Binder1

Future 3D Printing Fashion System - ZARA

Elsa Min Kao Savannah College of Art and Design Luxury and Fashion Marketing and Management Final Project

1

Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Figure1 2 Introduction 4 Environmental Factors of the Fashion Industry 6 Trend of Sustainability in the Fashion Industry 12 The Potential of 3D Printing 16 The Development of 3D Printing 28 The Newest Trends of Technology for Fashion 48 ZARA 56 What 3D Printing Can Do for ZARA 74 Business Plan 82 Conclusion 90 Appendix 92 References 129

2

Executive Summary

This project aims to implement 3D scanning and 3D printing manufacturing in the fashion industry to improve environmental impacts and labor issues involved in the business model and global supply chain system within the industry. With the potential for on-site 3D printing in store after taking orders from customers, the supply chain system can be shortened on a large scale in the future, not only reducing resource consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions, but also improving the management and inspection of working conditions and other labor issues of suppliers. Using recyclable and reusable or biodegradable materials can even close the cycle of each garment and improve landfill problems in the future. Consumers can be satisfied with the perfect fit of the garments and feel good about not causing harm to the environment with their purchases; retailers can achieve even better efficiency and shorter lead time as well as decrease material waste, labor waste, money waste, time waste, space waste, energy waste, and reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, thus enhancing their implementation of corporate social responsibility and raising the trust and brand loyalty of consumers. Due to the limitation of 3D printing for apparel at its current stage, this project will be focused on the further future possibilities of 3D printing for the fashion industry.

In order to have a real influence on the industry and maintain essential resources and strong control to the supply chain system to make changes, ZARA is chosen as the pilot brand to implement the proposed concept into its business model. With the scale of the company and its sufficient resources, as well as strong central control over its supply chain, ZARA provides a great opportunity to introduce the technology into its system. Furthermore, unlike other fashion brands that pre-commit a large amount of products, ZARA commits to almost on-demand manufacturing with small batch production to allow its quick modification to meet the feedback from its customers. Furthermore, consumers would rather purchase at ZARA than at some small boutiques, which makes ZARA influential to consumers and the fashion industry. Therefore, the collaboration between ZARA and technology creates a great opportunity to push new forms of manufacturing into reality.

Figure1

3

The application of 3D printing will be introduced at ZARA’s biggest global concept store in the US market on 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the most prominent fashion hubs and shopping destinations in the world. On each floor there will still be regular displays of merchandise for customers to browse and explore the items they like. There will be 10 multiple-function machines of 3D scanning and 3D printing on each floor, which total 30 machines for three floors. The power for the machines will be solar energy for electricity. Consumers can use the machines to 3D scan their body shapes, either the whole body or part of their body such as one finger or foot or the upper body, and upload precise measurements into the software to customize the products they choose in order to create a perfect fit for their body shapes. Then the machine will 3D print on-spot for customers within a few minutes. At the same time, customers can make their payment with cash or cards via the machines. Consumers can also bring their old 3D printed garments to the store to recycle and reuse the garments, which will decrease the amount of discarded clothing from entering landfills and lower the waste and cost of raw materials for ZARA, thus closing the loop of the garment’s life cycle. The product categories will cover the Basic collection of ZARA, including basic t-shirts, basic knitwear and basic pants; there will be footwear and accessories as well. The price range will be similar to the conventional products of ZARA. As usual, there will be no promotion advertisements for ZARA but only some news and product information on its official website and social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ZARA will open a new account on Snapchat in order to catch the attention of the Generation Z consumers, who are going to be the main target customers of ZARA within the 10-year future.

To take a further step to take the responsibility and change the fashion industry, all companies within the industry need to take actions. In order to fulfill the goal more comprehensively, 3D printing and all the other advanced technology of the 3D world have the great potential to do so.

Figure2

4

Introduction

With my strong passion for environmental issues and for fashion as an art, the core of my project is to push the fashion industry system to a new stage with a different view of sustainable fashion, or so called green fashion, that does not greenwash the problem but instead offers comprehensive solutions. After conducting effective research on the topic of “eco-fashion,” “green-fashion,” “eco-friendly fashion” and “sustainable fashion” for two years since I started my program at SCAD, I have been asking myself the same question many times – “can the word ‘sustainability’ and ‘fashion’ truly be together?” Right when I almost thought that it is only a science-fiction or fantasy that the vision of “sustainability” can exist with “fashion” at the same time, I saw the light of 3D printing technology.

Unlike conventional production, which is subtractive from the material, 3D printing is additive, which may solve the problem of fabric waste from cutting and sewing. A 3D printer can print the color directly on the products, which may solve waste water and water pollution issues. Another important potential is that the complicated supply chain from designing to retailing may be shrunk into several 3D printers at each retail store, reducing a lot of waste and carbon footprints. What makes 3D printing even better to fulfill this goal is the trend and the coming reality of the ecosystem of the 3D world, including 3D printing, 3D scanning, Virtual Reality and other advanced technologies. With the magic of 3D scanning providing precise measurements of customers’ bodies, 3D printing can customize and print exact-sized products for customers, saving garments from being pushed to the deepest side of the closet because they do not fit.

Because 3D printing for fashion is still at an early stage, it would be better to test the waters first and also embed the concept to the customer at this phase. Therefore, I propose to carry out the idea in one of ZARA’s concept store as a pilot standard for the other stores to follow in the future. My target of this concept store is the global concept store of ZARA in New York City, where the consumers are more open to new products, ideas and trials. The factor that ZARA is one of the biggest mainstream fashion companies with its own vertical supply chain makes it the best player to try this concept and influence not only its customers but also its competitors within the industry. Therefore, this final project is Future 3D Printing Fashion System for ZARA.

5

Figure3

6

Environmental Factors of the Fashion Industry

With the new form of fashion, mass consumption of new products and discarding of the old ones at a fast pace, fashion has become one of the most wasteful and impactful industries in the world. It is estimated that each year over 1.5 million tons of clothing end up in landfills in the UK (Warren, 2014) and about 11 million tons of textiles in the US (Kaye, 2011). Furthermore, it takes up to 2,700 liters of water to grow the cotton that is needed for a single t-shirt (“The Ecochic,” 2014). According to the report, fashion is the number one industry when it comes to the exploitation of people and is the second most polluting industry, only after the oil industry (Cipriani, 2015). Therefore, there is the urge to make change to the fashion industry. Under this situation, many mainstream players have carried out their own green strategies during the past few years; greenwash or not, these strategies have become a normcore for the companies’ business models. For example, H&M and Inditex, the two largest companies of fast-fashion, have been using recycled materials, providing garment recycling services, using sustainable materials and utilizing energy-efficient operations at their office, stores and factories (“Eco Worriers”, 2015). The most severe and noticeable factors of the impacts include:

Figure4

Figure57

Landfills: - In 2013, it was estimated that there were more than 26 million tons of textile waste from the annual production of textiles in China while in Hong Kong there were around 106,945 tons of textiles sent to landfills in 2012 (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- In 2013, the number of textiles sent to landfills was about 0.8 to 1 million tons in the UK (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- Consumers over the world consume more than 80 billion pieces of clothing every year (Drennan, 2015). And there are more than 90 million fashion garments sent to the landfills among the world each year (Breyer, 2012).

- Clothing in landfills keeps polluting the groundwater from chemicals and dyes within those clothing, further polluting freshwater sources (Drennan, 2015).

Energy usage: - In 2012, it is estimated that the fashion and textile industries accounted for one of the world’s main energy consumers (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- In 2010, 1 trillion kilowatt hours, which equals 10% of the total carbon impact, were required every year by the global textile industry (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- It is estimated that about 1,074 billion kilowatt hours of electricity are taken to produce 60 billion kilograms of fabrics (“Fashion Footprint”).

8

Water usage/ water pollution: - In 2011, it was estimated by World Bank that 17-20% of total industrial water pollution was caused by textile dyeing and treatment (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- In 2008, 6 to 9 trillion liters of water were consumed by fiber production (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- In 2008, it took 20,000 to 40,000 liters of water to grow each kilogram of cotton within the modern intensive cotton cultivation (“Energy & Water Use”).

- During the process of turning raw materials into textiles, 8,000 various synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world, which mostly may be dumped into freshwater systems (“The Ecochic,” 2014).

- Out of one ton of textiles produced, 200 tons of water are polluted, which is about 5,640,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water pollution each year (Drennan, 2015).

Air pollution/ carbon footprint: - On average, about 3.3 kilograms of CO2 are emitted during the use of a ladies’ white long-sleeve shirt before its disposal, with about

55 of washings during its lifespan (“Fashion Footprint”).

- More than one kilogram of CO2 is produced while cultivating the cotton for a long-sleeve shirt; the production of the clothing item accounts for another three kilograms with one more kilogram for spinning and dyeing. Manufacturing of the material and sewing account for another kilogram. Packaging, compilation of the catalogue, storage and dispatching are 3 kilograms (“Fashion Footprint”).

- It takes about 35,000 kilometers travel, which is about a trip around the globe, for an average t-shirt to arrive in one consumer’s hand (Drennan, 2015).

Figure6

Figure7

9

Environmental protection is no longer just an issue for researchers or scientists but is everyone’s business; there is no exception for the fashion industry and the public, as quoted from actor-filmmaker Adrian Grenier and producer Peter Glatzer in Euromonitor: Sustainability should be folded into the fabric of our lives….it should be reflected in our culture, our art, our music and our design, and nude us further towards the sustainable direction in which we’re inevitably headed. (“Eco Worriers,” 2015)

In addition to the environmental factors, labor and human rights are also important issues in terms of sustainability within the fashion industry. In the industry, those big retailers and brands try to cut the cost of labor as much as possible to make up their huge investment in other sectors such as marketing, retailing and other parts that contribute to the high profit margins (Cipriani, 2015). The most common method they use to compress the labor cost is by handing over this part of the supply chain to a third party to minimize the cost. Besides, the large retailers and brands usually work with suppliers in the developing countries where the labor cost is low and is under CMT (Cut, Make and Trim) scheme, which means that the suppliers receive materials and then cut, sew and ship the products, without designing and other skills involved (Cipriani, 2015).

Figure11

Figure10

Figure8

Figure9

10

Moreover, due to the complexity and multiple tiers of global supply chains, the traceability of retailers is usually limited at the first tier and therefore are unaware of the rest of the world within the supply chain. Take the notorious tragedy of Rana Plaza for example. While Walmart allocates its order for apparel to Success Apparel as a tier one supplier, Success then assigns it to Simco as tier two, without the acknowledge of Walmart; then Simco hands over to Tuba Group as tier three, and Tuba Group allocates to Tazreen as tier four, which operated in Rana Plaza. Until now, Walmart had no idea what happened beyond Success Apparel, but Walmart also benefits from the minimizing of labor costs within this system (Cipriani, 2015). With the complicated global supply chain system, the retailers and brands need the third party to do the inspection and audits for them. Since it is beyond the awareness of retailers, and usually the laws of environmental and labor issues are lax, the audits could be incomplete and inaccurate, which is the case of Rana Plaza. Furthermore, the unsustainable pricing for products makes the situation even worse, causing the factories noncompliant with the laws related to health, safety, labor, environmental and human rights issues. The wages are so low that the workers of suppliers in those developing countries such as Bangladesh have difficult living conditions (Drennan, 2015).

Beyond the reach of the retailers, the suppliers under tier one consist of workers all in weak positions, including employees, casual workers, home workers, migrant workers and so on, which mostly are women with poor social condition because of the social gender structure of the local society. These women usually are paid less than male workers (Cipriani, 2015). This poor situation happens not only within the manufacturing but also on the farm fields, such as cotton farms. When the farmers are allocated with pesticide sprays and other equipment, oftentimes they are not well trained with the knowledge of how to use, store and dispose of those pesticides, which may cause the workers to breathe in or touch the toxic chemicals. And for the women picking cotton in the field for hours everyday, they also breathe in the toxic chemicals with their infants on their backs, who also breathe the polluted air (Drennan, 2015). To make the fashion industry system sustainable, both environmental and social issues are essential to deal with.

Figure12

11

Figure13

12

Trend of Sustainability in the Fashion Industry

Figure16

Figure14 Figure15

Figure17

Since there are 70 definitions of sustainability, the ways people interpret and implement it vary (Gwilt and Rissanen, 2011).

According to Dictionary.com, as a noun, sustainability means “the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.” Most people relate sustainability in a substantial direction, usually the materials used and recycling. Therefore, the tendency of the fashion industry in applying the idea of sustainability is mostly based on the material itself, which is the easiest way to acknowledge to the consumers that they are doing something good. Either for companies or consumers, oftentimes people choose the easier, more cost effective and convenient parts to be sustainable (“Eco Worriers”). The most common way the corporations implement sustainability is by using sustainable materials, with organic cotton as the most famous one.

Some brands are also trying some innovative sustainable materials such as hemp and Tencil. Some companies leverage one or two stages within the production process, for example, Adidas is trying “drydye” to decrease the usage of water and the pollution from wastewater (Adidas Official Site). Though material indeed is a crucial element to achieve sustainability, it is the method of utilizing it to close the loop of the life cycle of garments with the alteration of production process, consumption, retailing and other aspects within the fashion system that can really change the game and lead the fashion industry to another direction.

13

In the fashion industry, there are already some corporations that are trying to execute sustainability in a more complete system to close the cycle and decrease the harm to the environment. While most of the prestigious corporations include Corporate Social Responsibility models in their business plans, the ones who truly devote time and resources in sustainability are few. And those who do mostly use organic and recycled materials and try to operate their businesses and production more efficiently. Whether they are doing it as a compensation for themselves or utilizing it as a development tool to build a “greener” image, at least they are taking action. Among them, Kering is the biggest corporate group implementing sustainability. Some companies that are enforcing sustainability are the following: - Kering Group: they integrate their goal in reducing environmental and social impacts into their business strategy. For Kering, “sustainability is not a selling point.” They do not speak out loud about their sustainability with hashtags; it is not a marketing tool for them (Avins, 2015). Their targets for 2016 are “eliminating harmful chemicals from production, auditing suppliers, offsetting CO2 emissions, and reducing waste” (Avins, 2015). Kering was listed as number 43 on the 2016 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index.

- Eileen Fisher: the brand is devoted to supporting the environment, human rights and women and girls’ rights. The aspects that they tap into sustainability are related to the environment, which can be divided into materials, chemistry, carbon and water; human rights; and supporting women and girls with their voice. The main parts of their devotion are the materials, the non-toxic dyeing materials, and recycling and upcycling (Eileen Fisher Official Site).

- H&M: the company wants to provide good products for conscious customers. Focused on the materials and recycling, they provide a “Conscious” line to inform their customers which products are made by organic materials or recycled materials. Human rights within the supply chain are also their concerns (H&M Official Site). H&M was listed as number 20 on the 2016 Global 100 (Kim, 2016).

Figure18 Figure19

Figure21 Figure20

Figure22 Figure23

14

- Nike: The company is trying to create better performance of their products while reducing the impact of their business on the environment and society. The key aspects that Nike strives to integrate into their products are materials made by recycled polyester. The company is also concerned with reducing the waste of the production with innovation technology, decreasing the water usage as well as the pollution of water from dyeing, and turning old shoes into elements that can be used in new products (Nike Official Site).

- Adidas Group: The corporation is trying to be sustainable by reducing the environmental impacts of their operations and supply chain while also ensuring the rights of humans within their supply chain. Their strategy is focused on four aspects: people, products, planet and partnership. With their products, they implement sustainability with organic, recycled, thinner and lighter materials and efficient operation to reduce their carbon footprint and waste. They also partner with environmental-related organizations (Adidas Group Official Site). Adidas was listed the number five this year on the Global 100 list (Kim, 2016).

