Digital fashion is reshaping the landscape of the fashion industry, bringing about transformative impacts, and presenting both opportunities and challenges. Industry experts, including Clare Tattersall the founder at Digital Fashion Week, Ann-Christine Polet the Founder and Head of stitch, Jemma Spiers-Ware Director of Digital Fashion and Innovation at PVH, and Kerry Murphy Founder and CEO of The Fabricant, share insights into the evolving dynamics.

According to Murphy a key facet of digital fashion’s influence lies in its integration into design and business operations, marking the early stages of a significant industry transformation. Emphasizing the expansive possibilities, he notes that digital fashion is not merely replicating physical garments digitally but exploring limitless creative potentials in the digital realm. The utilization of 3D technologies pushes the boundaries of creativity, enabling designers to innovate and create immersive experiences.

For fashion creatives, virtual try-on (VTO), digital avatars, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are pivotal components. Clare Tattersall underscores the significance of these tools in enhancing the customer experience and promoting sustainable practices, emphasizing technology's role in reducing waste and improving production efficiency.

Co-creation emerges as another vital aspect, allowing consumers to actively participate in the design process. Spiers-Ware envisions digital platforms facilitating collaboration between consumers and designers, leading to personalized and customized fashion experiences that align with individual preferences.

Despite the transformative potential challenges persist. Polet highlights the necessity for professionals to adapt to digital tools and workflows, requiring a mindset shift and the acquisition of new skills. Additionally, concerns regarding the scalability and sustainability of digital fashion persist, with Murphy acknowledging the environmental impact associated with energy consumption and electronic waste.

In conclusion, digital fashion revolutionizes the industry by streamlining processes and enhancing customer engagement. 3D technologies drive creativity enabling intricate and unique designs. Co-creation and customization foster consumer involvement. However, addressing challenges, particularly sustainability and skill acquisition, is imperative for digital fashion to realize its full potential. A concerted effort towards sustainability can pave the way for a more innovative, personalized, and environmentally conscious fashion industry.

In the fashion industry, up-to-date knowledge of nascent technology is crucial. Individuals with creative backgrounds must possess the mindset and skills to engage actively with the latest technologies.

Traditional fashion education, centered on conventional design and production, must evolve to integrate cutting-edge digital tools. This expansion ensures that individuals are well-prepared to adapt to the industry's rapid changes, fostering an innovative workforce.

Making knowledge accessible in the fashion industry goes beyond providing information; it empowers individuals to make informed decisions and contribute actively to the digital fashion landscape's future. This requires expanding education, embracing collaborations, and utilizing online platforms to share knowledge and resources. By doing so, individuals not only stay relevant but also contribute to a more sustainable and innovative future for fashion.

Collaboration and networking play vital roles in staying current with digital fashion trends. Clare Tattersall, founder of Digital Fashion Week New York, emphasizes a community-based education approach, advocating for collaboration and networking to accelerate learning. This approach provides diverse opportunities for young creatives and fosters a supportive growth environment. Lee Lapthorne, Head of the Institute of Jewellery, Fashion, and Textiles at Birmingham City University, stresses the essential role of digital technology in the fashion curriculum. He envisions technologies like 3D virtual prototyping, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) empowering students to explore presentation possibilities.

Kerry Murphy the Founder and CEO of The Fabricant asserts that mindset and curiosity are essential tools for personal and professional development. He advocates for continuous learning and staying open to new perspectives and technologies.

In conclusion, ensuring access to knowledge is fundamental for shaping the future of the fashion industry. This involves expanding education, fostering collaborations, and utilizing online platforms to empower individuals to make informed decisions and contribute actively to the dynamic landscape of digital fashion. Embracing a community-based approach can create a more inclusive and innovative fashion industry that leverages the opportunities presented by the digital revolution.

In the fashion industry, up-to-date knowledge of nascent technology is crucial. Individuals with creative backgrounds must possess the mindset and skills to engage actively with the latest technologies.

Traditional fashion education, centered on conventional design and production, must evolve to integrate cutting-edge digital tools. This expansion ensures that individuals are well-prepared to adapt to the industry's rapid changes, fostering an innovative workforce.

Making knowledge accessible in the fashion industry goes beyond providing information; it empowers individuals to make informed decisions and contribute actively to the digital fashion landscape's future. This requires expanding education, embracing collaborations, and utilizing online platforms to share knowledge and resources. By doing so, individuals not only stay relevant but also contribute to a more sustainable and innovative future for fashion.

