D renders and asked me to collaborate with them to create advertising campaigns and lookbooks for their brand because organizing fully styled professional photo shoots during lockdown was not the easiest thing to do, and some of the brands wanted to create surreal-looking imagery. Also, 3D virtual humans were kind of on the rise back then before AI influencers changed the scene merely 3 years later.&nbsp;Since then, I’ve decided to explore the usage of 3D art for storytelling and video game development. Currently, I’m working on independently created Fortnite Islands that will hopefully be playable on all Fortnite-supported platforms. I’m also in the early process of creating a short film, music video, and an Unreal Engine based adventure game. <img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202508/00e2aa36ac654381a3ac188608828a7e/images/9c4755c35fdd4f858ebe0b049af37bf9%EC%8B%9C%ED%80%80%EC%8A%A4%2001.00_00_11_16.%EC%8A%A4%ED%8B%B8%20016.png" alt="9c4755c35fdd4f858ebe0b049af37bf9" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="9c4755c35fdd4f858ebe0b049af37bf9" data-width="802" data-height="374"><img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202508/00e2aa36ac654381a3ac188608828a7e/images/edc4489146994ef1adee13594a16f1bf%EC%8B%9C%ED%80%80%EC%8A%A4%2001.00_00_15_25.%EC%8A%A4%ED%8B%B8%20017.png" alt="edc4489146994ef1adee13594a16f1bf" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="edc4489146994ef1adee13594a16f1bf" data-width="1080" data-height="1920"> Q2. How did you come to participate in this contest?I found out about this contest on CLO’s Instagram story. This contest is different from other contests I’ve seen on the CONNECT website in the past. The contest’s brief is to recreate and not to design something. Though I’ve worked with designers to create digital representations of their works in the past, the level of complexity and style of KOWGI’s design is unlike any piece I’ve made in the past. So, from the get-go, I knew that this contest was going to challenge, help, and push me to expand my skills; and these are always my primary reasons for joining a competition.<h1>[Part 2. Creative Process &amp; Production Insights]</h1>Q3. What made you choose this particular look?&nbsp;The moment I saw the contest announcement, I knew I had to recreate this particular look from the Nxde music video by (G)I-DLE (now known as i-dle), the first K-POP music video that leaves a lasting impression on me beyond the production value and visual quality. Soyeon, the group’s leader, wrote and produced the song. She had to convince her record label to allow her to produce this unconventional/daring song and music video. It amuses me to know that the song's title pushes down inappropriate keywords and makes them harder to find online in Korea (details available on Wikipedia). I find the way she directed the members in the recording room and showed them how to achieve specific sounds impressive as well.&nbsp;Aside from that, I’ve also been a huge fan of the outfit ever since I saw it on KOWGI’s social media feed many months before I saw it in the music video. It’s one of the most extraordinary graduate collections I’ve seen so far.&nbsp;As I was recreating the design in a digital format , I discovered more and more details I didn’t notice when I casually glanced at it on social media, and this has made me appreciate this outfit even more. <img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202508/00e2aa36ac654381a3ac188608828a7e/images/28c693664cfe4efdbaea1aa1c69319d2image.png" alt="28c693664cfe4efdbaea1aa1c69319d2" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="28c693664cfe4efdbaea1aa1c69319d2" data-width="983" data-height="869"> Q4. What was the very first thing you did when starting this project?I started the project by gathering as many photos and videos of the outfit as possible so I could figure out how it looks from every angle. Then, I enlarged the clearest photos and marked the locations of all the beads and other details to make it easier to get their placement right on the digital version. The outfit has more details than it seems at first, and some of these details look a bit blurry in the photographs and videos. So, there was a little bit of guessworking involved as well.Q5. When designing the idol outfit, what did you focus on the most?I always start by getting the overall silhouette correctly, then fill in the details.Q6. How did you approach the overall creation process?&nbsp;I created most of the elements of the look (not just the clothes but also the nail art, front hair, metal trims, face gems, and necklace) in Marvelous Designer; and what I couldn’t do in Marvelous Designer, I did in Blender. I still use an older version of Photoshop to create the texture maps because it still does the trick (and very well at that).<img src="https://storagefiles.clo-set.com/public/community/202508/00e2aa36ac654381a3ac188608828a7e/images/86ae491f6c864b81b03c0a3cd83ebd26image.png" alt="86ae491f6c864b81b03c0a3cd83ebd26" class="custom-image original-size" data-id="86ae491f6c864b81b03c0a3cd83ebd26" data-width="1289" data-height="804"> Q7. Which part of your final piece are you most proud of?The fact that I could push myself to find new ways to use Marvelous Designer and optimize my workflow. Q8. Do you have any tips you think other creators should know?Adjusting the camera settings (especially the field of view) can help a lot when we are working on the small details. It was especially helpful when I was working on the nail art.It’s a good idea to register some trims as buttons because they follow the garments and we can turn off the collision during simulation then turn it back on later to speed the process up and make sure the garment doesn’t break apart during simulation.Also, I didn’t know that we can hide the freeze, solidify, strengthen, and layer colors by right-clicking an empty space in the 3D window.&nbsp;<h1>[Part 3. Experience with CONNECT]</h1>Q9. What impressed you the most during your experience with this contest?I am impressed by other participants’ works. There are so many great entries. As always, I had a great time trying to predict which pieces might win which prizes.Q10. Did you gain any insights or inspiration from seeing other creators’ works on CONNECT?Seeing high-quality works by other creators always pushes me to hone my skills further. When I was a newbie, I used to download free 3D garments from CONNECT to study the pattern pieces and fabric settings.Q11. What features or aspects of CONNECT did you find most useful?&nbsp;The abundance of resources we can use to jumpstart our projects and the opportunities to collaborate with companies/brands through contest participation.<h1>[Part 4. Award Reflections &amp; What’s Next]</h1>Q12. How did you feel when you found out you had won?It was a surreal moment. It took me a few seconds to take it in.Q13. Lastly, is there a value or mindset that’s especially important to you these days as a creator?Eagerness to experiment, willingness to fail (A LOT) in the process, and resilience.<hr>✨ Watch Joyce’s interview video <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN3pHv0vZAc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=ZHViNWxscjNwNmRj">[Link]</a>See? CONNECT gives anyone the stage to turn ideas into reality. And the next spotlight could be yours!✨<h1 style="text-align: center">👉 Join the ongoing contest now <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://connect.clo-set.com/contest?pageNo=1">[Link]</a></h1>