Figure25 Figure24

Figure26 Figure27

Even though these companies are taking their green strategies seriously, it is inevitable for them to face the reality that customers may not pay the bill if the products are more expensive or if the design, style and quality are lower than the conventional products.

Consumers want the products to fulfill the standard of sustainability as a criteria and still meet their purchasing priority: cost effective and good quality (“Eco Worriers”). Although most of us claim to be environmentally responsible, over half of us do not take this as our priority when making purchases. Usually people who try to be environmentally responsible implement such concepts with daily behavior when it is not a disadvantage to them, such as using a reusable bag while shopping, sorting recycling and taking public transport. But when it comes to issues related to financial constraints and life convenience, they choose to take the conventional way, the environmentally unfriendly way (“Eco Worriers”). For eco-conscious consumers, the products they referred to as eco-friendly are “natural” and “organic” products, which should be safe for both users and the environment and which also are considered as high quality (“Eco Worriers”). Environmental issues are no longer at the edge of the society but in the mainstream now; they are not the point that sets differentiation from the “regular” products but are becoming the standard for general products. With this new condition, consumers “rarely use green features as primary purchasing criteria,” but “they look for products that fulfil their primary criteria – such as effective, reasonably priced, or tasty – and that

15

also fulfil environmental criteria” (“Eco Worriers”). In an interview with Forbes in 2014, the CEO and founder of Accompany, a fair trade and philanthropic online retailer, said that “consumer ultimately wants more ethical products, but they’re not willing to sacrifice what they’re used to and what they like. . . The consumer will grab the ethical items as long as it’s not a trade off” (“Eco Worriers”). Based on the survey result from Euromonitor, “buying green or environmentally friendly products” is ranked high with 53% of consumers’ purchasing decision factors, but still much lower than quality and price (“Eco Worriers”). Therefore, how to achieve a comprehensive picture of sustainable, qualified, stylish and well designed products in the fashion industry is still a question that hasn’t been solved.

Besides, sustainability should be embedded into the supply chain system comprehensively (Cipriani, 2015). CSR and all those organic material methods are not enough. As long as the supply chains remain as mentioned in the environmental factors of the fashion industry, which are complex and are folded with layers of suppliers, both the environmental and labor issues will be covered with incomplete and inaccurate reports. Then, what can 3D printing do for such hard task?

Figure33

Figure30 Figure28

Figure32

Figure29 Figure31

16

The Potential of 3D Printing

Why is 3D printing the possible solution to be sustainable? As its other name, “Additive Manufacturing” suggests, 3D printing adds on materials instead of cutting out materials, which can resolve the waste of fabrication of products of different kinds of industries.

Basically, 3D printing can be divided into two types (Lipson Hod, p.68): - Selective deposition printer (SDL): the principle is depositing raw materials into layers by squirting, spraying or squeezing liquid, paste or powdered raw materials through a syringe or nozzle. Then the machines keep repeating the process for hours. This type is more common for homes or offices. The advantage of this type is that it can be simplified to low-tech versions that are more cost effective and can implement a wide range of materials, but the materials need to be able to be extruded or squeezed through a print head (p.69).

- Selective binding printers: the machines use heat or light to solidify powder or a light sensitive photopolymer (p.68). This type includes several branches (p.73): - Stereolithography (SLA): it can print a broader range of objects with specialized material properties but can be toxic to breathe while fabricating. Besides, the strength and durability are weaker than thermoplastic.

Figure38

Figure39

Figure40

- Laser Sintering (SLS): it prints with powder, which makes it steadier during the printing process and therefore won’t collapse. Another aspect in its favor is that various raw materials can be the materials as long as they can be obtained in powdered form, such as nylon, steel, bronze, titanium and even glass. However, the surface may be porous instead of smooth. Also, the printing process is at very high temperature that it may take one day to cool it down.

- Dimensional printing (3DP): the biggest merit is its simplicity with squeezing glue onto raw materials without using lasers, so it also has a broad range of raw materials since it doesn’t need to be tolerable to high temperature heating. It is a popular lowcost method with energy efficiency. Nevertheless, the outcome of the surface is rough.

Figure34

Figure35

Figure36

Figure37

17

The general materials of 3D printing that are already widely used among different industries are plastic, metals, ceramics, edible semi-solid foodstuff, concrete and glass, with plastic as the most common within the consumer market (Lipson, p.82). The printing method with plastic can be divided into thermoplastics, which is similar to the principle of cheese, and thermosetting polymers, which is like eggs. While the former won’t change its internal composition when heated, melted and remelted so that it can be reused, the latter will solidify when heated and the internal composition will change so that it can only be used once (p.82).

For most consumer printers, there is one type of thermoplastic, called ABS, which is often mentioned in the articles about 3D printers for the mass market.

Though 3D printing has become popular among the public, the heart of the technology is the design software, which means, if the users have no knowledge and experience with the design software, the outcome might be just waste and trash, which may be a challenge for the fashion industry to take on. But for consumers, there are already a lot of cloud systems or websites that are sharing models that they can just download either for free or with payment; for designers, the design software also tends to become easier to use. The two major categories of design software for 3D printing are solid modeling and surface modeling (p.92).

- Solid modeling: it is usually used by engineers and industrial designers. It provides the efficiency of a ready-made library of cubes, cylinders, spheres and other standard physical shapes that can be utilized with a few clicks of the mouse.

Figure41

Figure42

Figure43

- Surface modeling: it is common among cartoon animation, video games and graphics. It captures the objects by digitally “wrapping� shapes of the objects in a virtual fishing net made of polygonal geometries, which provides good essence for depicting the variety of shapes.

Figure44

18

The new generation of design software will be digital capture which can capture the object for everyone to work with (Lipson, p.100), just like 3D scanning can do now. While using a combination of data and algorithms, it provides designers broader space for creativity with 2D and 3D shapes and patterns (p.176). Seeing what Iris Van Herpen has created with her 3D printed fashion collections, which will be mentioned in the latter part of this project, proves the potential for creativity with 3D printing.

In addition to the characteristic of additive, based on the ten principles of 3D printing mentioned in the book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing (Lipson, p.20): - - - - - - - - - -

Manufacturing complexity is free Variety is free No assembly required Zero lead time Unlimited design space Zero skill manufacturing Compact, portable manufacturing Less waste by-product Infinite shades of materials Precise physical replication

Figure45

And the key advantages of additive manufacturing for sustainable manufacturing are - Less waste - Ability to build functionally light weight parts - Reduces the need for large amounts of raw material within the supply chain and transportation - Optimized geometries with near-perfect strength-to-weight ratios - Lower carbon footprint, less embodied energy - On-demand, eliminating inventory (Mani, Lyons and Gupta, 2014)

Figure46

19

The absence of assembly provides the potential to shorten a big portion of supply chain and save money for all the fixed assets, labor, time and transportation between suppliers at each stage for companies as well as cutting carbon footprints and waste. Although zero lead time may sound exaggerated because it still takes at least a few hours to a couple of days to print the products, depending on the type of products, it is possible that in the future the printer can print right away at the spot with the fact that the fastest 3D printer in the world today, which is NewPro3D (Figure47), takes only one minute to print a ring (TCT + Personalize). Making the products in fewer pieces or even in a single piece can shorten the supply chain of manufacture (Lipson, p.205). If observing from the process of the supply chain of the fashion industry, from the beginning of product development, production, logistics, retailing to post-consumption, how it can simplify and shorten are as shown in the Figure51 and 52: - Product development: designers do not need to send the prototype back and forth with the suppliers but they can directly 3D print the prototype in their studios, which saves a lot of cost and time as well as reduces the carbon footprint.

If the materials are recyclable and reusable, it may be an even more sustainable approach for the product development.

- Production: taking the thermoplastic method eyeglass frame for example, plastic will be made as resin and then mixed with the materials for color, and then put into the special machine to made filament. And then the filament will be extruded out of the nozzle layer by layer until it is done. This production process saves a lot the time and complicated process from the conventional eyewear plastic frame production, including “die-cutting plastic frames,” “producing the temples,” “finishing the fronts” and “finishing the temples” (“Eyeglass Frame”). As for the already existing 3D printer for fabrics, which will be discussed later in the project, after the raw materials becomes liquid solution and later the solid fibers, the fibers are printed on the mold to be fabric or comprehensive garments, totally skipping the process of fiber, yarn and fabric producing and the pattern making, cutting, sewing, ironing, washing, dyeing, drying, and all the other steps which saves money for labor within the conventional production of clothes. Moreover, with simpler and shorter supply chains, it would be easier to track the inspection of the fabrication, both in terms of environmental issues and workers’ working environment and living condition. Or there would be no factories, or at least no more than tier one suppliers, which would result in the absence of unethical labor issues such as bad working environments or low wages. If there is no need for labor, the retailers don’t even need to compress the labor cost. From an economical view, it can also save the retailers a lot of costs. For example, instead of shipping 40,000 units of tank-tops from the suppliers in Honduras to the retailers in the US by boat, which costs about $880 per container, 3D printing on spot in retail stores or print at factories near stores would save not only the freight cost but also the ground transportation from ports to stores or distribution centers. Plus, without laboring, 3D printing can save retailers the cost of patternmaking, grading, marking, cutting, sewing, dyeing, finishing and washing. For instance, if the retailers print 40,000 units of tank-tops, they can save about $16,000 for sewing (with $0.1/ min and 4 minutes per unit if they produce in Honduras).

Figure47

Figure48

Figure49

Figure50

20

Figure51

21

Figure52

22

- Logistics: since the product can be printed right at spot, for current situation, it still takes some hours, depending on what kind of products and methods of the fabrication, there would be no need for logistic center, packaging, distribution and inventory. The absence of all these aspects within the supply chain saves a lot of space for other usage and decreases carbon emission from the transportation and packaging. The most cost effective part for companies would be the reduction of inventory, solving the problem of the risk of unsold merchandises and creating a better chance for full-price selling and avoiding markdowns. Although nowadays 3D printing is still not fast enough to achieve the mass production capacity that it still needs some inventory, with the rapid development in all aspects of 3D printing, it is highly possible that in the future customers could order online or in-store and get their products just in a few minutes, which results in the total absence of inventory and in-store stocks. Without inventory, retailers can save the space and cost of warehousing and shipping. For instance, they can save up to $10 per unit from UPS shipping (data from phone call with UPS). And the space of warehousing for supply chain solution for fashion goods within the US can be over 1 million square feet total across the country for ONLY ONE solution company, for example, Bergen Logistics (Bergen Official Website). If there’s no need for warehousing and distribution centers, all those spaces could be utilized for other environmentally advantageous purposes, such as tree planting or establishing labs for environmental sustainability research and design.

- Retailing: when customers can print the products in-store, there would be no need for displaying several pieces of the same size of products, decreasing the need for sales associates to replenish on floor, saving cost of employees and space for display, thus reducing the cost per sq/ft.

Figure53

Figure54

Figure56 23

In addition, the global supply chain system, from the raw material to consumers’ hands, involves a long journey of transportation around the world. Take a cotton t-shirt for example. After the cotton is picked, it will be sent to a ginning mill, and then shipped to a factory for spinning into thread, which will be sent to other factories for dyeing and weaving into yarn. Then the fabric will be transported to another factory to be cut and sewn into garments. Finally, the garments are shipped by plane, boat, truck or train to the retailer and then to consumers. Within each step, the transportation consumes fossil fuels and emits toxins into the atmosphere (Drennan, 2015). Therefore, with the possibility of 3D printing fabrication right on spot, energy can be saved and the emission of carbon and other toxins can be reduced.

It is estimated that 3-4% of the carbon emissions caused by humans are from shipments of moving goods around the world, which shows the opportunity to reduce the environmental footprint by changing the international system of goods movement (Berg, 2015). In average, a big ship emits about 10 grams of carbon dioxide to ship one metric ton of cargo. Trains use about double than the cargo, a truck uses five times more, and a plane about 15 times more. Based on the report of American Trucking Associations, 70% of the goods moving throughout the US annually are carried by about 3 million trucks, consuming more than 37 billion gallons (140 billion liters) of diesel fuel (Berg, 2015). To reduce the transportation and carbon footprints involved, 3D printing has the potential for factories or even retail stores to interspread through urban areas to print the products based on consumers’ needs, largely decreasing the transportation across the globe (Berg, 2015).

Figure55

24

Besides the previously mentioned unique characteristics of 3D printing that are potential for sustainable fashion, the factor that 3D printing can print the color directly on the products without dyeing provides the fashion industry a great potential solution for waste water and water pollution problems within the process of dyeing, which is a process involving numerous kinds of chemicals in a huge quantity that often are dumped into the river directly from some unethical suppliers (the quantity of the waste water and toxic chemicals involved are listed at the previous part of the project, environmental factors within the fashion industry).

Figure58

Figure57

Another great opportunity of 3D printing is its ability to customize. Since there is no need for the complicated production line but only one printer, the variety of the products is broad, and it can print anything based on the design. So it can customize the size and shape of the garments based on the consumers’ body shapes; since everyone is unique with unique body line, even though they are thin, the exact same XS or S may not fit them well. A lot of time, customers may find something they really like, but the cutting might not fit them well even though it is the right size for them, which happens with jeans often. But the customers just like it so much that they still take it home, but might not wear it more than once and leave it in their closet because it doesn’t fit them and doesn’t make them feel good in it. The fitting problem is a big killer for leaving tons of clothes in the closet that end up in landfills. Forty percent of the landfills are made of old textiles used for clothing, and most of them are from the clothes that were only worn once or a few times (Trepanier, 2015). It is estimated that about 82lbs of clothing are thrown away by the average American, which means 11 million tons of dumped clothing comes annually from the US alone (Trepanier, 2015). Besides landfills, the unfit garments may also be returned to retailers, either e-tailers or brick-n-mortar stores since most of the companies have integrated platforms now, which costs fashion retailers or e-tailers millions, including the lost revenue and the expenditure on shipping and processing. Since that within the returned clothing purchased online, 20-40% are because of the fitting problem, it will be a money saver for the fashion industry to customize the products with perfect fit for consumers, which is the service that 3D printing can achieve (Wang, 2014).

25

But if the materials are unsustainable, like plastic, even with all those good things of 3D printing, it can still not fulfill the comprehensive picture of sustainability. The good news is that recently there are already many companies and studios that are exploring recyclable, reusable or biodegradable materials for 3D printing, and some of them already exists and make it accessible to the market.

Some achievements of recyclable/ reusable/ biodegradable materials for 3D printing: - PHAbulous Philaments: a line of 3D printing filaments made of plant-based PHA (poly-hydroxyalkanoates), a compound naturally occurring in microbes, by Austria-based Saphium Biotechnology.

This kind of filament does not have the toxic additives which are commonly found in other filament materials. This filament is the first one that can be biodegraded within two months after being put in soil, which also fertilizes soil at the same time (Simon, 2015).

Figure59

- Enviro ABS: a biodegradable form of ABS launched by LA-based 3D Printlife. It biodegrades by bonding bio additives to the ABS to attract bacteria such as the leachate in a landfill to the additive to consume the ABS (Molitch-Hou, 2015).

- BioFila: the collective of the two new biofabrication materials that are based on lignin, a complex polymer of aromatic alcohols known as monolignols, which is commonly derived from wood, launched by German startup twoBEars. These materials can completely biodegrade. The BioFila silk provides a silky look and sheen with a softer look than usual standard plastic 3D printing materials such as ABS. And the BioFila linen provides a cloth-like appearance. Both can be printed to 0.45mm thick (Newman, 2014).

Figure60

Figure61

- Biome3D: a biodegradable plastic for 3D printing filament, developed by the UK’s leading developers of natural plastics, Biome Bioplastics. It is made from natural and renewable resources. The print with this filament provides superior silk-like surface finishes and flexibility (Krassenstein, 2014).