Collaboration and networking play vital roles in staying current with digital fashion trends. Clare Tattersall, founder of Digital Fashion Week New York, emphasizes a community-based education approach, advocating for collaboration and networking to accelerate learning. This approach provides diverse opportunities for young creatives and fosters a supportive growth environment. Lee Lapthorne, Head of the Institute of Jewellery, Fashion, and Textiles at Birmingham City University, stresses the essential role of digital technology in the fashion curriculum. He envisions technologies like 3D virtual prototyping, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) empowering students to explore presentation possibilities.

Kerry Murphy the Founder and CEO of The Fabricant asserts that mindset and curiosity are essential tools for personal and professional development. He advocates for continuous learning and staying open to new perspectives and technologies.

In conclusion, ensuring access to knowledge is fundamental for shaping the future of the fashion industry. This involves expanding education, fostering collaborations, and utilizing online platforms to empower individuals to make informed decisions and contribute actively to the dynamic landscape of digital fashion. Embracing a community-based approach can create a more inclusive and innovative fashion industry that leverages the opportunities presented by the digital revolution.

The future of fashion manufacturing is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by a combination of sustainability, digitalization, and evolving consumer attitudes. To consider this shift, we talked with four digital visionaries who foresee a landscape where fashion embraces sustainability through digital products, curbing over-production and fostering the growth of digital-only brands. Mastronicola founder at TwinOne, Anne-Christine Polet, Founder and Head of stitch, Lui Iarocheski fashion innovation and marketing consultant and former Head of Digital Fashion Innovation for DDIGITT, and Louise Laing founder of PhygitalTwin.

Mastronicola envisions a more sustainable future, emphasizing the pivotal role of digital products over physical ones. He sees the shift toward digital-only brands will help mitigate over-production and reduce fashion’s environmental impact. This transition necessitates a paradigm shift in education, urging students to develop a digital mindset and educators to facilitate a comprehensive 360-degree digital learning experience. However, challenges persist, notably in the digital product creation pipeline. Despite this potential, understanding customer wants and needs in this evolving area remains a challenge. However, the adoption of 3D technology, such as 3D sampling, is certainly an economical alternative to traditional methods, ushering in a new era of efficiency and reduced over-production.

Polet shed light on the industry's historical wastefulness rooted in traditional business models. Fashion, she argued has been slower to embrace technological disruption compared to other sectors. This inertia is giving way to a pressing need for change, as sustainability becomes paramount in the industry's agenda.

Iarocheski, talked about challenges and on-demand solutions. He identified multiple hurdles manufacturers face in pivoting towards digital workflows and sustainable practices. The PlatformE approach champions on-demand production, eliminating excess stock and transforming manufacturing processes. This shift towards a highly customizable, stockless model signals a departure from mass production norms. Building on this Laing added that the collaborative efforts of companies like PhygitalTwin and Kornit point towards a future where on-demand manufacturing becomes a global norm. Laing envisions a time when PhygitalTwin seamlessly receives orders from customers worldwide, printing and manufacturing locally to reduce the carbon footprint.

In conclusion, the future of fashion manufacturing will be a combination of sustainability, digital innovation, and transformative education. From 3D design to on-demand production, the industry is undergoing a revolution that not only addresses its environmental impact but also shapes a future where fashion is more responsive, creative, and sustainable.

In 2023, the undeniably transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the fashion industry was evident as it seamlessly integrated into the creative process and the broader fashion value and supply chain. Generative AI has emerged as a powerful tool for fashion design and product development. To consider this significant shift, we talked with three digital fashion creatives: Julie Pont, the Fashion and Creative Director of Heuritech; Kim van den Brule, 3D Fashion designer for PixelPool; and Ilona Song, a phygital fashion designer based in LA.

Pont revealed that when she first started working at Heuritech, she was wary of AI. Heuritech is a French fashion trend analysis company that has been deeply engaged in AI since 2013. Pont feared AI might threaten the fashion designer's role or even replace the designer altogether. However, she admitted that she experienced a rapid change of opinion upon joining the company. She realized that AI was an essential tool in the creative process, and rather than threatening the designer, it had the power to strengthen the designer's position in the industry. She explained that often a designer finds themselves in the weak position of having to justify their work to the finance or merchandising departments of their organization. AI can provide the hard data to support the creative’s intuition and/or provide clearer statistics on which to base the creative decisions.

Van den Brule acknowledged AI's expanding influence in daily life and work, seeing it as a source of inspiration and direction for the designer. She stressed the importance, however, of human intervention and post-production adjustments, emphasizing the complementary nature of AI and human creativity.

Ilona Song, the LA-based phygital fashion designer, viewed AI as a robust and intelligent tool capable of generating diverse ideas that can inspire and suggest direction for the designer. She has embraced AI as the inspirational starting point for her collection, finding a new narrative and creative universe for her collections.

