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Tech News
“It is my responsibility to leverage my skills and knowledge to create the change we need”, says Kristina Nedeljkovic. She worked for fast fashion suppliers before starting 3dkn, her own 3D design business, in Denmark.
THE DIGITAL SAMPLE:
A GAMECHANGER?
Kristina Nedeljkovic, 3D Fashion Specialist at 3dkn
“We may think that digitisation in fashion is evolving quickly, but it is not. Scalability and automation remain the biggest challenges. In order to optimise results in terms of saving costs, one needs to implement 3D on a scalable level. However, it will take years to get there unless someone invents new tools that enable you to do it faster. We need a clear definition of the term sustainability before we start arguing about new technologies. For me, sustainability means being more accurate and gaining full control over 2D patterns, fabric consumption, and garment development to reduce waste. Software programmes such as Clo3d, Borzwear, and Marvelous Designer are just a few of many solutions that can support that argument.”
Decoda
COLOUR FORECAST
What are the key colours of the latest season? Software developed by Decoda objectively evaluates images from international designer shows by colour, providing a basis for designers to create their own collections and for retailers to align their buying strategy accordingly. The special feature here is that the quantity and weighting of colours can be determined in real time according to product groups. This allows an even more differentiated view of the trend shows. The digital product was launched in March via the German Fashion Institute. The complete software package costs 475 Euros per season on a subscription basis. www.deutschesmodeinstitut.de
Decoda digitally evaluates colours from fashion show images. Even non-colours such as white and black can be determined.
Rebound Stuff
ACQUISITION APP WITH ULTERIOR MOTIVES
Being part of the solution is preferable to contributing to the problem. After 10 years of professional experience in the fast fashion industry, Doris Schoger founded Rebound Stuff, an information and acquisition platform for the second-hand market, in 2019. Within the circular model, Rebound Stuff turns necessity into virtue: every user can send and sell superfluous items to Rebound Stuff – free of shipping costs from within Germany. www.reboundstuff.de
NFT MARKETPLACE FOR DIGITAL FASHION
The prospect of us spending more time on the internet as avatars, going to exhibitions, attending concerts, and shopping opens the doors to a gigantic market for digital fashion. So-called NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are now set to turn fun into business: they act as a receipt of sorts, because they prove the purchase of a digital asset – be it art or clothing – as a blockchain-based certificate. They can be traded at will, which is what creates the market. NFTs have been booming since this spring. Platforms such as bnv.me, SuperRare.co, and The Dematerialised are frequented by the who’s who of the digital fashion scene. The most prominent current example is the RenaiXance capsule collection by none other than RTFKT and The Fabricant, which can be purchased on The Dematerialised. “This NFT collection offers the community an opportunity to own a piece of digital fashion history. It was a dream come true for us to implement the exclusivity of this theme with the two leading brands in this field,” say Marjorie Hernandez and Karinna Nobbs of The Dematerialised. www.thedematerialised.com
The advantage is that NFTs fulfil the same function as a purchase certificate. This is what makes exclusivity through limitation, price increases, and qualified trading in digital assets possible. Two pioneers join forces. In February, RTFKT made history by selling 3.1 million US Dollars’ worth of sneaker NFTs in just seven minutes. Together with The Fabricant, who were the first fashion company to create NFTs and sold a dress for 9,500 US Dollars back in March 2019, they launched a capsule collection called RenaiXance on The Dematerialised in April.
The Dematerialised allows customers to use fiat or cryptocurrencies to buy NFTs for digital fashion and art backed by the LuksoBlockchain.
BNV.ME
BNV.ME, the first online store offering digital fashion NFTs, was launched by Brand New Vision of Hong Kong in March 2021. The list of partners listing their 3D designs already includes upscale streetwear and premium brands such as Mishka NYC, Off Safety, Passport adv, and Chill Create. Since 2020, Richard Hobbs of BNV.ME has observed an explosion in NFT transactions and sees enormous potential for digital fashion. www.bnv.me
SuperRare.co/Gentle Monster
NFT GOES AVANTGARDE
The collective behind Korean brand Gentle Monster demonstrates its affinity to the international art scene with futuristic store designs and campaigns. Teaming up with AES+F, the fashion brand became the first of its kind to offer an image video, a campaign for the new collection, for sale as NFTs on the website SuperRare.co for 24 hours. www.superrare.co
On SuperRare.co, one can accurately track who bid and paid how much for the NFTs of the video The Circle of Life by Gentle Monster and AES+F. It also lists who currently owns the tokens and who is eager to buy them. At times, the video was valued at approximately 20,000 US Dollars.