- EKOCYCLE: the materials the EKOCYCLE Cube prints with are the filament cartridge made in part from assorted recycled PET plastic bottles from post-production. It turns the recycled plastic into different products, even making wearable fashion. Though the company did not mention the post-consumption of the printed products, it is a sustainability-minded partnership between will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company to inspire consumers to recycle and use recycled materials to produce, establishing the close-loop cycle of the consumption (Staff, 2014).

Figure62

Figure63

26

Overall, the prospects that 3D printing can transform the fashion industry to sustainable fashion are (Leung, 2014): - Smaller carbon footprint: not only because it shortens the production process and logistics but also it allows the trials and errors digitally prior to making samples, in addition to the elimination of the shipping of patterns or materials between designers and vendors.

- No production wastage: it not only can customize to meet the needs of customers to reduce the waste of excess products and the cost of it as well as the space for storage and inventory, but also can save fabric waste from cutting and excess materials from sourcing.

- Recycled materials can be used: as mentioned earlier, there are already 3D printers that can print with recycled materials such as PET plastic bottles or plastic milk jugs.

- Biodegradable materials: also as mentioned above, there are numerous sustainable filaments within the market or under experiments.

One of the 3D printer company – Shapeways – even posted instructions online about how to make our own bio plastics from a mixture of starch, glycerin, vinegar and water. Biodegradable materials will be a great backup for 3D printing in the future.

- Extending the life of existing products: when there are buttons or zippers missing or broken, 3D printing can print out the exact items to replace or repair the garments. Or the consumers may be tired of the original height of their heels and decide to print out a new heel to replace the old heel for the same pair of shoes. Local printers such as UPS may be helpful to prolong the life of existing garments via upcycling or recreating missing parts.

Figure64

27

Figure65

28

The Development of 3D Printing History:

Originally, 3D printing was called rapid prototyping because it could prototype at a faster speed and simpler process to change the time-consuming subtractive process of traditional prototyping, such as carving out of wood or other molded materials (Lipson, p.29).

Though 3D printing was released early in the 1980’s, when it was still called rapid prototyping, it’s after three decades that it finally started to be more common among broader audiences and industries.

The first patent of 3D printing was issued for stereolithography apparatus (SLA) to Chares (Chuck) Hall, who co-founded one of the largest and prolific 3D printing corporations – 3D Systems. Between the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the technology of rapid prototyping was still focused on industrial applications for prototyping applications. At the late 1990’s, a bunch of commercial operation companies were set up, including Sanders Prototype (later Solidscape) and ZCorportation, Acram, Object Geometries, MCP Technologies, EnvisionTec and ExOne. In the meantime, additive manufacturing started to be separated into two specific areas. One is focused on part production for high value, highly engineered and complex parts as the high-end of 3D printing, which is the outcome of years of research and design; this sector is mostly for aerospace, automotive, medical and fine jewelry. The other was called “concept modellers,” which focused on the concept development and functional prototyping improvement to be office- and user-friendly and cost-effective systems (“History of 3D Printing”).

In 2004, RepRap, the concept of an open source, self-replicating 3D printer, was conceptualized by Dr. Bowyer. At the same time, the lower-end 3D printer companies were in a price war and competing on printing accuracy, speed and materials. In 2007, the first 3D printing system under $10,000 on the market was launched by 3D Systems, which also was the turning point for the accessibility of 3D printing technology. With the trend of 3D printing decreasing price, the door for wider audiences to 3D printing was opened. In 2009, the first commercially available 3D printer, which was based on the RepRap concept, was released for sale (“History of 3D Printing”).

In 2012, alternative 3D printing processes were brought into the entry level of the market. It was also the year that numerous various mainstream media channels caught up with 3D printing, including the fashion industry. Then, in 2013, there were many significant evolution and mergers in the market, and it was also between 2012 and 2013 that the fashion industry had a dramatic and rapid exploration in 3D printing technology.

29

Figure66

30

How 3D printing works:

Basically, 3D printing deposits raw materials into layers by squirting, spraying or squeezing liquid, paste or powder with a nozzle which it then heats with laser beam. The process is repeated until it’s done. In the Figure67-72 are the most common 3D printing technology. The materials are mostly plastic and metals. The way it prints and the materials it uses are the biggest barriers to its growth in the fashion industry.

Figure68

Figure67

Figure69

Figure70

Figure71

Figure73

Figure72

31

The size and growth potential of 3D printing market:

3D printing has been a worldwide industry and has had rapid growth during the past few years in many various industries, including industrial, automotive, medical, dental and aerospace. It is expected that the 3D printing industry will grow from $3.07 billion in revenue of 3D printers and other 3D printing related services in 2013 to $12.8 billion by 2018 and surpass $21 billion by 2020 (“What is 3D Printing�). The 3D printing materials market is also projected to grow to $1.052 million by 2019 (Ethical Filament). It is also reported by AT Kearney, the consultant company, that jewelry and energy sectors are going to rely on 3D printing the most. Currently, 3D printing is worth $4.5 billion, with aerospace accounting for 18% of market share, industrial with a similar 18%, and followed

by Healthcare with around 16%, the automotive and jewelry both with 12%, energy with 5%, and the other smaller sectors make up the remaining 20%. Jewelry is foreseen to grow at 30-35% for the next 15 years, while energy will grow at 25-30% CAGR (Sher, 2015).

Figure74

Figure75

32

3D printing in different industries: - Medical: there has been many news and reports about medical improvements and advances in bio-printed organs such as prosthetics, aesthetic medicine and even heart or lungs. During the early 2000’s, there were a lot of research and experiments on biotech for tissue engineering. Living cells are deposited onto a gel medium layer by layer, slowly building up the organs or body parts for patients (“What is 3D Printing”).

- Dental: since the dental industry needs extreme accuracy for custom-parts, the advantage that 3D printing provides is a good fit for dental and a better customization for the intricate details of the tooth’s irregular grooves, crannies and valleys (Decker, 2015). Wax patterns for fixed prosthodontics and models fabricated from intraoral or impression scans are the most common used for 3D printing (Dehue, 2012).

- Aerospace & aviation: with 3D printing, Aerospace engineers can produce prototypes, tools and parts with FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) Technology, which works with high-performance thermoplastics to build jigs and fixtures, check gauges and produce aircraft parts (“Aerospace”, Stratasys).

3D printing provides the aviation industry with the capability of reducing aircraft weight, increasing customization and construction efficiency. As of March 2015, there were more than 20,000 non-metallic additive manufactured parts on airplanes of Boeing (“Aviation,” 3DPrinting.com).

- Automotive: 3D printing has been a support for automotive manufacturers on prototyping and is penetrating into a further realm within the auto market (Halterman, 2015). It is reported that automotive applications of 3D printing will generate $1.1 billion by 2019 (“Additive Manufacturing Opportunities in The Automotive Industry: A Ten-Year Forecast”). Some main trends of 3D printing in automotive include large print volumes for prototype parts, concept models for fit and finish checks, design verification and functional parts used in test vehicles and engines (Halterman, 2015).

Figure76

Figure77

Figure78

Figure79

33

- Industrial: this sector has been using 3D printing for design process and prototyping for decades, which helps the companies to save a big amount of money from traditional prototyping. The 3D printers for industrial use may cost about tens of thousands of dollars while the conventional prototyping process may cost thousands of dollars only for one prototype, not to mention for the long weeks of waiting for the process. And now the printers are even cheaper than decades before, about only hundreds dollars, with faster speed of change on the computer and printing process. Besides, during these few years, “rapid manufacturing” has also been used by more companies for short run custom manufacturing for end user products (“What is 3D Printing”).

Figure80

Figure81

34

The leading heads of 3D printing industry are: - 3D System: “3D Systems provides advanced and comprehensive 3D digital design and fabrication solutions, including 3D printers, print materials and custom-designed parts. Its powerful ecosystem transforms entire industries by empowering users to bring their ideas to life using its vast material selection, including plastics, elastomers, metals and bio-compatible materials. 3D Systems’ leading personalized medicine capabilities include end-to-end simulation, training and planning, and printing of patient-specific surgical instruments and medical and dental devices. Its 3D digital design, fabrication and inspection products provide seamless interoperability and incorporate the latest immersive computing technologies. 3D Systems’ products and services disrupt traditional methods, deliver improved results and empower its customers to manufacture the future now. Today its comprehensive range of 3D printers is the industry’s benchmark for production-grade manufacturing in aerospace, automotive, patient specific medical device and a variety of consumer, electronic and fashion accessories” (3D System Official Website). The lowest price of 3D System’s printer is $999 for a desktop Cube® 3, which is 6”x6”x6” and prints with PLA and ABS plastic; the highest price of the desktop printer is ProJet® 1200, priced at $4,900, with dimension of 1.69”x1.06”x7.08” and print with special materials. (3D System Official Website).

Figure82 Figure84

Figure83

Figure86

Figure85

35

Figure87

Figure88

- Shapeways: it’s an innovative design marketplace, providing a web-based community that holds storefronts for designers and offers 3D printing services for customers who can send the files to Shapeways (Lipson, p.53). “Founded in 2007, Shapeways is led by folks who’ve spent most of their careers in startups, and combine serious technical chops with an inspiring vision of what the world could be. Headquartered in New York, Shapeways has factories and offices in Eindhoven, Queens, and Seattle. Shapeways is a spinout of the lifestyle incubator of Royal Philips Electronics, and our investors include Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, INKEF Capital, Hewlett Packard Ventures, and Presidio Ventures” (Shapeways Official Website).

- i.materialise: it is similar to Shapeways, providing internet-based services for artists and designers as an online gallery. But it can work with larger specialist artworks such as the catwalk collection “Hybrid Holism” of the Dutch fashion designer Iris Van Herpen. Besides, it can print with a range of materials, from plastics to ceramics and metals (Lipson, p.53). “i.materialise is an online 3D printing service for all people with an eye for design and a head full of ideas” (i.materialise Official Website). It’s a place for imaginative people to bring their creativity into reality (“About i.materialise,” Thingiverse).

Figure89

Figure90

36

- Stratasys: it is the company that invented the FDM machine and introduced the first thermoplastic for 3D printing and the first multi-material 3D printer in the world as well as the first 3D printer for production. In 2013, Stratasys purchased MakerBot. In 2014, it released the first color and multi-material 3D printer (Stratasys Official Website). The products and services that Stratasys offers include physical samples from CAD using FDM technology, and Stratasys provides printers ranging from desktop 3D printers to large, advanced 3D production systems (DesignTech). “We’ve been at the forefront of 3D printing innovation for more than 25 years. We’re shaping lives by helping researchers and health experts expand human knowledge and advance health care delivery. We are fueling the next generation of innovation through our work in aerospace, automotive and education” (Stratasys Official Website).

Figure91

Figure94

Figure92

Figure95

Figure93

Figure96

37

Figure97

Figure98

As for 3D printing in the fashion industry, since 2010 there has been dramatic rapid growth in the industry, with accessories such as jewelry and shoes as the most common 3D printed end products. Although due to the limit of materials that can be 3D printed (such as plastics, wood, metal and glass, which all are something hard without the essence of draping and flexibility), the development of 3D printing for apparel has been slow, since the most famous and pioneered 3D printed apparel collection is introduced on the A/W2010 Paris Fashion Week by the Dutch designer, Iris Van Herpen, the exploration and trials for 3D printed apparel has been increased with a lot of positive results. Now, there are even designs available for download, provided by an Australia-based XYZ Workshop, for anyone who has a 3D printer to customize and create their own clothing at home (Stone, 2014). The following are the developments of 3D printing within the fashion industry: - The first 3D printed apparel: at the end of 1990’s, a Netherlands industrial engineer, Jiri Evenhuis, developed the first 3D printed fabric. Later between 1990 and 2000, he collaborated with Janne Kyttanen, a Dutch industrial designer, to design the first fully functional 3D printed dress which can drape, named as Drape Dress. The technology they used was SLS process with the material of nylon powder. The dress is available through 3D Cubify Systems for $1,999 US dollars. And now the first one is preserved as the permanent collection of MOMA in New York. Later Janne Kyttanen established a research and design company concentrating on 3D printing, called Freedom of Creation, which created the White dress in 2005 with similar principle of the Drape Dress.

The looks of both dresses are like fine and closely woven circular chains. The White dress is currently kept as part of the collection of the Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City (Perepelkin, 2013).

Figure99

38

- The first 3D printed apparel collection on the catwalk of fashion show: although between the period of the first 3D printed dress in the beginning of 2000’s and the collection designed by Iris Van Herpen there were also some independent designers experimenting on 3D printed items for fashion, it was until 2010 that 3D printed garments really became known by a broad audience. Iris Van Herpen is the pioneer who tapped into the potential of 3D printing technology for apparel and accessories. With her 2010 Fall/Winter collection, Crystallisation, on the Paris Fashion Show, she introduced the conspicuous and spectacular printed items corresponded with body armor to the public (Howarth, 2013). Though the collection was more art pieces rather than something that can be worn by consumers, it definitely exposed the fashion world to 3D printing.

Figure101

Figure100

- The first 3D printed bikini: it was made by designers Jenna Fizel and Mary Haung of Continuum Fashion, in cooperation with the 3D-printing company, Shapeways. Continuum is a San Francisco-based clothing company. With its 3D printed bikini, Continuum became the first to produce wearable 3D printed garment (Hennessey, 2013). The bikini was made with discs of varying sizes, linked by springs. With thousands of circular plates connected by thin springs, the garment can hold the form and it can be customized with the body scan of customers. This design opened the possibility of solid nylon being flexible to flatter the body. This item is not only the first 3D-printed bikini as a wearable and flexible garment, but also the first completely 3D printed ready-to-wear clothing, which is affordable and available. The pattern of the net-like surface was designed with customized code for the layout of the thousands of circles based on the curvature of the surface; therefore, the bikini can be customized well to fit the body shape of the wearer (Etherington, 2011). Customers can design their bikini with their specific body shapes and measurements on Continuum’s website and then the company would print out the order (Hennessey, 2013).

39

- 3D printed shoes: designers of footwear were excited about the evolvement of what 3D printing can do for fashion, providing easier customization with unique shape and offering more flexible platform for creativity and imagination for designers. Compared to other sectors in the fashion industry, it is the field of footwear that has invested heavily in 3D printing (Koslow, 2016). In 2011, Iris Van Herpen partnered with United Nude, the Dutch shoe company, to produce the 3D printed shoes with dramatic curved heel for her 2011 collection Capriole (Howarth, 2013). The designs of shoes for Capriole were highly conceptual, which is unavailable for the mass market but limited on the runway show. The shoes were designed with CAD and then rapid prototyped in 3D and compressed with carbon fiber for strength; part of the upper materials of the shoes were exclusively fabricated by Bart Hess (United Nude Official Website). There have been many 3D printing companies providing 3D printed shoes or providing design for download, such as 3D Cubify, which provides free download files for shoes and sells 3D printed shoes ranging from $35 to $1479 US dollars.

Figure103

Figure104

Figure102

Figure105

40

Figure106

Figure107

Figure108

Figure109

- 3D printed jewelry: it is the broadest and commonest sector within 3D printing fashion market. The materials for jewelry can be broad, from plastic, wood, glass, metal to high quality gold, and the shape and design can be very unique and creative, with almost no limit. Besides the materials and design being easier to implement than the other sectors such as apparel, 3D printed jewelry are also easier for the mass market consumers to accept because jewelry can be crazy and still not make the wearers too dramatic. Almost all leading players within the 3D printing industry offers the product category or printing services or free download files for jewelry: - Shapeways: with rings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and cufflinks within the price range from under $10 to over $2,000 (Shapeway Official Website) - 3D Cubify: with rings, pendants, bracelets, earrings to necklaces within the price range from under $10 to about $100 (3D Cubify Official Website) - 3D Systems: with 3D printing services with high definition printers to produce detailed jewelry patterns and models (3D Systems Official Website) Figure110

- i.materialise: with bracelets, brooches, charms, cufflinks, earrings, necklaces, pendants and rings at price range from $10 to $1,067 (i.materialise Official Website) - nervous system: with bracelets, brooches, earrings, necklaces and rings sold from $5 to $1,320 (nervous system Official Website).