Interview with K-POP Mirror Contest Winner, Joyce

Championship Thread

⚠️ Please Read Before Purchase✅ This avatar is PC-only (Quest unsupported)✅ Results may change if you change to a different shader.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎨 About[Lucy] is a VRChat-exclusive 3D avatar created by CONNECT Studio.This package includes both the avatar and outfit. It comes as a fully set-up Prefab, so you can use it in VRChat right away after a simple build in Unity.✅ Avatar 3.0 compatible ✅ PhysBone support (hair/tail/some outfit parts) ✅ LipSync support✅ Full-body Tracking compatible (standard VRChat Humanoid) ※ Results may vary depending on individual setup. ✅ 6 expressions (basic emotions) + MMD blendshapes included ✅ PC only / Quest unsupported❌ Platforms other than VRChat are not supported.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 Model SpecificationsPolygons: - Avatar: △19,494- Outfit (includes hair/tail/ears/shoes): △67,296- Total: △86,790Blendshapes: - Face: 138 shapes (includes MMD blendshapes) - Body: 32 shapes (for preventing the outfit clipping issue)Performance Rank: Very Poor ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📦 Included Files✅ FBX, Unitypackage, Textures (PNG), ReadMe.txt ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⚙️ Requirements✅ Unity 2022.3.22f1✅ VRChat SDK 3.9.0 or higher (Latest version via VCC recommended)✅ VRChat Creator Companion (VCC)✅ lilToon Shader✅ Modular Avatar━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📖 Installation &amp; Usage Guide🔗 Full Guide: - [KR] <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/ko-kr/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide">https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/ko-kr/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide</a>- [EN] <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/en-us/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide">https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/en-us/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide</a>- [JP] <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/ja-jp/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide">https://support-connect.clo-set.com/hc/ja-jp/articles/53059169807513-VRChat-User-Guide</a>⚠️ If you're new to Unity/VCC, please read the guide before installation!

[Lucy] Sugar Bunny Ribbon Set

Character

Lucy

Item Type

Character Style

Anime

Clothing Style

Casual

Fantasy

Platform

[VRChat向け]レトロなオーバルサングラス / 3D衣装小物 / Y2KOval Sunglas

ELLi: Shaping a Daydream to a Digital Fantasy - MDCC Vol3 2nd Place Award Winner

Marvelous Designer Official

Marvelous Designer Official