Digital fashion design begins with translating the technical parameters of a fabric into 3D simulations and culminates in a virtual showroom.
ASSYST “STILL DAY ONE”
The famous quote by Jeff Bezos perfectly describes how digitisation in fashion is still at the very beginning of its possibilities, says Hans Peter Hiemer, Managing Director of Assyst. With his team of professionals, he delivers a fully digitalised end-to-end solution for the product creation process, from converting materials to digital end products. “We create digital assets,” he says, adding that he sees them as a powerful lever for all areas of the fashion industry.
Text: Isabel Faiss. Photos: Assyst
The technological transition of a piece of fabric into a three-dimensional shape is the starting point in the product development process that Assyst guides its customers through from the first click to the last. What specific industry problem does this solve?
We not only digitise the entire product development process, but, above all, create parameters that all downstream processes can utilise. For example, we create digital materials by recording both their optical and physical parameters, as well as their technical properties. This establishes a foundation that allows all downstream processes to use the digital assets for realistic simulations. Otherwise, you wind up with digital stand-alone solutions that lead to major disruptions in the entire chain. We employ industry professionals who are proficient in crucial tasks such as pattern imaging, grading, and fitting.
Let’s consider the next major step. Which technological and digital developments are currently the most significant?
In terms of technology, international collaboration between individual partners will be the main challenge in the future. This includes, of course, the recording of materials, colours, and other components in order to make them digitally available to the designers. Simultaneously, there is a growing awareness in the industry that digital design cannot be effective without a technically sound basis, primarily mastering the construction of cuts.
What are the gamechangers on the horizon?
I would say Next Gen Avatars. These digital characters are making their way into fashion from other industries. The gaming scene in particular is shaping a new understanding and expectation of avatars among end consumers. This will result in more individualised products. The second big topic is sustainability and the quest for sensible end-to-end processes that minimise the risks of business models. In 2021 alone, around 500 million garments will not be sold in Germany. This is no longer acceptable. There are possible solutions that involve the networking of micro factories and intelligent production processes. The goal is to connect information and consumers much more closely, and to manufacture and work accordingly.
Product on demand – a credo that Hans Peter Hiemer, Managing Director of Assyst based in Aschheim near Munich, is promoting with holistic digitisation processes.
& SOLD OUT KNIT
Parcello improves the customer experience and plants trees to offset CO2 emissions.
Leezen Heroes FUTURE-PROOF
Leezen Heroes not only transports passengers within Münster, but also delivers orders to customers by environmentally friendly cargo bikes. Same-day delivery is possible, if desired. The service is already being used by retailers such as Modehaus Schnitzler or Zumnorde. www. leezenheroes.de
Parcello
OFFSETTING EMISSIONS THROUGH PARCEL TRACKING
Berlin-based app start-up Parcello promises to dispatch parcels and protect the climate. Customers receive an accurate arrival forecast to the hour as soon as they place their order. Annoyed by illegible notification cards or the complete lack of notes from the parcel carrier on the front door or in the letterbox, Sarah Dorweiler and Gerald Reimertz founded Parcello ten years ago. The cash-flow-financed start-up, which generated revenue from the outset, pursues the goal of making CO2-neutral or CO2-positive deliveries possible. For every 1,000 parcels tracked, the company plants two trees on the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with Plant for the Planet. “Our objective is to make the Parcello technology available to all online shops in order to offset the emissions of all parcels delivered and transported worldwide,” explains Dorweiler. That is why Parcello is currently aggressively expanding its B2B capacities. www.parcello.org
Sizolution
Your sizing app provides data for precise online shopping. At the same time, it is the foundation for the next big step: avatars.