Figure111

Figure112

Figure113

41

- 3D printed eyewear: in 2013, the first one-piece eyewear was launched in Milan by the designer Ron Arad. The glasses were one-component frames 3D printed with polyamide with flexible joints instead of hinges, and the frames were designed with the latest concept for the designer’s new brand, pq. The products were released at luxury eyewear store Punto Ottico during Milan design week. Ron Arad was also one of the pioneers utilizing 3D printing for finished products rather than prototypes. During 2000, Arad was already creating 3D printed featured lights, jewelry and vases for his Not Made by Hand, Not Made in China show (Fairs, 2013). Actually, eyewear is a particular and great market for 3D printing to enter the fashion industry, for eyewear requires high customization to truly fit consumers’ face since that everyone’s head, nose and face shape are so unique for mass production to fit.

With the ability of customization and producing in smaller batch at lower price, 3D printing is a good opportunity to actually make the eyewear manufacturing more efficient and costeffective and serve well the customer’s unique demand at the same time. Because eyewear is not overpriced or too cheep, and the complexity of its design is right in the middle, not too complicated that it may cost a lot of time and money and not too simple that everyone can do it is a good cutting point for 3D printing entering the fashion market (Sher, 2014). There are already several 3D printed eyewear companies out there: - Protoseyewear: it is a San Francisco based company, which offers 3D printed eyewear only in order to provide custom fit frame for their customers. They use algorithms to calculate the measurement of the consumers’ face and come out the possible best-fit design, and then print them with industrial SLS 3D printing. But the personalization also cost more as an additional valued service. The price of the frames without lenses and only color-black can go up to $549 (Sher, 2014).

- Sneaking Duck: it is an Australia based company that is similar to Protoseyewear, using 3D printing as a way to customize eyewear for customers, but with highly customizable original designs. Customers are provided with four various designs online, between prescription optics and sunglasses, size, 21 colors and different shapes and styles. So this company provides a more like DIY process for consumers to choose what they like with fun instead of the perfect fit for their face shape (Sher, 2014).

Figure114

Figure115

Figure116

Figure117

42

Figure118

Figure119

Figure120

- Mykita: it is a German based glasses manufacturer and designer, which was the first company that created the entire eyewear collection produced by 3D printing, named as Mylon. Mykita also implements 3D printing as a way to raise the value and price of their glasses. The frames with limited color choice can run up to â‚Ź419 (about US$457.67). The products they provide are sunglasses and prescription lenses, fabricated by SLS (Sher, 2014).

- Kobrin: a 3D printed sunglasses Italian business, which uses Replicator 2X system for base production and then personalizes the base products. It also delocalizes its production across South and North America and Europe (Sher, 2014).

- Frame Punk: it’s a Berlin based company, which combines the use of a Replicator 3D printer for test and prototype and the local industrial level SLS 3D printing service to produce the final models. 3D printing is implemented as a means to reduce the costs for personalization (Sher, 2014).

Figure121

Figure122

Figure123

- 3D printed sportswear: for sportswear companies, 3D printing has the advantage of rapid prototyping and creating models with lower cost and less time. In this sector, Rebook has been an early adopter of 3D printing, implementing the technology for prototyping for the best part of two decades, utilizing 3D Systems’ machines for making models for their sports shoes, with which the company saves time and money as well as avoids the possible modifications (Reid, 2014). Under Armour is another sportswear company that has been using this technology for footwear, clothing and accessories prototyping as well as producing final products. Both these two companies have taped into the realm of 3D printing in the design, development and prototyping phases in the sportswear markets (Reid, 2014). During the last five years, the giants of sportswear also have stepped into this advanced technology, including Nike, Adidas and New Balance:

43

- Nike: in 2013, Nike launched its first football boots with 3D printed studs, Vapor Laser Talon boots, which was produced with SLS technology. The SLS technology provides the designers a way to prototype the boots much faster and easier to update the design during the prototyping process than the traditional method. At that time, they already saw the possibility of each consumers wearing their shoes that are fit to individual shapes. Besides the fast speed of prototyping and customizing, 3D printing is also able to produce lighter weight products, with which the Vapor boots were made extremely light, weighing at 158 grams, with its 3D printed footplate, and also were improved with the traction on the turf to assist players to run faster, providing better performance (Chalcraft, 2013). In 2014, Nike also utilized 3D printing to produce its first 3D printed football bag, Rebento duffel bag. The mesh covering of the bag was 3D printed with laser-sintered nylon in a pattern referencing the Flyknit boots’ stud plate. At the same time, Nike also produced 3D printed shin guards, which provide better, aerodynamically enhanced performance with webbed honeycomb structure to improve the absorbance of impact. Nike claimed that “With 3D printing, we were able to quickly innovate, experiment and test hundreds of patterns and prototypes for the engineered shock system” (Durrant, 2014). In October 2015, Nike was awarded the patent of technology associated with 3D printing shoes. The patent is for its strobel technology, affixing the shoe’s upper to its midsole, which as a way a shoe can be “lasted”. The three kinds of lastings include “slip, strobel and combination.” Nike’s machine will scan the design into a computer and then utilize the data to print sewing guidelines on the strobel. Although the technology is not going to take over the whole manufacturing of Nike’s shoes, it would help Nike to update and modernize the producing process and make the process more efficient and the products perform better (Nelson, 2015).

Figure124

Figure125

Figure126

Figure127

Figure128

Figure129

44

- Adidas: in October 2015, Adidas also announced its cooperation with 3D printing technology offered by a Belgian based service provider and software developer, Materialise, to design its new project, Futurecraft soles, midsoles that can fit the shape and size of the feet of consumers. Though it is still under development, Adidas is anticipating for the Futurecraft prototype entering their retail stores soon. What they are planning is to have 3D scanning technology take the measurement of consumers’ feet to customize the shoes and maket the prints in-store. They will also use this technology to improve the comfort for individual’s foot and the performance of physical activities such as running. The executive board member Eric Liedtke mentioned, “Our 3D printed midsole not only allows us to make a great running shoe, but also to use performance data to drive truly bespoke experiences, meeting the needs of any athlete” (Koslow, 2015). Although it is still hard to say whether Futurecraft will be the future of running shoes, the highly customized 3D printed shoes measured and produced right in the retail store, it is surely an interesting and exciting sign for the future.

Figure130

Figure131

Figure132

Figure133

- New Balance: while Adidas is still at the developing stage, New Balance is announcing its first 3D printed high performance running shoes to be launched on the market. New Balance has an exclusive cooperation with 3D Systems with new materials, elastomeric powder, DuraForm® Flex TPU, to print the midsole parts for running shoes. The new materials and the 3D printing helps to improve the balance of flexibility, strength, weight and durability of the shoes. The new 3D printed shoes will be the limited edition, released first in Boston in April 2016 and then in select global retail stores (New Balance Official Website, 2015).

Although it may not be mass manufactured, it shows the new direction and possible future of sportswear – unique, perfect fit design with aesthetic attributes that fit the wearers’ activity patterns. Besides the goodies of customization for consumers, 3D printing is showing the possibility to shorten the supply chain and then reduce the costs for the companies by not using molds and decreasing some steps and time from design to part. Averagely, the time required for shoe making from concept to shipment is about one to two years while 3D printing can make it only weeks or even few days. “On-demand manufacturing and mass customization is kind of the Holy Grail of footwear. There’s just a massive opportunity there because you’re about to create a product that is truly customer-driven” (Zaleski, 2015). I think “on-demand manufacturing” and “mass customization” are not only for the footwear but also would be the trend of the future fashion system, for it reduces the cost for bulk production and also caters to the needs of customers, which makes it more attractive to customers to purchase.

45

Figure134

Figure135

Figure136

Figure137

Although the development and implementation of 3D printing has been limited in the sector of apparel due to the limitation of materials that can be 3D printed, there have been many companies and studios diving into this experiment. The following are the 3D printed apparels that have been reported with great progress on the flexibility of the 3D printed fabric: - Iris Van Herpen’s Voltage collection in 2013: unlike her first collection Crystallisation, Voltage was more towards wearable 3D printed apparel with flexible and durable materials, which can even be put into the washing machine. She said that she wanted the audience to think the dress was woven or handmade but will found the delicate detail and unique structure that cannot be done by hand but only 3D printing. This collection used a novel fabric that has the texture that looks like clusters of seashells, which was printed by Stratasys’ Object Connex multi-material printing technology. The garments were printed with two totally different materials which are hard and soft together to have the unique and specific characteristics (Howarth, 2013).

- 3D-printed dress made by designer Michael Schmidt for the dancer Dita Von Teese: it was a floor-length nylon gown made with selective laser sintering (SLS). The dress allowed for movement with the rigid plastic components fully articulated to create a netted structure. It was made based on the statistics of Von Teese’s body shape to fit her well and allow for movement. Besides the exaggerated shoulders and the factor of 3D printing itself, the embellishment of 12,000 Swarovski crystals on the dress was also astonishing (Howarth, 2013).

Figure138

Figure139

46

- 3D-printed dress made by Massachusetts-based firm Nervous System: this dress can move and flow like fabric. It was made first with a flexible surface modeled with Kinematic software and then folded up. After the crumpled heap was printed, it was cleaned off and unfolded into the dress, which was made up of thousands of unique interlocking pieces. These interlocking triangles move on hinges, which make the dress flexible. Though these pieces were still rigid, the way it interlocked made it drape, flex and move like a fabric so that it could be worn directly out of the printer (Meinhold, 2014).

Figure140

Figure141

Figure142

Figure143

- Laser-sintered nylon fabric woven into the garment collection of Pringle of Scotland: The collection was made with SLS-made 3D-printed fabrics by Pringle of Scotland in collaboration with material scientist Richard Beckett.

The textiles were made with tiny nylon parts to be flexible. Then the printed parts were handwoven into the knitwear through small hooks or stitched on top of the wool. This collection was claimed by Pringle of Scotland to be the first 3D-printed ready-to-wear (“3D-printed Fabrics,� 2014).

Figure144

Figure145

Figure146

Figure147

47

- Project Runway Show Season 14: on October 16, 2015, Project Runway Show cooperated with 3D Systems to challenge the contestants to utilize 3D Systems’ new Fabricate line to create their design by combining the 3D printed textures with traditional fabrics. They started with 3D printing PLA plate layer and then gluing the specific fabric on it before resuming the printing process.

The textile could be sewn into clothing as the regular fabric to create their garments. The designers needed to sketch their ideas for 3D printed textiles and then transform them into printable designs with the help of 3DS crew. In the end, they 3D printed the textiles with the Cube 3D printers and implemented them into their garments (Molitch-Hou, 2015). With the backup of Project Runway Show challenging the designers with 3D printing techniques, it definitely shows the trend of fashion collaborating with 3D printing.

Figure148

48

The Newest Trends of Technology for Fashion Electroloom: On May 2015, the first 3D fabric printer, Electroloom successfully made its first cohesive 3D printed garments in the world (Tampi, 2015).

- About Electroloom: it is a small San Francisco based company, established by Marcus Foley, a biomedical/mechanical engineer, Aaron Rowley, a biomedical/mechanical engineer, and Joseph White, a computer engineer. The company is developing 3D printing technology for fabric and garments. Their goal is “to use the Electroloom to open the world of fashion design and manufacturing to everyone” (Electroloom Official Website). Although there is still a long way for their research and design to go for the printer being launched to the mass market, they show the potential for 3D printed real fabric and garments which can drape and flow just like regular cotton fabric.

- The technology of Electroloom: the cloth is made with an electric field automatically, which they call Field Guided Fabrication (FGF).

The printing process actually is an “electrospinning” process which converts liquid solution into solid fibers; then the fibers are deposited as other 3D printers do and bond onto a 3D mold, which is placed inside a chamber with an internal electric field. The fibers are guided automatically to bond onto the mold. After the bonding completed, the cloth can be taken off from the mold (Tampi, 2015). They claimed that this method “makes it possible for anyone with a small bit of CAD ability to design and create seamless fabric items on demand.”

What they are expecting is to establish a community and design ecosystem around this technology (Electroloom Official Website).

Figure149

Figure150

Figure151

49

Figure152

Figure153

Figure156

- How it works: 1. Design a mold in CAD and make it or have it made.

2. Place your design in the Electroloom and turn it on.

Watch your custom fabric be created.

3. Pull your finished good off the mold. That’s it (Electroloom Official Website)!

Figure154

Figure158

Figure155

Figure159 Figure157

50

- Current situation of Electroloom: - Items: sheets, tank-tops, skirts, beanies - Materials: polyester and cotton blend; also working on silk blend and acrylic blend. 1.5L of polyester solution is enough to make at least 7 beanies, 4 tanktops or 3 skirts (Kickstarter, 2014).

- Colors: white; also working on yellow and blue - Dimension of the cube:  Total dimensions: 1000mm x 1080mm x 620mm  Interior chamber: 800mm x 900mm  Maximum mold size: 800mm x 900mm  Voltage range: 2-19kV (<500 microamps)  Computer connection: USB (Kickstarter, 2014) - Volume: “currently, they are limiting the number of units so that they can have more intimate, responsive experience and better enable their team to respond to and tackle tough issues” (Kickstarter, 2014).

- Cost: currently it is still raising funding to continue research and work so they don’t have a hard number at this time.

- Manufacturing of the machine: “the machines are simple and easy to build. Because of the small size of the production run, they are dealing with a more manageable supply chain. With the work in Shenzhen, China, they establish relationships with vendors and manufacturers that they are ready to manage this volume of Developer Kits” (Kickstarter, 2014).

- Time consuming to print one item: it depends on the size of the mold. Now it can be between 8 to 16 hours, varying with the surface area of the mold. They are also experimenting to reduce the time.  Skirt: around 14 hours  Tank top: around 14 hours  Beanie: around 8 hours (Kickstarter, 2014) - Molds: the molds are made of metal, and aluminum works the better which is low-cost, easy to machine, recyclable and reliable.

The mold must be sprayed with conductive coatings for smooth processing. Electroloom will also be a supplier for molds made with aluminum. Users can upload the design of molds on Electroloom’s website and Electroloom will manufacture the molds and ship them to users. But Electroloom also encourage users to create or source their own molds in their local marketplaces. To make the molds work best is to have smooth surface, which makes it easy to remove the fabric (Kickstarter, 2014).

- Price of molds: around $100 - $150, depending on the size and complexity of the design (Kickstarter, 2014).

- Material strength: currently the material has reasonable strength and durability to be worn, but it is still lacking with elasticity and is fragile for washing (Kickstarter, 2014).

51

Although Electroloom is still at developing stage, not ready to enter the real fashion world, it shows the potential to reduce the process of traditional textile manufacturing into a single step with one machine. Instead of the complicated processes from sending the raw materials to factories to create textile, the technology of Electroloom can directly transfer raw material to finished goods (Kickstarter, 2014). It may take up to three or four years for this technology to be evolved to something that can be implemented within the fashion industry for the mass market, but it opened the possibility for the direction of shorten supply chain for textile and apparel.

