108 WHAT'S THE STORY
“At the moment, the greatest challenge is the development of truly lifelike avatars.” - Lena Nussmann, Assyst/ Human Solutions
--kind of brand manager. Many within the industry agree with this perception. Horst Fetzer of HTW Berlin/Fashion Design: “In my opinion, the role of the designer has changed: from the artistic individualist and the creator of a distinct design language to a team player who utilises market data to focus on customer needs and keeps an eye on both the brand and merchandising.” Future designers need to be capable of evaluating research data, interdisciplinary thinking, and cooperating with procurement, cutting, and product management units. Not least because the design process itself is becoming increasingly digital and merging with the production process. 3D representations that can be transformed into 2D cutting patterns directly are currently accelerating progress. “The creative teams will grow to include 3D technology specialists”, Fetzer argues. “Sample collections will no longer be absolutely necessary in the future. I believe that companies need to invest more in 3D imaging, because that not only shortens the design and prototyping process, but also, in addition, the results can replace photographs. Huge sample collections, of which only a small part is ordered and the rest is sold off in warehouse sales, will phase out gradually.” 118 style in progress
The introduction of the digital showroom by Tommy Hilfiger has ignited the next development stage. 3D Specialists in Demand
The revolution is not only being fuelled by designers, but - maybe even more so - also by product managers. Verena Goldberg, who teaches within the masters programme in fashion and product management at AMD Akademie Mode & Design, has been following this development very closely. She perceives a rapid change in product development, for example in her ongoing work for a German fashion brand: “Up to two or three years ago, the visual representation of existing programmes was insufficient in terms of quality. While 3D technology was in use, the results couldn’t compete with photographic visualisations without utilising a third-party rendering programme. The companies have made great progress and have long left the basic stage. An increasing number of products are digitised. In an ongoing project, we started with t-shirts and shirts. Today, we include dresses, knitwear, and suits.” In order to provide sufficient incentives for higher education institutions to work with 3D technologies, Assyst/ Human Solutions, a leading
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New Ground
“The creative teams will grow to include 3D technology specialists.” - Horst Fetzer, professor at HTW Berlin/Fashion Design
software provider, has launched the so-called Vidya Award. “The quality level of submitted work has increased significantly. This proves that schools and colleges have embraced 3D simulations and that they are becoming commonplace”, says jury member Michael Ernst, who works with numerous 3D programmes at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. This development is also confirmed by Lena Nussmann, a product consultant for sizing & fitting at Assyst/ Human Solutions who collaborates with the universities. The Personal Avatar
Nussmann predicts an increased use of 3D representations in the field of e-commerce. This technology is not only useful for designers, but also for distributors and - if the quality level is high enough - for consumers visiting online shops. “At the moment, the greatest challenge is the development of truly lifelike avatars”, she explains. These avatars could make mannequin photos expendable in the medium term. Some design programmes already feature visually appealing avatars. Tellingly, most of them hail from the gaming industry. Consumers could feel comfortable with such representations quite quickly. Peter Schmies, the head and co-creator of the fash-
ion and product management masters programme at AMD Akademie Mode & Design, goes even further in terms of 3D application. He believes the technology has enormous potential in terms of individualised offers: “It is already possible to create a personal avatar based on individual body measurements and to create a custom wardrobe for it. This opens up many additional exciting business models for the future.” Is an individual avatar with whom you can try on clothing online possible? Or - even better - can individual body measurements be incorporated into the product and thus solve many problems in terms of fit? Professionalised Photo Procurement
Until the aforementioned becomes a reality, many companies have decided to focus on presentation. For this purpose, they have established numerous - often quite huge - photo studios (e.g. Amazon’s studio in London). These studios, which operate like an assembly line, shoot and crop product photos for their respective clients. But digitisation is making rapid progress in this field too. Fast Forward Imaging, a Berlin-based business, has developed a procedure that streamlines the process