Partee: When and how did you get started with Second Life? What got you interested in it?
AlexSM: I came to it more than 10 years ago. Before that I was already familiar with virtual worlds, I had been decorating in the Utherverse for several years. My friends showed me Second Life and I saw that there were many more opportunities for creative realization here. But for a very long time, I didn’t treat creativity professionally. I made 3D designs for myself and my friends. I made 3D models and exterior environments as well as the interior decor of houses.
Partee: Did you have any experience in the real world that allowed you to express so much creativity?
AlexSM: In the real world I am a professional graphic designer and worked my way up from being just a designer to creative director. I work mainly in packaging and label design. My work includes designs for very well-known brands. But for me, Second Life, for a long time, was entertainment and a hobby. While in Second Life I was developing my 3D modeling skills which was just taking a break from my real-life job.
Partee: What was your experience like?

AlexSM: It was amazing. Even 10 years ago Second Life was superior to its competitors in many ways. Also, it allowed me to make lots of friends and acquaintances. I was communicating often with them and at the same time making 3D models. It was a new creative experience for me. At the same time I was here I was also following the development of several other similar projects. However, I was always drawn back into Second Life. There is a lot of life here, a lot of different people, a lot of communication, and a lot of opportunities, all helping one to realize one’s wildest creative desires. You can draw, you can take pictures, you can write scripts, you can make 3D models, you can do animation, you can organize events, you can create your own game within the game, you can make movies, you can dance.
Partee: Sounds like you have been having a fabulous time in Second Life.
AlexSM: Yes! Here you can do what you want and be what you want. And you’ll always find people with whom you’ll be interested in communicating and spending time together.
Partee: You already talked about some of your creative efforts. Can you talk a bit more about that?

AlexSM: I had a fascination with 3D modeling long before I found Second Life. At first, like most. I made very simple things and then more complex things. Then after a time, I got interested in photo-realism in 3D. Gradually I got into creating 3D characters for games. I must say I like working in ZBrush. I also like sculpting but I lacked deep skills.
Partee: Did you find any help in learning more about zBrush and more?
AlexSM: Yes, I signed up for an online course in zBrush and in that course, I met a creator who already had a big store in Second Life. She showed me that it was possible to work professionally and even make money here in Second Life. Hence I decided to give it a try. So about five years ago I opened my clothing store.
For a year I was making shoes and after that, I started making clothes. At the same time, I continued to make characters for games. Gradually my focus shifted so that now I mostly make clothes for Second Life.
Partee: How has your store in Second Life affected your real-life work?
AlexSM: My real-life profession of graphic design has gone to the back burner. I still do packaging and label design, but I freelance for only a few clients. For more than three years I have been devoting most of my work time to Second Life. And here it is important to say one more thought. Working with my brand in Second Life is not just about creating 3D models. It is much more! There is marketing, logistics, proper pricing, market promotion, advertising, work with events and bloggers, and so on. That is what I love about it. It’s an incredible and amazing experience to try myself, not only as a creator but also as a brand owner. Managing all the parts of brand development. I find that my previous experience in branding and graphic design helps me.
Partee: What is your creative process like? How do you come up with your ideas? How long does it generally take you to create something?

AlexSM: Well before Second Life I had never made clothes in real life or otherwise. So I look at lots of real clothes and clothes that are made in Second Life to get ideas. Every morning I start by looking through Instagram and Pinterest. Every week I peruse the Marketplace and examine demos made by other designers. I start every project with a selection of references. Very often I make a sketch in Photoshop of a possible release. The sketch helps me think through the general features and some of the details. It helps me think in advance what tools I will use to make a new release. Very often I get ideas from my wife, a blogger, or just people I know who send me pictures of clothes. Sometimes I see something in a real store, a piece of clothing, and that becomes the starting point for a new release.
Partee: What sort of tools do you use for creating your clothes?
AlexSM: I use Marvelous Designer, Zbrush, Maya, and Substance 3D Painter. This is a large set of tools. Sometimes I start with Marvelous Designer and other times I go with zBrush. The classic pipeline that they teach in all the game character courses serves as the basis of my work which I have adapted to work in Second Life. Now, year after year I have revised and reworked my pipeline and toolkit. There are three reasons for this. First, is the speed of work. I find that one has to do things fast. The faster, the better.
The second reason is the cost of subscribing to the software. I have a lot of tools and there is a need to optimize costs. And the third reason is the development of technology. I have to keep track of new tools and programs. With time they get better and allow you to do your work faster and more efficiently. For these reasons, my pipeline is improving all the time. It helps to keep up with new tools, new programs, and custom scripts.
Partee: What kind of clothing do you like to make? How would you describe your style?
AlexSM: I’ll call it in one word: “experimentation. I don’t have much experience in fashion design, so I try everything that seems interesting and promising to me. I know and see that many brands in Second Life have their own style or trends in clothing. That’s why customers love them. My brand doesn’t have a style or direction yet. Thus my customers and bloggers never know what to expect with the next release! It is always an experiment and always a surprise!
Now some releases are purely for the sake of that experimentation. I want to try a new pipeline of work, try to master a new technical element, try a new marketing technique, or try a new style of clothing. Over time, perhaps I will come up with a particular style that marks my store and then most of the clothes will conform to that style. Even then though I will still leave room for experimentation. That’s what I like most about working at Second Life and working with my own brand the opportunity to experiment.
Partee: Which bodies do you currently support with your outfits? How are you handling the myriad of bodies that are currently out?

AlexSM: There are a lot of bodies now! So many that I have had to limit the list of bodies I make clothes for. I keep track of sales, customers, as well as a lot of research. I have found that right now, the top three brands are Maitreya, Legacy, and eBody. For this year’s new releases, I’ll be doing clothes for those six bodies of these brands. Each brand has two bodies. But if anything changes, I will add new bodies.
Partee: What events have you been participating in? How is that process for you? Hectic like it seems for most creators?
AlexSM: I am currently involved in Kinky, Cosmopolitan (every two weeks), and Dubai. That makes for four events each month. Sometimes I work in an extra event in a month, but that happens rarely. You should always leave the room and the opportunity to try a new event. It is a good way to develop but it is important to have a balance between the quality of work, the number of new releases, and the number of events. The balance always depends on pipelines, resources, and the team that works on the brand. It’s necessary to try new events, and gradually to form a basic set of events with your audience in mind that is suitable for your brand. But always leave room for the new.
Partee: Any thoughts on the future of your store?
AlexSM: To continue experimenting, trying new styles, new directions, and new technical solutions. I always have thoughts of expanding my team by having co-creators. I would like to try this notion of teamwork for some future releases. I also continue to monitor the development of projects which are like Second Life to explore the opportunities to work and sell outside of Second Life. Technology is evolving and I don’t know how my job will change in three years, much less five years from now. The one thing I hope for is that the development of technology would not kill our profession. On the contrary, I want it to help creators to create quality content, experiment, surprise, and make money with it. I hope that the continued development of Second Life will take this into account. For 20 years, 99% of what we see in Second Life was made by the players themselves. It must allow creators to work on content professionally. If this balance changes, the game loses a lot. I’ve already seen this with other projects similar to Second Life that didn’t get this balance right.
Partee: Thank you so very much for this! It has been a delight!
AlexSM: Thank you for the interview and interesting questions!

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