Digital fashion

Digital Fashion is the visual representation of clothing built using computer technologies and 3D software. 3D Fashion design is developed using softwares like CLO. CLO is a 3D fashion design software that builds virtual, true-to life garment visualisation with cutting-edge simulation technologies for the fashion industry. 3D Fashion design has been pioneered by such designers as, Cat Taylor. [1][2] Cat Taylor, better known as Cattytay, has been bridging the gaps between Fashion, Technology and Sustainability—working with clients as notable as Alexander Wang, Selfridges, Balenciaga and more, she is redefining how garments are seen and even sold.

Digital fashion is also the interplay between digital technology and couture. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been deeply integrated both into the fashion industry as well as within the experience of clients and prospects. Such interplay has happened at three main levels.

  1. ICTs are used to design and produce fashion products, while also the industry organization leverages onto digital technologies
  2. ICTs impact marketing, distribution and sales
  3. ICTs are extensively used in communication activities with all relevant stakeholders, and contribute to co-create the fashion world

Design, production, and organization

Among the many applications available to fashion designers to model the fusion of creativity with digital avenues, the Digital Textile Printing can be mentioned here.

Digital textile printing

Digital printing is a process in which prints are directly applied to fabrics with printer, reducing 95% the use of water, 75% the use of energy, and minimizing textile waste. The main advantage of digital printing is the ability to do very small runs of each design (even less than 1 yard).[3]

Digital Textile printing is “probably the greatest innovation of 21-st century fashion" as declared by Christina Binkley in the Wall Street Journal. The “vastly improved digital printing technologies allow designers to innovate while beefing up their brands“.[4]

Brand such as Prada, Pucci or Jil Sander are using this technology to invent their design ideas on fabric.

The fashion industry has been facing various challenges ranging from the high taxation, availability of raw material to the constrained market. The fashion industry has become more competitive and with new trends taking over the market as a result of digitization. The organization has differentiated its operations and products due to the recent developments in technology which have realized new integrated online shopping.

The changes in the organization have helped to facilitate effective management of their inventories and shipping. Moreover, the business has gained a higher order status and created a partnership that involves both buyers and sellers. The digitization in the organization has helped the management to receive regular reports on the performance in the market and the feedback from their contacts.

Business requirements

One of the entities in the fashion industry which would adopt this move includes Brick and Mortar. The move will help both the operation of the business and make the company more competitive within the fashion industry. Some of the technologies are such as:

  1. Intelligence systems
  2. Big data and knowledge technology

The big data and knowledge technology refer to a system that incorporates internet clicks, use of social media, mobile transactions as well as the user-generated content such as the use of sales questions among other forms of transactions. The technique is more superior when it comes to unveiling the patterns and trends. The vast amount of data encompasses data exhaust system, private data, public data, self-quantification of data, communal data as well as data exhaust systems.

Some of the characteristics of the system include the use of various varieties of data, large quantities of data and the variability of data acquired. The big data information has been induced in most businesses and has helped to develop new ideas, get updates on emerging trends, styles, and shape within the fashion industry. The use of social media comments, opinions and views has helped in achieving these new trends.

This, in turn, has helped in knowing the customers better by knowing what they like and at the same acquire new markets. More to that, it has played a key role for the customers and fashion lovers through the use of adequate content in magazines and other platforms (Stone & Farnan, 2018). Such initiatives have made the implementation of highly innovative concepts and ideas easily implementable. The model has also created a number of experts and professionals whose role is to improve and boost the digitalized fashion industry.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the new ideas and trends, the study has highlighted Macy's Inc. which has adopted the technology to develop fashion ideas and get updates on the most popular fashion.

Intelligent system

This involves the use of machinery which have embedded the internet and also the use of internet-connected computers with a capacity of gathering and analyzing data with a connection to the other systems. In the fashion industry, some of the changes which are incorporated include the use of computer vision with various sizes, shapes, color, and proportions in identifying the identical items instead of searching for a specific word or even using its description.