Ecosystem at CES2016:

Since the CES2016 just happened at the beginning of this year, there are numerous exciting trend of the 3D world. With the 3D industry getting more mature and consolidate, the technology is getting connected with each other, no longer working by itself, which was described as “maturing of nascent ecosystems,” which means “all of the cutting edge gadgetry from past shows […] are growing up, or finding their place in the real world” (Palermo, 2016). One of the evidence of the ecosystem is the collaboration between Intel and a small headset company called IonVR to make VR available on mobile (Molitch-Hou, 2016). According to the report, IonVR is a “$229 3D printed, Google Cardboard-style headset, powered by smartphones between 4.5 and 6 inches in size” (Molitch-Hou, 0216). Collaborated with the RealSense Smartphone Developer Kit of Intel, IonVR is capable with spatial mapping. The partnership between the two shoes the “evidence that the mixed reality ecosystem is starting to coalesce in 2016” (Molitch-Hou,2016). Anther big sign is the connection between 3D scanning and 3D printing. At CES2016, 3D Systems, one of the leading player within the industry, had the biggest booth, and there was an interesting and exciting technology they presented, the 3D printed eyeglass frames, which was completed with scanning station for perfect fit (Biehler, 2016). Basically, the technology is to 3D scan the face of the wearer and then calculate the data of measurements to come up with the perfect fit of the design of pq by Ron Arad, and then printed by 3D Systems’ printer. With 3D scanning technology going real and serious this year, such as the RealSense 3D technology on Intel, 3D printing is also going toward hand in hand with 3D scanning to achieve further performance. The multi-machine includes AIO machine and XYZ Printing, which both combined 3D scanner and printer with a laser engraver (Biehler, 2016). AIO not only combined the scanning and printing but also provided a well performed touchscreen that can “run the scanner, search the internet for models, slice for printing and even walk you through tutorials” (Biehler, 2016). In addition, as mentioned in the development of 3D printed shoes, both New Balance and Adidas are taping into the collaboration between 3D scanning and 3D printing. If 3D scanning is so great to work with 3D printing, what is 3D scanning and how does it work?

Figure160

Figure161

Figure162

Figure163

Figure164

52

- Basic information of 3D scanning: it is the technology that is able to “capture a digital copy of a physical real world object” (Arnoldas, 2016). The two relevant techniques of 3D scanning for 3D printing are: - Photogrammetry: it is the easiest way to 3D scan, by only taking 2D photos around an object from various angles and stitching the photos together to make a single 3D image. Then the image will be generated in software (Arnoldas, 2016).

- Light-based scanning: this sector can be divided into 2 common types  Structured light: the method is to “send patterns of light onto the object to capture.” And the deformations of the pattern will determine the model form to create a 3D mesh, or digital replica (Arnoldas, 2016).  Laser scanning: the way it works is taking measurements of “the angle of the reflected lasers” and then transformed it into an object and then into a 3D mesh. For most of the current hand-held scanner, it is the most commonly used technology (Arnoldas, 2016).

Figure165

Figure166

Figure170

Figure167 Figure168

Figure169

Figure171

- The 3D scanners in the market: 3D Systems’ Sense, Cubify’s iSense, Intel’s RealSense 3D Camera

- Five of the best 3D scanners of 2015 are - Matter & Form MFS1V1: priced $599. It’s a desktop scanner but can be folded for portability. It is built with “a moving camera head on a 360-degree rotating platform and a duel laser camera head attached to a Z-axis that can collect more than 2,000 capture points per second at 0.42mm resolution,” providing high accuracy in as short as within five minutes or with higher definition within ten minutes. The company, Matter and Forms also includes software to export the final full-color 3D scan into watertight STL, OBJ or PLY formats, which can be transferred into Blender, Maya, Max or other 3D printing software (Kira, 2015).

Figure172

- Cubify Sense 3D Scanner: priced $399. It is good for versatility, portability and ease to use. It has the most versatile scan range within the same class of the scanners, with auto-optimized settings for objects as small as 0.2mm to 3 meters, which means it can be as small as fine jewelry and as big as an entire motorcycle. The maximum resolution can be 0.9mm and the accuracy is 1mm. The software of it provides the ability of tracking at 25 frames per second when scanning (Kira, 2015).

Figure173

53

- XYZPrinting Da Vinci 1.0 AiO 3D Printer + Scanner: priced $799. It is an FFF 3D printer built with 3D scanner, which is able to scan with industrial-level resolution in minutes and 3D print objects up to 8 inches big. The way it works is to put the object on the scanning turntable, adjust the 3D scan with the bundled XYZscan software, and then print it on the FFF 3D printer. It is easy to use for simple 3D scanning and printing projects (Kira, 2015).

- BQ Ciclop 3D Scanner: priced $270. Ciclop is an open source ecosystem. As a 3D rotational laser triangulation scanner, it uses two lasers projected on an object to capture the geometry and texture of the object. The system with auto-calibrating provides good result of the scanning (Kira, 2015).

- Fuel3D Scanify 3D Scanner: priced $1,490. It has the flexibility and capability to scan large objects with good resolution. It has a dual-laser, pre-calibrated stereo camera to capture 3D images with photometric imaging in a short amount of time, as short as one tenth of a second. It is able to keep the detail down to 350 microns, or 0.25mm with the scan completed within 30 seconds. With the accuracy it provides, Scanify is good for capturing human faces, fabric textures, or natural elements such as flowers. The portability and large scan area of it makes it ideal for scanning full-size objects (Kira, 2015).

Figure174

Figure175

Figure176

The potential of 3D scanning for the fashion industry:

Besides the five scanners mentioned above, there are still many good 3D scanners on the market. The quick development of 3D scanner provides a big opportunity to 3D scan the body shape of consumers and calculate and transfer the data to 3D printer immediately, projecting the prospect of perfect fit for consumers. It is said that 3D scanning is going to be highly connected with the fashion industry with perfect measurements of customers. “In the future you will go into a store where you get a 3D body scan and start assembling and customizing a unique garment for yourself,” commented by Leonie Tenthof aan Noorden, an industrial designer who uses 3D scanning to fabricate dresses and believes that the technology is going to be commonplace in fashion stores (Hobson, 2015).

The application of 3D scanning in the fashion industry: Gay Giano: there is already one tailoring company, Gay Giano, in Hong Kong, that is using 3D scanning for tailoring to provide its costumers precise measurement within a short amount of time. The changing room is equipped with 14 infrared sensors. The customer needs to wear a fitting underwear and stand in the changing room for about 10 seconds for the sensors to gather information from over 120 measurement data points. Compared to the traditional way of tailoring, which takes more time to manually measure 25 body measurements with a measure tape, it is no doubt that 3D scanning is more efficient and accurate for it. After the machine taking the data, it will be transferred to a tablet through an app, then the tailors can view their clients’ body shapes easily (Tess, 2016).

54

Figure177

Figure178

Figure179

Van Noorden: she launched her This Fits Me collection with a range of leather dresses at Dutch Design Week 2014 with each piece fabricated with the implementation of 3D scanning. She made a very basic dress design to scale the exact measurements of the customers with ease. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The customer gets a body scan so you get a 3D model of the body in the computer. [â&#x20AC;Ś] I scale the dress accordingly and then project a generative line pattern on top of the digital dress,â&#x20AC;? van Noorden explained. Consumers can customize the dress with the generative pattern to fit the curves of their bodies. Then the designer implemented the personalized design to make pattern for the dress with the 3D model translated from digital to physical (Hobson, 2015).

Figure181

Figure180

Figure182

55

3D-A-Porter: it is a young company aims at revolutionize the fashion and uniform manufacturing industries. It believes that with the exact measurements and purchasing behavior of consumers will enable brands to “create consumer-relevant products in a proactive way” and consequently raise sales and margin performance (3D-A-Porter Official Website). Its mission is to provide precise Figure183 measurement data and 3D visualization solutions for fashion brands to improve online and offline sales, thus reduce the rate of return and secure brand loyalty. It also offers positive virtual fitting experience for customers. Its service provides strategic 3D solutions for high-end fashion brands, including 3D body scanning, 3D virtual try-on, 3D garments and 3D mirrors with completely integrated approach (3D-A-Porter Official Website).

- 3D body scanning: “The future of the apparel industry is called 3D and it all starts with a body scan. Your customers get scanned safely in 1 second, they now know their real sizes and can shop in confidence.” It can help fashion brands to know their customers’ sizes precisely and save millions on returned deliveries (3D-A-Porter Official Website). It cooperates with providers of the infrared technology. The scanner is highly accurate, fast (within 1 second) and self-calibrated. The scanner can be a standalone feature on shop floor or be incorporated in fitting room (3D-A-Porter Official Website).

- 3D virtual try-on: the customers can see themselves online with the garments that they like via the ID the company provides.

It helps consumers to check the fitting and whether it looks as good as they imagined to decide whether to buy it (3D-A-Porter Official Website).

- 3D mirror: it provides the services of virtual try-on an entire collection of a brand in front of a mirror. Customers can also see the back of themselves and can change with various color (3D-A-Porter Official Website).

- 3D garments: it provides 3D design software and pattern making, which it claims can help fashion brands to save a lot marketing cost. The software assists designers to visualize and save their patterns with high quality in 3D (3D-A-Porter Official Website).

Figure184

Figure185

Figure186

56

ZARA

Figure187 Figure188

Why ZARA:

I chose ZARA as the pioneer to implement 3D printing technology within its business model and supply chain system for the following reasons: - The scale and size of the brand and its parent company – Inditex – is influential to the whole fashion industry. Its change of the supply chain system as well as its business model may also revolutionize the fashion industry.

- Due to the size of the ZARA and its global markets as well as the large quantity of garments it sells around the world, it is part of ZARA’s responsibility to take sustainable initiatives to a higher level.

- ZARA is a company with huge investment in technology for the efficiency of the whole business model, so taking advantage of 3D printing, 3D scanning, virtual reality and other advanced technology to enhance its efficiency and reduce costs can be essential for ZARA. - ZARA has abundant resources in terms of revenue, research and design team, and corporate social responsibility team. According to a report in Business of Fashion, ZARA’s profits are more than four times higher than their competitors among apparel retailers (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Its parent company, Inditex, has raised its net sales from €16.7 billion in 2013 to €18.1 billion in 2014 while ZARA accounts €11.6 billion sales for FY14 (“Inditex Group Profile October 2015,” 2015).

- ZARA is the mainstream and biggest fashion retailer in the global market, and it has a huge impact on consumers over the world.

- With the almost vertical supply chain system and central control over every aspect of its business, ZARA has a better opportunity to change the ecosystem of its supply chain.

- Compared to other big leading fashion retailers, ZARA produces in smaller quantities to quickly adjust its products and orders to meet consumers’ needs, which is more suitable to implement 3D printing, which works better for small batches of customized products.

Figure189

Figure190

Figure191

57

The great resources of ZARA and Inditex, the scale of the business and the similarity to on-demand manufacturing system, mean it manufactures based on the demand for goods instead of based on the forecast of the orders, making ZARA a great choice to take this leading role of enforcing 3D printing manufacturing into its supply chain system. Traditionally, retailers have to make orders at least half year in advance, but nowadays advanced technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting have made it possible to produce on-demand (techopedia).

Besides, the operations of the Group are so large that the company’s negative impacts are vast and influential to the planet. If every Inditex store left on a light overnight, it would cause the waste of 9 year’s worth of electricity (Abnett and Amed, 2015). The reality is that For a business this big to have zero impact on the planet would be practically impossible. But, as the world’s largest fashion retailer, Inditex has a responsibility to minimize the damage it does to the environment. (Abnett and Amed, 2015) Company overview:

ZARA is a fast fashion brand under its Spain-based parent company, Inditex SA, or Industria de Diseno Textil SA, which was founded in 1963. The company started as a textile maker when its first store, ZARA, opened in Spain in 1975. The company’s activities include the design, confection, manufacturing, distribution and retail of men, women and children’s apparel, footwear and fashion accessories. The most successful strategy of ZARA is their vertical supply chain, giving them control of their design, warehousing, distribution and logistics, and which is also the key factor for ZARA to have the most potential for integrating 3D printing technology smoothly within its supply chain. Another factor is the huge revenue and assets of the corporation, with €18,116.5 million and €15,377 million respectively, that make it possible for ZARA to research and experiment on the new technology. It has more than 2,000 stores in leading cities within 88 countries.

ZARA constantly adjusts its product design and orders based on its real time feedback from its customers (Inditex Official Website).

Figure193

Figure192

Figure194

58

ZARA’s mission statement: “Through Zara’s business model, we aim to contribute to the sustainable development of society and that of the environment with which we interact” (ZARA Official Website).

ZARA’s environmental policies: - Store:  Save energy/ Eco-friendly: with an eco-friendly management model to decrease the consumption of energy by 20% to achieve sustainability and efficiency criteria. The measures include lighting, heating and cooling systems and the possibility of recycling furniture and decorations.  Produce less waste, and recycle: hangers and alarms are recycled to be reused or processed into other plastic elements. Cardboard and plastic packaging are also recycled.  Commitment extends to all staff/ Environmentally aware team: with multimedia-based training on sustainable practices with staff, such as reducing energy consumption and utilizing sustainable transport (ZARA Official Website).

- Product:  Use ecological fabrics: provide support for organic farming.

Several of the product lines and collections of the Group are made exclusively from 100%-organic cotton (Inditex Official Website).  Organic cotton: some garments are 100% cotton and completely free of pesticides, chemicals and bleach. In 2014, the parent company Inditex made 5.5 million items with certified 100% organic cotton, 3.5 million items with 50% organic cotton and 1.2 million items with 5% organic cotton. The total consumption of organic cotton was 1,009 tons in 2014 (ZARA Official Website)

Figure195

Figure196

59

- Transportation:  Biodiesel fuel: 5% of the transport for 200 million items a year are biodiesel fuel, which helps ZARA to reduce 500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (ZARA Official Website).

Although from the view of consumers, ZARA and its parent company Inditex seem to be a company that only cares about proftis and sales, but actually the company is trying to make some efforts to be more sustainable from different aspects.

Profile of ZARA: - Product lines under ZARA brand (Zara Official Site):  Women: outerwear to accessories  Men: outerwear to accessories

Figure197

 Kids: mini/newborn to 14-year-olds - Headquarters: Arteixo, La Coruña (ZARA Official Website) - FY14 sales: €11.6 billion (ZARA Official Website) - 3Q15 stores: 2,128 (ZARA Official Website) - Operation expenses: €1,474 million (2014) increased to €1,701 million (2015) (ZARA Official Website) Inventory: €1,807 million (2014) increased to €2,019 (2015) (ZARA Official Website) (See the financial report in the appendix) Business Model of ZARA: - Central inventory control - Distribution to all stores worldwide twice a week - Orders to stores and online customers in 2-48 hours - Global online sales: central inventory position + online stockrooms Figure198

60

- Customer driven: unique product strategy of providing the latest fashions and quality at affordable prices for customers  At least twice a week delivery to stores  Daily feedback of customers from retail stores to have constant modification of collections - Opportunity:  Central inventory position, no local distribution centers  No advertising (“Inditex Group Profile 2015,” 2015)

Figure199

Figure200

Unlike other fashion retailers who buy in bulk in advance, which helps them to reduce the costs per garment and “push” products to customers, there is no advertisement for ZARA, which also means ZARA does not need to order ahead of time. It also means that ZARA can make orders based on real time data, both quantitative data of how many garments are selling and qualitative data of why they are selling, collected from each retail stores to “pull” customers (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Most conventional high street retailers have to pre-commit about 60% of their production due to lead time and costs; Inditex as well as ZARA only pre-order 15% while the rest of the production is mostly based on demand of their customers. To achieve efficiency and speed, more than 51% out of Inditex’s 1,500 suppliers are close to its distribution centers in Spain, such as Spain itself, Portugal and Morocco, which contributes to the three weeks of lead time from design, manufacture to deliver products to the stores. The Group has invested a lot in technology that it can deliver small, regular updates in batches to improve the products and modify the orders with each new batch in response to consumers’ feedback (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Technology is one of the Group’s main efforts to achieve the efficiency of the operations with central control on every detail.