Vahe Taamazyan, founder of Sizolution: This is definitely happening, yes. Recent advances in technology, mainly computer vision algorithms and 3D graphics boosts coming from the gaming industry, open up many new technological opportunities. Add to that the digitisation of the fashion industry and wider adoption of 3D design and you’re looking at an explosive mixture.
Where do you see the biggest advantage for fashion retailers in this field?
Most fashion retailers now operate like online catalogues. We believe that an increase of the online market share will result in e-commerce transforming from catalogues into more personalised and immersive experiences. We call this development hyper-personalisation and believe it is the future of fashion e-commerce. Size recommendation tools and virtual fitting rooms are great examples of this transformation already happening.
Given these circumstances, what is the next big step for Sizolution?
Sizolution’s strategy is to be an enabler of this transformation, to help online fashion stores become more personalised. One of our next steps entails adding a virtual fitting room option to our size recommendation widget, which would allow customers viewing a product on a photo of themselves or on a virtual model with their body shape. www.sizolution.com
Vahe Taamazyan believes hyper-personalisation is the next logical step in e-commerce. He has already laid the foundation for this development with the sizing app Sizolution.
Dedicated to our beautiful Sisters.
Keepist
Do Good and Get Rewarded
The concept is similar to Miles & More. Customers of sustainable online stores connected to the Keepist reward system, such as Bluhava, Entire Stories, or New Normal, order as usual, then click on the reference “Reward for sustainable shopping, click here to collect keeps” during the order process, and receive “keeps” credited as points, as long as they don’t return the ordered products. Many stores are connected via affiliates who reward their customers for sustainable shopping without returns. The “keeps” can be redeemed like vouchers or donated to charitable causes. www.keepist.com
SEO 4 Now PROBLEM SOLVER
You, a retailer, are now also responsible for marketing the new SEO 4 Now software. What is the tool capable of?
Thomas Wartner, Head of Marketing at SEO 4 Now: It offers a clear overview of social media posts on various portals and all the feedback they triggered. The ratings, clicks, and views are excellently prepared and can also be analysed according to time and quality.
What convinced you in particular?
Publishing posts has become so easy and self-explanatory. Then there is the search engine optimisation feature. Anyone searching for shops and products in my greater region via Google, Google Search, Facebook, or in the business directory will find me, a local provider, significantly higher up in the rankings. I believe the software is a real problem solver! www.SEO4Now.de
MAD Mode Avanguardia Digitale
An event in Milan in September aims to reflect the ecosystem of tech, fashion brands, retailers, and marketplaces. Curated by Velvet Media, the main purpose of the one-day event is to gather decision-makers from the above-mentioned sectors, allowing them to network and gain important input for the future strategy of their respective brands. After the event, a “Store of the Future”, featuring a comprehensive live and online programme, will be available for four days. eventi@velvetmedia.it, www.velvetmedia.it
Goncarlo Cruz intends to revolutionise fashion production. PlatformE keeps its promise: from sample to finished product in six weeks, and only manufactured on-demand.
PlatformE
PRODUCT ON DEMAND
This is the antithesis of mass production. The aim of PlatformE is to eliminate uneconomical overproduction in fashion by means of smart, digitally coordinated processes between ordering and production. The team headed by Goncarlo Cruz has succeeded in inspiring brands such as Gucci, Puma, and The North Face with on-demand ordering processes. The one-stop shop creates high-quality 3D simulations for its customers, enables customising through closely coordinated communication throughout all product development phases, and handles the coordination of the entire cycle with globally networked manufacturers who produce just-in-time – all the way to final delivery. This allows for small batch production with a turnaround time of less than six weeks. www.platforme.com
WOTHE
The WoW FacTor WHAT'S THE STORY FACTOR No singular trend can do justice to the many roles in which women excel today. OW After all, anyone who leads a life brimming with options also craves the freedom to fall in love with fashion spontaneously. A purchase happens when one feels butterflies in the stomach, emotions explode, and common sense becomes secondary. Online or stationary? The question of where is peripheral at best. This holds especially true for shops that have managed to become the new influencers of their customers. Their reach has long since outgrown the sales floor.