The Business of Fashion-McKinsey State of Fashion 2024 Survey revealed that up to a quarter of the fashion industry's value in the coming year was expected to stem from AI applications during the design and product development phases. The survey emphasized the substantial potential of AI in fashion design and a yet-to-be-fully-realized value within the creative process. However, the survey urged caution, highlighting potential impacts on jobs and workflows, based on past technological excitement in the fashion industry, especially the metaverse and crypto.

In conclusion, the integration of AI in fashion is an ongoing evolution. Companies grapple with balancing reliance on sophisticated AI forecasts while acknowledging the challenges of quantifying emotional, novel, and product-specific elements that drive fashion purchases. The cautious exploration of AI's potential continues, recognizing its transformative power and the need for a balanced approach within fashion.

Leslie Holden Co-Founder

This week, I attended the European Fashion Alliance (EFA) conference in Brussels. The EFA, founded in 2022, is a membership-based alliance where international fashion and textile organizations come together to share experiences and drive change in the fashion industry. Through advocacy and communication, EFA empowers the fashion industry and its stakeholders, promoting entrepreneurial creativity and innovation skills. The alliance consists of European Fashion Councils and like-minded organizations (https://www.europeanfashionalliance.org/).

The board of EFA includes Scott Lipinski (CEO of Fashion Council Germany), Zuzana Bobikova (CEO of Slovak Fashion Council), Carlo Capasa (Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana), Pascal Morand (Executive President of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode), Cecilie Thorsmark (CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week), Caroline Rush (CEO of British Fashion Council), and Elke Timmerman (International Relations at Flanders DC).

The conference featured four-panel discussions on leveraging technology in the fashion industry to improve sustainability, traceability, and efficiency in the supply chain. The panel that resonated with me the most was "Tech-infused Sustainability: Driving Industry Evolution Through Digital Innovation and Empowerment through Knowledge," moderated by Christine Goulay, the Founder of Sustainabelle Advisory Services. Christine was joined by Semora Mangnoesing, the Commercial Director of EON, Alexandre Capelli, the Environmental Deputy Director of LVMH, Federico Brugnoli, the Founder and Director of Spin360, and Dr. Andrée-Anne Lemieux, the Sustainability Chair Director of IFM-KERING.

The panel discussed the forefront of industry transformation, focusing on supply chain transparency, Digital Product Passports (DPP), digital fashion, digitization, new skills, and innovative business models. They explored the critical importance of supply chain transparency for ethical sourcing and sustainability, as well as the potential of DPP in reshaping consumer trust and product authenticity. The intersection of fashion and digitalization was also discussed, highlighting the disruptive impact on design, production, and retail. The panel emphasized the need for acquiring new skills in a digitized economy and how innovative business models are leveraging these changes for competitive advantage and sustainability.

The key takeaways were:

• Tech for Traceability and Sustainability: The focus is on using technology to enhance traceability and sustainability throughout the fashion supply chain. Solutions like Fairly Made (the French platform for traceability and impact for fashion brands) and Aura (the luxury brand blockchain consortium) are being utilized to consolidate traceability information, calculate ECO scores (the environmental impact products), and monitor ECO design targets.

• End-of-Life Solutions: Collaborations with startups like RETURN, which developed the VALO platform, aim to address end-of-life challenges by managing inventory and identifying recycling or resale opportunities for unsold products.

• Consumer Engagement: Technologies like Save Your Wardrobe's digital platform enable consumer engagement by providing information on care and repair of products, promoting a more sustainable approach to consumption.

• Tech for Design and Efficiency: Tools like CLo3D and Browzwear streamline the design process by digitizing product creation, reducing the need for physical sampling, and improving communication efficiency within the supply chain.

• Educating the Next Generation: Educational initiatives are crucial in preparing future professionals to leverage technology for sustainable practices in the fashion industry. Students are encouraged to consider the social impact of technology and its role in fostering sustainability.

• Challenges and Opportunities: Implementing technology faces challenges such as data harmonization, collection, and ownership. However, it also presents opportunities for brands to optimize processes, minimize waste, and enhance consumer trust.

• Compliance and Reporting: With regulations like the Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD), brands need to collect and report reliable data on their environmental and social impacts, driving the need for technology solutions that facilitate data management and reporting.

• Advice for Brands: Define sustainability goals beyond compliance, find the right technology partner to support your journey, empower designers to integrate sustainability into product design, and prioritize consumer engagement and trust-building efforts.

Overall, the conversation highlighted the transformative potential of technology in driving sustainability and efficiency in the fashion industry. The conference also emphasized the importance of taking a holistic approach that considers environmental, social, and economic impacts.