The total of Technical Installation and Machinery of ZARA accounted for about $226.7 million in 2014 and $235.2 million in 2013; the total Machinery/ Equipment accounted $9,332.4 million in 2015 and its Construction in Progress accounted for $532.8 million in 2015 (for more information, see the financial report in appendix) (“ZARA,” OneResource).

61

Inditex and ZARA’s facilities:

In the town of Arteixo, which is close to A Coruña, there are several Group-owned textiles factories and one of its logistics platforms. At each head office, there are unique design facilities and logistics centers from which goods are shipped to the Group’s stores around the world twice a week. In addition, there are two large-scale logistics platforms, in Zaragoza and Madrid, in charge of the distribution of products for ZARA (Inditex Official Website). In the distribution center, there are full-size mock-ups of ZARA shops with stocks of clothing which will be in the retail stores within a few weeks (Abnett and Amed, 2015). The facilities and logistics center accounts for a big portion of the company’s assets; if 3D printing manufacturing is implemented into its supply chain system in the future, some of these facilities and spaces can be rented out by other companies, which can generate extra income for the Group, or the facilities and spaces can be utilized for other purposes, such as researching and designing the sustainable printing materials for 3D printing or R&D on further advanced and improved 3D printers to make it more efficient and cater to the needs of the Group.

Figure201

Figure202

Figure203

Figure204

Figure205

Figure206

Figure207

Figure208

Figure209

62

Supply chain of Inditex:

It has 1,500 suppliers, consisting more than 5,300 factories, in over 50 countries. Fifty percent of the products are produced by the suppliers within the area near the headquarters and logistics centers in Spain. All suppliers need to fulfil the requirements of Code of Conduct for Manufacturing and Suppliers. By means of production traceability for efficient management, Inditex aims to create a sustainable supply chain (Inditex Official Website).

Although most people consider Inditex a vertically-integrated company, according to a report of Business of Fashion, the reality is that it is not vertically-integrated since most of its manufacturing facilities are not owned by the company but only a â&#x20AC;&#x153;small single digitâ&#x20AC;? percentage of the manufacturing facilities are owned by it. However, all of its suppliers, designers, stores and buyers in the business system are tightly connected, controlled and monitored by the company with global central control center at the headquarters in A CoruĂąa (Abnett and Amed, 2015).

Figure210

fibres such as those of organic and recycled origin.

Operations and challenges within ZARAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supply chain: - Raw material: the sourcing of raw materials is the biggest ongoing challenge for the company, particularly the untraceable origin of the cotton. While the company is a member of the Textile Exchange, an NGO which promotes the responsible expansion of textile sustainability with the effort in organic cotton growing, and the Better Cotton Initiative (Inditex Official Website), organic cotton is incapable of the scale that ZARA needs because of the fragmentation of the market (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Within the annual 568.8 million products made of cotton, only 10 million of them are made of organic cotton (Abnett and Amed, 2015). The company sets a Biodiversity, Water and Energy Management Strategies, and their choice of raw material also needs to be intertwined with these strategies. The Group also tries to use recycled materials and other organic material. Another trial is the collaboration through the Farm Investment Programme with agricultural projects for training in sustainable techniques and the development of seeds capable for ecological farming. By using synthetic fibers, including Viscose, Modal and Lyocell, the company also tries to commit to sustainable forest management. The whole Group, including key suppliers in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Bangladesh, India and China, as well as the buying teams of ZARA, Oysho, Pull&Bear and Tempe, and the local offices in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Bangladesh, India and China, are trained with raw material knowledge, including environmental, social and economic impacts and risks, and are encouraged to use more sustainable materials (Inditex Official Website).

Also, research is performed on artificial textile fibres from cellulose pulp such as viscose, modal and lyocell, in order to ensure that they originate from forests that are managed in a sustainable manner.

In 2014 5.5 million items of cotton certified as 100% organic 3.5 million items with 50% organic cotton 1.2 million items with 5% ecological cotton This translates to consumption of 1,009 tonnes of organic cotton, which implies growth of 92% in weight.

they comply with t health standards, 63 safety and sustain for the chemical i

The List, by Indite the first time that fashion distributor a research and qu programme for pro processes that are is traditionally con chain of textile ma

The List, by Inditex

8,258 products an and certified (doub amount of 2013) 85% of the global m for chemical produ

Figure211 + information on

+ information on page 72

70

Figure212

Figure213

64

- Production: the company sets the standards of Clear to Wear, Safe to Wear and Green to Wear for the internal health, safety and sustainability standards to cover the end-toend manufacturing process for all garments, footwear and accessories. The standards are also bound to all of the Group’s suppliers. Inditex has cooperated with 28 third-party laboratories around the world to inspect and test the products with cutting-edge methods and equipment for highly precise analysis to supervise the quality and safety of products (Inditex Official Website). ZARA’s in-house production, which allows for flexibility in the amount, frequency, and variety of new products, ensures its own factories reserve 85% of their capacity for in-season modification. The bulk of cutting, which is a crucial process that determines the fit of the garments, is carried out by the company’s own factories (Pearson, 2015). It only pre-commits 15-20% of a season’s line 6 months in advance, while the rest relies on the feedback from stores. ZARA also keeps extra capacity on hand in order to respond to the demand with adjustments, consequently resulting in frequent shipments and higher number of customer visits (Lu, 2014). In order to keep a fast pace, designers are trained to limit the reviews and changes and minimize the number of samples (Pearson, 2015). The strategy thus enables ZARA to sell more products at full price due to the sense of scarcity and exclusiveness the company creates for consumers.

While the industry average full price sale is only 60-70%, ZARA has 85% of it. And only about 10% of its stock is unsold merchandise, while the industry is 17-20% (Lu, 2014).

- Central Control: the company has a “data center,” which is the heart of Inditex’s global operations, with a team of people tracking global real-time data of every ZARA store, every logistics center, the company’s own factories, and the traffic on tis website. All of the data is monitored and analyzed with maps, graphs, tables and spreadsheets. They can even know where and when there is a light left in one of the stores around the world (Abnett and Amed, 2015). With such control over the operations, the system offers a greater opportunity to implement environmental policies comprehensively across its business and supply chain with accurate traceability. Collaborating with the advanced computer calculation system, Inditex can get the precise number of emissions in its 63,000 logistics operations. The computer also tracks the eco-efficiency of 1,300 stores (Abnett and Amed, 2015).

Figure214

Figure215

Figure216

65

- Cluster: to achieve better efficiency and central control, Inditex established a “cluster” system for tailoring the approach in the different cultures of each foreign market.

Cluster is a group of stakeholders based in the same geographical area, including suppliers, manufacturers, trade unions, international purchasers and local Inditex CSR teams. The purpose of this system also aims to make the local supply chain more sustainable via the standards of Inditex’s policies. Besides implementing the standards, the cluster also tailors the policies to the real situation of the region. Inditex will also work with suppliers to assist them to accomplish the environmental standards and its Code of Conduct. But there are still challenges for the company.

In some developing countries such as Morocco, the local environmental and labor laws are loose or ignored, which makes it hard to enforce the sustainability standards (Abnett and Amed, 2015). It is an issue not only for Inditex but the whole fashion industry because It’s a challenge for any brand, let alone a gigantic fashion empire like Inditex, to manage its suppliers to comply with high standards of environmental performance, especially if they’re higher than the national standard in the manufacturing locations.

(Abnett and Amed, 2015)

Figure217

Figure218

Figure219

66

- Logistics and distribution: in 1984, the first logistics center of the company was about 10,000 square meters, while in 1994, it was expanded to 320,000 square meters of its Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sabon facilities. The logistics centers are the nerve system of the company, with millions of garments passing through the centers (Inditex Official Website). All of the logistics centers are built and managed based on sustainable building criteria and have ISO 14001 certified environmental management systems. The Group has continued systematically upgrading its logistics centers since 2007 with the new implementation of efficient lighting, improved insulation, climate control systems, the use of bicycles or electric vehicles for moving around the centers and the utilization of renewable energy sources. Some of the logistics platforms have achieved LEED Gold certification (Inditex Official Website). Its distribution of products to its European stores can be within 24 hours while to the American and Asian stores will be in less than 40 hours (Lu, 2014). The cross-functional operations strategy and the its supply chain lead to the well-managed inventories, lower markdowns and higher profitability for the company (Lu, 2014). However, within the last two years, its growing presence in Asia, with double the number of stores from 275 to 500 in China, has raised the question of moving goods around between Asian factories, distribution centers in Spain, and then back to Asian markets. The transportation is a waste of time and resources and also causes negative environmental impact. Therefore, the company is concerned about establishing a distribution center in China (Abnett and Amed, 2015).

- Inventory: the company implements inventory optimization models to determine the quantity of products to be delivered to every retail store. The system helps ZARA to avoid over inventory of either raw materials, finished goods or any other parts in its supply chain. Every store only receives the exact quantity they need, thus also maintaining the image of scarcity and exclusivity that some items may be sold out soon and pull consumers to purchase as soon as possible at full price. In the meantime, there would be no unpopular items overstocked in stores. The fast speed of turnaround from production, which is close to distribution centers, to delivery also helps ZARA be able to ship frequently with smaller batches, and thus shrink the number of inventory (Lu, 2014).

Figure220

Figure221

Figure222

Figure223

- Stores: Inditex aims to make the Group’s stores eco-efficient, which is one of the primary elements for Inditex’s store designs. Since 2007, the company published its Eco-Efficient Store Manual and opened over 2,419 eco-efficient stores. For the existing stores, Inditex implements the eco-refurbishment projects to improve the eco-efficiency of the old stores. The project helps the stores save 20% in electricity, consequently reducing the emissions of greenhouse gas. The largest savings of electricity are detected in HVAC, which saves about 40%. The project also saves up to 50% in water consumption. The store designs follow the guidelines of the two benchmark green buildings standards of US LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and the European BREEAM seal for buildings designed (Inditex Official Website).

- Waste: Inditex has many measures to eliminate waste of different aspects in its business model. The chief communications officer of Inditex, Jesús Echerarría, commented, “I cannot afford waste. I need to secure that my production must be demanded. In the first moment, its more expensive. But the margins are lower at the end of the cycle” (Abnett and Amed, 2015). The manufacturing of the company is similar to “lean manufacturing,” which is a principle designed by Toyota to constantly eliminate waste including any consumption of resources without adding value within the manufacturing process (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Although sustainability of environment was not the goal of the founder Ortega, avoiding waste of money, resources and products is still crucial to the company to enhance the efficiency and ensure the profits and decrease costs. With this purpose, the company has numerous sustainable measures in its business model, such as producing on demand, which hugely reduces the chance of products not selling. The buildings of the company utilize wind turbines and solar panels for 52% of renewable power. During production, the company uses tools to minimize textile waste with efficient pattern plotting for fabric cuts (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Though it seems to cost more to implement those measures, the profits at ZARA are more than 4 times higher than other apparel retailers. With the flexible and demand-driven operations, the company raises the profits by 28% and market capitalization by 43% (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Nevertheless, with the fast speed of expansion of the company and its markets, the volume of its industrial waste is just too high to be sustainable regardless

waste generated by Inditex is collected and managed 67 by a legally authorised body that sends the waste for recycling (in the case of alarms or paper), for composting or processing (wood, plastics), or managed in an environmentally friendly way.

With respect to the recovery of products released on the market, it is not viable to assess the volume generated nor its management on a worldwide level, given that there is no specific collection or management system for textile materials.

The packaging materials released onto the market Figure224 (cardboard and plastic bags, labels, protective elements) associated with the products marketed by Inditex, are appropriately managed by authorised agents. Inditex adheres to the Integrated Management Systems for Packaging and Wrapping available in every country where it does business. The commitment to these systems means that each Inditex chain pays a nonprofit management agency whatever it costs to collect and manage the waste generated by the stores. This management agency is established with the recognition of the authorities of each country (in Spain, Ecoembes) Figure225 to ensure that the waste generated by the stores is suitably collected, managed and recycled.

Proportion of generated waste

cardboard and paper

textile waste

61.8%

5.4%

hazardous waste 0.3%

Other urban waste 15%

Plastic 2.4%

Wood

15.1%

Figure226

performance - sustainability balance sheet

68

of its environmental policies. According to the sustainability balance sheet of its 2013 annual report, the industrial waste grew from Waste generation management 11 million kilograms to 12 million and kilograms between 2009 and 2013 (Abnett and Amed, 2015). But still the Group has made some progress, such as the decrease of its greenhouse gas emissions from 24,591 CO2equ in 2009 to 22,525 CO2equ in 2013 (Abnett and Amed, Thanks to the Waste Minimisation Plan and the efforts and commitment shown by all employees, all kinds of waste 2015). With the ofthe addictive there are chances for the company to cut the waste at a large scale within werecharacteristics reduced, despite increasemanufacturing, in garments manufactured. its supply chain and its stores.

The system waste generation data refers to the waste generated in Spain during the calendar year. The waste generated in the stores is not included.

Change in industrial waste generation (kg) 33,963 1,685,136 1,693,375 2012

271,771 6,924,688 603,506 11,212,439 48,357 1,873,233 1,421,961 413,810

2011

6,965,186 709,742 11,432,289 16,630 605,830 1,490,003 638,630

2010

6,792,201 969,730 10,513,024 23,094 2,105,006 821,895

2009

397,081 6,247,942 905,143 10,500,161 45,584 2,453,057 966,543

2008

367,983 6,926,984 1,204,177 11,964,328

Hazardous waste

Other urban waste

Wood

Plastic

Cardboard and paper

Textile waste

Total

Waste generation from head office, chain head offices, factories and logistical centres and our own stores was considered.

Comparison of garments released on the market with the total industrial waste generated

Figure227

Water consumption (m3)*

69

cardboard and paper

textile waste 61.8% - Water: Inditex has devoted itself in water management based on its 5.4% hazardous waste Global Water Management Strategy. Within this strategy,0.3%it has the Production Chain Water Master Plan to guide both the company and its Other urban waste the suppliers to use water and treat waste water sustainably. Currently 15% company is a member of the Joint Roadmap of ZDHC and is working on zero discharge of undesired chemical substance by 2020 (Inditex Plastic Wood 2.4% Official Website). Although the reality of the15.1% operation is that the water performance - sustainability balance sheet consumption has doubled between 2009 and 2013, there are still some progresses of Inditex. One of Inditex’s suppliers in Morocco claimed that its laundry facility consumes 80,000 cubic liters of water per day, and Inditex is trying to utilize a machine, which was designed for the supplier to meet with its environmental standards and to cut the bills for water, The Inditex system of indicators environmental to treat and recycle 50% of its wastewater.

Priorshows to thethe implementation impact of the Group in terms of consuming natural of the machine, the untreated using wastewater formgenerating this supplier’s laundry resources, energy, waste and facility was dumped into the public water depuration systems (Abnett and generating atmospheric emissions.

These indicators are expressed by number of garments released on Amed, 2015). 3D printing may eliminate the need of laundry, dyeing and the market. This reflects the efficiency of all areas of other activities related to water consumption, thushead it may solvechain the water the Company (manufacturing, office, head offices, logistics centres and stores). These relative treatment problem and save a lot of fresh water.

290

Environmental indicators

indicators show that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions been significantly thuswith reflecting - Energy: Inditex ishave trying to reduce energy reduced, consumption access the to success in integrating innovative environmental safer and renewable energy sources in its supply chain. For 2020, the management into all phases of the business. The scope company raised itsofobjective to cut energy consumption by 15% of thein the indicators includes Inditex’s own premises all the stores owned by the Group worldwide. energetic intensitySpain of itsand operations for each garment; it is about two

times the objectiveThe of 2012.

And itofsetthe the Intergovernmental goal of reducing thePanel energy guidelines on Change, IPCC (Guidelines for (Abnett National used in stores by Climate 10% for each garment placed on the market Greenhouse Gas Inventories, 2007) and the World and Amed, 2015). Resources 3D printingInstitute might be GHG an issue of energy consumption Protocol (2008) are used since the printers to arecalculate powered GHG by a considerable amount of electricity. emissions. The following emission factors have been used for the different types of But with the development of solar and other renewable and clean energy: power for the printers, the−issue maygas: be solved. about Inditex Natural 0.2025(More Kg COinformation eq/kWh 2 Group’s waste, water and energy and carbon footprint can − Diesel: 2.6919consumption Kg CO2eq/kWh be found in the appendix of Inditex’s sustainability balance sheet). − Electricity from the grid: 0.300 Kg CO2eq/kWh

The emission factors applied to natural gas and diesel

991,727 817,721

307,868

2008

338,655

2009

395,640

2010

2011

* Water consumption for 2011 has been updated with the information available in 2012.

2012

Figure228

Energy consumption Overall energy consumption of Inditex Group facilities, expressed in Terajoules (TJ), comes from the use of fossil fuels (natural gas, propane and diesel) and electricity from the grid. It includes energy consumption from all factories, head office, chain head offices, logistics centres and stores. It does not include diesel Figure229 consumption pertaining to logistics activities carried out by external operators (scope 3). The scope of the indicators includes Inditex’s own premises in Spain and all the stores owned by the Group worldwide.

Overall energy consumption (TJ)*

3,278

3,235

3,386

2010

2011

4,010

3,114

2008

2009

2012

* The overall energy consumption has been updated to consider the density of diesel at 15 ºC as 0.832 kg/litre.

Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, 2007.

Figure230

Overall natural gas consumption (toe)*

70

- Recycle and reuse: Inditex recycles and reuses all of its cardboard and paper packaging up to 6 to 8 times for its product transportation from its logistics centers to the retail stores. When the products arrive in stores, the cardboard, plastic clothing hangers and garment alarms will be returned to the logistics platforms. A hundred percent of its alarms were reused, with 672,377,823 units recycled, and about 79 million plastic hangers were recycled in 2014 (Inditex Official Website).

Besides the company itself, Inditx also set standards of ZNormativa for suppliers to guide their product packaging and distribution and collaborated with the Inditex Waste Minimization Plan. Most of the waste in its supply chain system is recycled, including scraps of fabric, board and paper, plastic, wood and metal (Inditex Official Website). If there is no need to transport products from the distribution centers to stores, there would be no need for the cardboard boxes and the hangers for shipping garments.

- Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR is also essential to the whole Group’s business model as the chief executive, Pablo Isla, claimed in a rare interview about the company’s sustainability policies: “we feel we know our responsibility because of our size and influence in the sector. We are perfectly aware that this means additional responsibility and we want to play a leading role” (Abnett and Amed, 2015). The company also recognizes that it has better resources for the corporate social responsibility team than other smaller companies to enforce the initiatives for environmental issues. The CSR system and the buying system of the company are integrated closely to ensure its sustainability policies are also complied within its global supply chain, especially those in developing countries where environmental laws and human rights are lax. The buying team is able to review the results of the audits of the factories, which also enforce the factories to perform well for the audits (Abnett and Amed, 2015). Furthermore, because Inditex has long-term working relationships with its suppliers, the company will work together with suppliers to ensure that they can meet with the environmental standards. However, for some suppliers, Inditex only accounts a small part of their orders, around 5-10%, so the change of those suppliers is also limited to about 5-10% (Abnett and Amed, 2015).

Figure231

Figure232

Figure233

71

Figure234

Sustainability Strategy:

Inditex applies a global sustainability strategy with three major pillars – water management, energy and greenhouse gas emissions management and biodiversity protection (Inditex Official Site). Their philosophy for sustainability management is to sell ethical, safe and community- and environmentally-friendly products, which they call “Right to Wear.” The purpose of Right to Wear is to guarantee the quality and sustainability of all their products and business activities (Inditex Official Site).

The specific initiatives of Right to Wear (Inditex Official Site): - Tested to Wear: The supply chain and production processes are audited and monitored by designed methodology to ensure the ethical criteria as well as human, labor and environmental rights.

- Green to Wear: To ensure the products are made and sold environmentally-friendly.

(See the full content of Right to Wear in appendix)

Figure235

72

The sustainability management is divided into five aspects, under which there are several initiatives for each aspect (Inditex Official Site): - Products: Demanding health, quality and sustainability standards; exhaustive controls; product testing; benchmark laboratories; raw materials; animal welfare; product use and end-of-life - Employees: Volunteerism; integration; for&from; barrier-free stores; equality and work-life balance; health and safety policy - Suppliers: Code of conduct; compliance program; social audits; corrective action plans; working in clusters; case studies; suppliers in the world - Community: Investment in social program; social projects; aid for Rana Plaza - Environment: Water; energy; biodiversity; eco-efficient stores; manufacturing; logistics ď&#x201A;§ Under this sector, Inditex has a Global Water Management Strategy that includes zero discharge of hazardous chemicals. And the company also came up with a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Green Codeâ&#x20AC;? to implement environmental assessment and control criteria in its supply chain.

See Green Code in appendix.

With all these attempts in sustainability, 3D printing will be a good way to reduce the waste of their prototypes and textile waste of production; solve the labor issues by cutting the process of production such as sewing and dyeing; release from supplier audits; eliminate long-distance and international transportation and distribution with local manufacturing/ printing; reduce water consumption and carbon emissions; and solve the problem of wastewater from dyeing carbon footprint of product shipping to consumers.

Figure236

73

Marketing Mix of ZARA: - Product  Quick response to the changing needs of customers  Complete control of the products  New styles and new items arrive in stores twice weekly  The unpopular merchandise is pulled from stores immediately if it doesn’t sell  Respond to the feedback from local customers in different foreign markets (Bhasin, 2015)  Produces what it sells (Loeb, 2015)

Figure237

- Place:  ZARA has penetrated 30 countries  Each store of ZARA around the world has the same environment and similar store design of clean, spacious, light, white and modern atmosphere (Bhasin, 2015)  Customize its retail strategy for different seasons for markets in the Southern Hemisphere such as Sydney, Melbourne, Johannesburg and Lima (Dishman, 2015) - Promotion:  Marketing strategy: exclusivity, experience, differentiation, affordability  Product shipments are small and regular to keep the inventory scarce and fresh, which pulls customers to buy urgently and visit stores frequently to check new items (Bhasin, 2015) (See full marketing mix in appendix) Target Market: - Demographics: age group 18-40 who live in the cities and are fashion conscious - Market segment: 65% are women, 25% are men, 10% are children - Lifestyle: highly fashion conscious, educated, in the middle class category (Bhasin, 2015)

Figure238

Figure239

74

What 3D Printing Can Do for ZARA For the Whole Business Model:

The biggest potential of 3D printing for ZARAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business model is to shrink the complex global supply chain to only a fewer steps with very limited transportation between each stage, which will shorten the already-fast-enough lead time of three weeks. If they were to use 3D printing in their manufacturing, it is possible to shorten the lead time to one week or shorter, saving the time and cost of waiting as well as the costs of shipping, packaging, logistics, space of logistics and distribution centers, suppliers, water treatment facilities, and energy; furthermore, the shorter lead time will help decrease the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carbon footprint and resource consumption. It is faster, cleaner, simpler, shorter and zero waste.

ZARA 3D Printing Supply Chain

Product Designing

Packaging

Prototyping

Logistics

Inventory

Testing & Inspection

Shipping

Raw Material

3D Scanning+Printing Retailing

Shipping

Filament Manufacturing

Consumer

Trash/ Recycle

Figure240

75

The Potential 3D Printing Manufacturing Supply Chain for ZARA: - Product development: designers and product managers can directly print the prototype of the products at the studio or research and design laboratories, which can eliminate material sourcing and prototype producing by suppliers and all the shipping back and forth in between.  The efficiency achieved will include time for modifying the design, time for sourcing, time for prototype producing, time for shipping, and time for discussing with suppliers  The cost saved will include cost of sourcing, prototyping by suppliers, and transportation  The waste saved will include fabric and other material inventory for prototyping, fuels for transportation, and time  The environmental issue solved will include greenhouse gas emissions from shipping - Production: although the raw material sourcing may be the same, there will be no need for all the processes required for spinning, dyeing and weaving into yarn. The 3D printer will print the fabric or garments directly. Besides, since the printer can print seamless garments, there would be no need for pattern plotting, cutting and sewing. However, three years from now, the ability to produce the complex designed apparel may still require the manual work of sewing, embedding, and other detailed craftworks. While the products will be printed with raw materials or the potential fabric filament, there would be no or limited chemicals involved, thus it is unnecessary to launder garments before selling to customers. Since the production process is minimized, the original transportation between factories is eliminated or minimized.

As a result, for the garments that can be printed right in-store, the company has no need to pre-commit any percentage of the products, and it can meet the requirements and demand of customers right away.

The labor involved is largely reduced, consequently decreasing the cost

The chart bellow is the example as the comparison of traditional production and 3D printing manufacturing for the fashion industry.

Figure241

76

of labor not by compressing the wages but by reducing the handcrafted activities. Moreover, without the labor force, the issue of human rights and working conditions, which are still serious and inevitable problems in some developing countries, can be eliminated. In addition, the simpler supply chain system also minimizes the layers of suppliers, which solves the issues a retailer’s unawareness of what happens in those tier 2,3,4 and 5 suppliers; it would also solve the problems of inaccurate and incomplete audits and inspections of factories. However, there is one main concern of the 3D printer, which is energy consumption.

Since the main power that a 3D printer uses is electricity, it will be necessary for ZARA to implement clean and renewable energy for electricity, such as solar power.  The efficiency achieved will include lead time  The cost saved will include ginning, spinning, dyeing and weaving facilities, labor, transportation, third-party audits, and training for suppliers to fulfill standards  The waste saved will include scratch of fabric, water for washing and dyeing, energy for running the facilities, packaging for shipping, fuel for transportation, and time  The environmental issues solved will include toxic chemicals involved in dyeing and bleaching, waste water treatment, working conditions and human rights of labor, and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation - Testing: the safety testing of the garments will be at the designing and prototyping process at the laboratories.

Figure242

Figure243

Figure244

77

- Logistics: with printing-at-spot, the logistics centers and distribution centers can be eliminated, and there would be no need for transporting between suppliers to distribution centers to retail stores. Nevertheless, there would still be need for a logistics center for online orders, and ZARA can collaborate with UPS, who already provides 3D printing services for customers, to print and ship the products to consumers. Also, ZARA may need to arrange inventory of the materials for print; nevertheless, the total size and volume of the printing materials would be smaller than the total size and volume of the original raw materials, yarn, thread, fabric and garments. The absence of ZARA’s frequent shipping by airplane will also eliminate a huge amount of carbon dioxide emissions and other air pollution. Without transportation, the cardboard boxes, plastic garment hangers and other packaging for shipping will also be unnecessary. It will not only eliminate the time for handling the products after arriving in stores for replenishment but also save the waste created by packaging.  The efficiency achieved will include shorter lead time  The cost saved will include fuel for transportation, shipping costs, facilities and space and equipment of logistics centers and distribution centers, transportation within the centers such as electric-vehicles, cargo, warehousing, supply chain solutions, boxes and hangers for packaging, shipping insurance, employees involved of the whole logistics and distribution  The waste saved will include the energy of running the logistics and distribution centers as well as the energy for transportation, either on ground or air, space of the centers, cardboard, paper and plastics of packaging, and labor  The environmental issue solved will include greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and recycling of packaging

Figure245

Figure246

Figure247

Figure248

78

- Inventory/ stock: while there is no need for many materials involved in the production process, such as yarn, fabric and buttons as well as garment to be stocked at inventory to be prepared for quick response for short time orders, the 3D printing in-store can help ZARA save cost and space of inventory as well as the time to arrange those stocks. At the stores, there would also be no need to keep the space for merchandise stocks. However, for the current development of 3D printing, it would be inevitable to keep printing filaments or the fabric printing materials in stock, either in-store or at the central inventory center of ZARA. But compared to the volume of the materials needed for producing garments and the volume of garments inventory within the conventional supply chain system, the size of inventory for filament or other materials for 3D printed fashion items would be smaller.  The efficiency achieved will include no inventory of garments and bulks of materials for production  The cost saved will include cost of inventory and cost of unsold goods  The waste saved will include space and unsold products as well as time for arranging inventory of garments  The environmental issue solved will include landfills of unsold products

Figure249

Figure250

Figure251

Figure252

79

- Retail: with 3D printers at stores, the stores have no need to replenish products twice weekly, but there would be demand for replenishing materials for printing. The space in the stockroom can also be freed for other purposes, such as staff’s resting room or locker room (the current situation of staff’s locker room is overcrowded and squeezed), or repair room, testing room, stock room for other facilities used for visual merchandising and window displays. Since the garments can be printed right away, there will be no need for keeping all sizes of products on the floor but just one piece for displaying. Or the full sized display can be just for the use of fitting and trying on. In addition, with 3D scanning, customers can scan their body measurements and have the auto calculation on the machine customize the products to have the perfect fit to their body shape. While customizing their products via the machine, they can also see how the garments will fit on their bodies through the pictures of them wearing it on the screen of the machine, which can save the inconvenience of trying on for some customers who are in a rush. The perfect fit of the garments can be the value added to the products for consumers, thus increasing the brand satisfaction and loyalty to ZARA. The perfect fit is also the solution for the current problem of unfit garments piling up in consumers’ wardrobes, consequently saving a lot of garments from ending up in landfills. Moreover, with the perfect fit, the rate of garments returned will be decreased.  The efficiency achieved will include no replenishment of products on the floor  The cost saved will include space for stockrooms, overstock and discount of products, the repair fee of garments stocked in stockrooms, and loss of sales of the returned products  The waste saved will include space of stockrooms, time for product replenishment and stockroom arrangement, and unsold stock  The environmental issue solved will include landfills of ill-fitting garments and unwanted overstock, power for stockrooms such as light and air conditioning, and greenhouse gas emissions of air conditioning for stockrooms

Figure253

Figure254

Figure255

80

- Post-consumption: since there are already many laboratories and 3D printing companies doing research and design on sustainable filaments for 3D printer, it would be possible to 3D print with recyclable and reusable or biodegradable fashion items in the future.

Although currently 3D printing for apparel is still at a prototype stage, to reach the sustainable materials for 3D printed apparel would take longer than the other items such as shoes or accessories, which can be made with biodegradable plastic or reusable metal; when the technology is mature enough, ZARAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customers can bring back the garments for recycling and reprinting to other new items, which can help ZARA reduce the waste and decrease the usage of raw materials. Or if the garments are biodegradable, consumers can simply dispose them and let the garments be digested by bacteria within a short amount of time. Both ways could improve the problem of landfills and the reusable materials can help ZARA save cost and waste.

- Central control/ data center: if implementing 3D printing technology in ZARAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stores, there may be no need for the real-time data tracking to adjust the production of garments, for the 3D printer itself is already catching the real-item data from customers in-store and immediately answering to the demand of consumers. Or the data center may become the database for product design adjustments to quickly modify the design for customers to choose on the 3D printer. Since the consumer feedback and demands will be generated directly through the 3D scanning and printing machine, there will be no need to adjust the production through the central control and data center to suppliers. The central control can be changed to monitor which store lacks which type of materials for print. Without the need for central control of the suppliers in different countries, it would also be easier to fulfill the CSR standards within its global market.

Figure257

Figure256

Figure258

81

Figure259

82

Business Plan Goals and objectives proposed: - Introducing 3D printing technology into the fast fashion industry via ZARA’s biggest global concept store in New York.

- Testing the acceptance of 3D scanning and 3D printing products from consumers’ real-time feedback.

- Spreading the knowledge and experience of 3D scanning and 3D printing to the mass market in the fashion industry.

- Improving the sustainability performance of Zara and then influencing the whole Group (five-year plan).  Reduce water waste by at least 10% via the elimination of the conventional production ratio which was originally for the concept store on 666 Fifth Avenue in New York.  Reduce toxic chemicals and energy consumption by at least 10%.  Reduce fabric waste by at least 20%.  Reduce labor working hours by at least 2 hours every working day.  Reduce fuel consumption for transportation by at least 20%.  Reduce greenhouse gas emission for transportation by at least 20%.  Reduce cardboard boxes, paper packaging, and plastic hangers at least by 20%.  Reduce electricity usage for the concept store by at least by 40%.

- Improve replenishment efficiency at the concept store.

- Enhance global sustainable supply chain system management in order to reduce negative environmental impacts and improve human rights protection.

- Raise customer satisfaction of products by providing customized fit a s well as good quality.

- Implement 3D scanning and printing manufacturing to the whole business model and supply chain of the ZARA brand within 3 years after the first launch of 3D services at the concept store on 666 Fifth Avenue in New York; enforce the 3D manufacturing system in the whole Inditex Group within 10 years.

- Influence 50% of the fashion brands in the mass market within 5 years; further affect luxury and premium brands within 5 years; change the whole supply chain system of the fashion industry within 15 years.

- For the 10-year plan of the whole company, achieve zero discharge of waste water and reduce water consumption to 80% of the current conventional manufacturing system. Decrease greenhouse gas emissions from logistics and distribution by 80% of the current conventional logistics. Eliminate the need of inventory of products except for material for printing.

83

These goals and objectives can not only achieve the original goals and objectives of Inditex such as “ensuring traceability of the supply chain in all its processes and at all tiers” and “consolidate the protection of fundamental labor rights of all workers involved in the production of products that Inditex commercializes and to ensure the sustainability of the supply chain” and all the other sustainability related ones, but also make further step as a leading role both for sustainable business among the mass fashion market.

Brief 3D printing market and growth potential review:

During the last 3 years, 3D printing has had a dramatic and rapid development around the world in different industries, including industrial, automotive, medical, dental, aerospace and aviation as well as fashion and jewelry. Currently, 3D printing is worth $4.5 billion of the market share (Sher, 2015). The projection of the revenue growth of 3D printing related services and 3D printers will be from $3.07 billion in 2013 to $12.8 billion by 2018, surpassing $21 billion by 2020 (What is 3D Printing). The materials for printing are expected to grow to $1.052 million by 2019 (“The Ethical Filament Mark”). It is foreseen that jewelry will have a 30-35% CAGR growth for the next 15 years (Sher, 2015). See the price of 3D printed fashion products on market in appendix.

Fashion brands that start to utilize 3D printing and 3D scanning technology: - Adidas: it develops its Futurecraft soles project with a 3D printing company, Materialise, to create midsoles that are able to fit the shape and size of the feet of consumers for the running shoes (Koslow, 2015).

- New Balance: it worked with 3D Systems with new materials, elastomeric powder, DuraForm® Flex TPU, to 3D print the midsole parts for its new running shoes to improve flexibility, strength, weight and durability. The shoes will be released in Boston in April 2016 (New Balance Official Website, 2015).

Figure260

Figure261

84

Figure262

Target consumer:

The target consumers of ZARA are those in the age group ranging from 18 to 40 who have passion for the latest fashion. ZARA has its presence over the world within 88 markets with various culture. Therefore, there is no specific geographic segment but age demographic. Within the 18-40 age group are Generation Y (Gen Y) and Generation Z (Gen Z), which are similar but still considerably distinctive.

- Gen Y: basically it refers to people born between the 1980s to 1990s, who are now aged about 25 to 35. They are also called “Millennials.” It is said that Gen Yers are more hedonistic, tend to enjoy a cool experience than cool products, and are less utilitarian.

The best way to reach them is by word-of-mouth. They are willing to try new things and are less conscious of price; they would spend money on expensive items and spend more in the store than Gen X (Colucci and Scarpi, 2013). There are about 80 million millennials in America alone and they account for about one fourth of the entire population, representing $200 billion in annual buying power (Schawbel, 2015).

- Gen Z: people born after 1995 can be classified into this group. The oldest member of this group is about at the age of 18 now. They are the first generation of “digital natives”: they can’t imagine a world without the Internet and are highly attached to the digital world.

They have the habit of wanting everything, everywhere immediately, with little patience. Playing with multi-screen is also common among Gen Zers (Benhamou, 2015). They get all their information and the latest trends from social media. See full description of these two generations in appendix.

Although ZARA has a global presence, for this project, the first trial spot is ZARA’s biggest global concept store on 666 Fifth Avenue in New York, which opened in 2012, and the most frequent-visiting consumers are suggested to be the residents who live near the area of the store. As a result, I chose the zip codes of 10019, 10036, 10065, 10022, 10023, 10017 and the immediate neighborhood of this area to be the target segments of the project. According to esri Zipcode Lookup, within this neighborhood, consumers are classified mostly as laptops and lattes, trendsetters and metro renters. Most of them have high median household income, between $67,000 and $200,000, compared to the rest of the country. The median age is between 30 and 40. They are single or young families with professional jobs who commute to work by walking, biking, mass transportation or cabs. Their lifestyles are fashionable, cultural and healthy. Innovation and something new are common and acceptable to them, so they are willing to try new things. See the detail of the main segments of consumers within these areas in appendix.

85

Strategy Overview:

For the sustainability part of the project, the strategy is focused on a shorter and simpler supply chain system to achieve less material waste, resources and energy waste, labor waste, space, time and money waste. It also largely reduces greenhouse gas emissions and waste water pollution within the system. At the same time, the new technology will enforce the protection of human rights with better control and awareness of suppliers as the supply chain becomes simpler with fewer layers of tiers, which makes it more reachable for retailers to be aware and solve the problem of working conditions of suppliers. For the marketing part, the perfect fit and customization of garments will be the main focus to attract consumers and provide better performance in terms of product quality to achieve higher product satisfaction and brand loyalty form the Gen Y and Z consumers. 3D scanning and printing offers them the chance to be involved in the production of the products they purchase and also be connected with the innovation and new technology implementation. Before implementing the new means of manufacturing in every store of ZARA around the world, the project will be implemented at one of the global concept stores of ZARA in New York City as a new concept to test the market as well as instill a new way of shopping in consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mindsets and behaviors.

Unique Selling Proposition:

The 3D scanning and printing will provide the perfect fit and highly customized garments that suit each individual consumer the best; plus, its manufacturing process generates less environmental impacts and improves the condition of suppliers within the supply chain while lowering cost from production.

Time of launch of the project at the first trial concept store: 2020

Figure263

86

Marketing Mix: - Product: • Men’s and Women’s Basic collection (apparel, shoes, bags and accessories) for 3D print • Men’s and Women’s conventional fashion items • Children’s conventional items Although the 3D printer for soft apparel is still under development as a prototype, and there is only one company who has released its prototype of a fabric and garment 3D printer, seeing the rapid development of 3D printing during the last three years suggests that within the next three years, there would be another big evolution of the 3D world. Therefore, I suggest that 3D printing for apparel would be capable of fabricating at least the whole Basic collection products of ZARA five years from now. As the Basic collection is one of the best-sellers of ZARA, it would make some influence on the supply chain. For instance, though the basic collection only accounts for about 25-30% of the total value sales at the flagship store in Taipei, Taiwan, the volume of sales is much more than that due to the low price of the Basic collection. While the store replenishes its stock twice a week with about 100 to 150 units of basic collection each time, and the turnover of the collection is about 100%, the store is still able to sell at the regular rate even if it doesn’t replenish for a whole month. That means if the store sells 20 units of basic t-shirts per day, there are 600 units of basic t-shirts of its stock at the beginning of the month (Data from anonymous industry insider). If the store implements 3D printing for the Basic collection, it can spare 600 units of stock in-store each month and spare the transportation, which involves a lot of labor, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, money and time at a considerable scale.

As for the other categories, the development of 3D printing for shoes is already mature in the market, so there would be a printer for the whole category of shoes in-store. Although the price range is still high for a well designed and fabricated shoe, such as the collaboration between United Nude and Iris Van Herpen which sold at around $1,000, or with the launch of New Balance’s new 3D

Figure264

Figure265

Figure266

Figure267

87

printed midsoles running shoes in 2016, it can be expected that the price is going to be more affordable just as the change of price of the 3D printer itself has decreased during the past decade. Besides shoes, accessories such as jewelry and iPhone cases are also at a mature level of 3D printing, so there would also be the 3D printer for accessories. For example, customers can 3D scan their fingers and customize the size and design, such as color and some minor twist of the rings and then 3D print it immediately in-store.

The category of product lines will include Men’s and Women’s Basic collection. Because products for children, especially babies, should be extremely safe and gentle for their delicate skin, garments would need more than double of the inspection, testing and experiments to ensure the products are safe for children; thus, the launch of 3D printed children’s wear would be postponed until all the technology and material development are highly mature. But the Men’s and Women’s products will still be safe under the inspection and testing of each product for sale.

With this new method of manufacturing, ZARA not only sells the 3D printed products but also sells the value added services of 3D scanning and customization of the products as well as the unique store experience and atmosphere. Additionally, in the future, with the implementation of recyclable and reusable materials, consumers can bring the products back to the ZARA store to reuse the old garments and print new ones. Even if the old ones cannot be reprint right on spot, it can still save ZARA from the waste and cost of raw materials. For consumers, ZARA can provide some benefits such as gift cards or discounts for their new purchase at ZARA. Though the over consumption of consumers may not be changed as long as consumers don’t change their mindset, the reusable materials can help to close the loop of the garments. Besides, with the usage of biodegradable materials, consumers even don’t need to bring the clothes to the stores but simply dispose the old garments and let the bacteria consume the products within a period of time, not a century but within a year or even shorter. Both types of materials can help ZARA to improve the overflowing landfill issue, which will push ZARA to a leading role of solving this issue within the fashion industry.

Figure268

Figure269

Figure270

Figure271

88

- Place: 666 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY 10103, USA Since New York City is one of the international fashion hubs and residents there are more open minded consumers for innovation and trials, it is a great choice to try something new and different. Advanced technology is also common and a must-have for New Yorkers. While the consumers in New York are also quite picky with high standards, especially for fashion, the concept of 3D scanning and 3D printing in-store at ZARA can be accepted by them, it will have bigger chance to be accepted by the global market and further implemented in the whole fashion industry in the future. Besides, New York is also a big global travel destination for both business or individual trips with total visitors to New York City both international and domestic in 2014 up to 56.5 million (NYC Statistics).

The store that chosen as the first trial is the global concept store of ZARA on 666 Fifth Avenue, which was opened in 2012 as the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest store in the US and was designed with the latest advancements in sustainability. Moreover, the store will be the global sustainability standard for international retailers. Besides its large size, with more than 3,000 square meters spread over three floors, its location at the heart of a prime shopping destination among the world is also perfect for the global market to see the innovative trial and follow up (Inditex Official Website News, 2012).

The store design includes four principles, which are beauty, clarity, functionality and sustainability, while its emphasis on simplicity also has the goal to facilitate direct contact with its customers. Each space in the store displays a peculiar collection. The features of the store include all sustainable aspects of eco-efficiency from Inditexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stores to show further progress of the environmental dedications of the Group. It is estimated that the energy consumption of the store is 30% less than the average of a conventional store, and the water usage is 70% less. The store also reduces more than 150 tons of CO2 per year than the traditional store. With these aspects of sustainability, this store is a perfect fit for implementing 3D technology to enhance the performance of sustainability while also attracting consumers with an innovative store experience and customer-involved production process.

See complete marketing mix in appendix.

Figure272

Figure273

Figure274

89

Floor Plan:

At each floor of the concept store, there will still be regular displays and visual merchandising for customers to browse and explore the items that interest them. Each item displayed will have regular, full average sizes from XS, S, M, L, XL for customers to have an ordinary idea of how the possible size of the product may look on them and to feel the touch of the real garments before they head to the digital section. After consumers find items they like, they can reach to any touch screen embedded on walls or mirrors in the store and search for the item; then they can 3D scan their body to customize the size of the item and see how the item would look like on them virtually on the screen. If they like the result of the looks, they can place the order of the item and pay on-site via the machine and get a ticket. At the moment they place their orders, the data will be transfered to the printer in stockroom to start manufacturing.

Then consumers can linger around in the store and keep exploring while waiting for the print. After five minutes, they can pick up their merchandises at the counter at any floor. According to the size of the current Electroloom printer, which is 1000mm*1080mm*620mm (about 39.4inch*42.5inch*24.4inch), and the size of the store (3,000 square meters, about 32,291.7 square feet spread over three floors), in addition to my assumption of the speed of 3D print manufacturing in the five to ten-year future which would be five minutes for each garment, there would be 10 printers in stockroom on each floor (30 printers as total) to serve consumers. Currently, the 3D scanner for tailoring, implemented by Gay Giano, as mentioned in the previous section of the new technology trend for fashion, requires about 10 seconds to get 120 measurement data points. The fastest 3D printer in the world can now print rings within a minute, which shows that the 3D scanning and printing will be able to serve customers on-site in the future. Although the fabric printer from Electroloom still requires 14 hours to print a tank top, judging from the time cycle of 3D technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development and the current trend of the technology, it may achieve the capacity in the future.

Figure275

Figure276

Figure277

90

Conclusion

With the excitement of various new technology and devices shown at CES2016, the development of the 3D world is maturing while each technology, including 3D printing, 3D scanning, virtual reality and other advanced technology, is beginning to connect with each other and establish an ecosystem. The collaboration between 3D scanning and virtual reality as well as the connection between 3D scanning and 3D printing both have had rapid and potential growth this past year. The trend of this technology brings efficiency and convenience into the mass market to enhance the performance of many industries, including the fashion industry. With the appearance of 3D scanning and 3D printing eyewear shown by 3D Systems and the 3D printed apparel by Cubify, in addition to the research and design on 3D printed apparel by numerous companies, studios and laboratories during the past three years, it can be projected that the future of the fashion industry will closely collaborate with the 3D industry. Furthermore, the launch of the first soft fabric 3D printer by Electroloom, with its first cohesive seamless garments printed in May 2015, shows the potential of 3D printing being implemented for the apparel production in the not-too-far future.

Besides the efficiency and customization that 3D printing can provide for the fashion industry, it can also improve the harsh environmental impacts and labor issues of the supply chain system within the industry. By simplifying and minimizing the production process, without ginning, spinning, dyeing, pattern making, cutting, sewing, assembling, washing and drying, shipping, distributing and other steps within the conventional supply chain, the waste, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced at a large scale, especially in the waste of the materials, water and energy consumption, and CO2 emissions. Whether companies take sustainability

and environmental impacts into account, even if all they care about is making more profits, companies will inevitably devote attention to sustainability and society issues because the new generation of consumers, both Gen Y and Gen Z, care about these issues. Whether consumers take eco-issues into account in their buying options or not, they still care about the topic and expect that companies have already taken it as the standard in their business. Even if consumers do not mind the situation of the environmental impacts and the lack of resources, the fashion industry, as the second polluted and exploited industry in the world, definitely should take sustainability issues to a further step. A 3D ecosystem may not be the exact solution, but it has the potential to improve and revolutionize current conditions within and outside of the fashion industry.

91

Figure278