The use of intelligent systems has provided an opportunity for solving the problems of the customers easily and also easing the ways of interaction and communication. An organization such as Nordstrom's and has embraced the intelligent systems technology and helped them to compete effectively in the new trends, besides maintaining contact with their customers.

Competitors and technology

The highlight of Macy's company and Nordstrom's in the fashion industry depicts the effectiveness of adopting big data and knowledge technology. The technology has benefited the company by learning the latest trends in the market and helping the company gain a competitive advantage over the competitors. The new business should adopt big data and knowledge management technology since it encompasses mobile transactions, internet clicks, use of generated content and social media among other forms of transactions. The business should adopt the techniques which are more powerful in detecting the trends and patterns in the industry.

Marketing, distribution, and sales

While all digital channels can be used in order to market and sell fashion completely online (eCommerce), they usually are implemented in connection with offline channels (so-called "omni-channel"). Here, Virtual and Augmented reality is playing a crucial role.

Prospects and clients can use ICTs - own computers, tablets and smartphones - to skip fitting rooms and cosmetics counters, and instead virtually see how they look in specific outfits and makeup via in-store kiosks, mobile phones or tablets.[5] Modiface is a web application that anyone can use to give them a virtual makeover. Customers can give any look and decide on what to suits and buy products.

Sephora, the beauty specialty retailer, and ModiFace, an augmented reality virtual makeover technology provider, today announced the launch of a 3D Augmented Reality Mirror that can simulate cosmetics on a user's face in real-time and in 3D. The new patented technology, created by ModiFace, tracks the precise location of a user's facial features and applies eye shadow colors directly on the video feed from a camera.[6][7]

Oftentimes beauty retailers will feature virtual fitting rooms to allow users to experience the look of their product before committing to a purchase. Some examples are color contact retailers Freshlook, which allows users to simulate contact lens wear in their color contacts studio before purchase.[8] Colorful Eyes also offers a virtual color contact lens try on room.[9]

Virtual dressing room

A virtual dressing room[10] (also often referred to as virtual fitting room and virtual changing room although they do perform different functions) is the online equivalent of the near-ubiquitous in-store changing room – that is, it enables shoppers to try on clothes to check one or more of size, fit or style, but virtually rather than physically.

The multimedia communication company Eyemagnet developed the Virtual Dressing Room for the Hallensteins menswear chain. The changing room is transformed to a single panel which reflects the user. These users can then use simple arm and hand gestures to ‘try on’ any apparel in the store, take a photo of any selected outfit and have it sent to their mobile phone. Newer versions of the technology eliminate the arm-waving altogether.[11]

Fashion retailer Topshop installed a Kinect-powered virtual fitting room at its Moscow store. Created by AR Door, the Augmented Fitting Room system overlays 3D augmented reality clothes on the customer. Simple gestures and on-screen buttons let users "try on" different outfits.[12] However, the high variability of virtual fit platforms to predict consumer clothes sizes called into question the accuracy of these systems in their current form.[13]

Communication and experience co-creation

Fashion is also a matter of socially negotiating what is "in" or "out", fashionable or not. In other words, fashion items do not only play on the economic market of physical goods, but also - and sometimes even more importantly - on the semiotic market of the production of social tastes and customs. Thanks to social media, and to all services offered by the so-called web2.0, laypeople can contribute to co-create the fashion world, shaping tastes, customs, and fashion-related values.

Digital fashion education and research

Nowadays, the fashion industry needs experts in digital fashion, equipped with the above-sketched knowledge and competences. Several Bachelor and Master programs in Fashion have in recent years integrated Digital Fashion courses.[14]

While there are not (yet) dedicated scientific journals devoted to the topic, several research activities have been done in the field. Among them, a dedicated conference has taken place in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. SComS - Studies in Communication Sciences, a Swiss-based Communication Journal, has published a special thematic section on Fashion communication: Between tradition and digital transformation[15]. In July 2019, a conference titled FACTUM19 - Fashion Communication: between tradition and future digital developments has taken place in Ascona (Switzerland), whose proceedings are published by Springer [16]. During FACTUM19, a document titled "Fashion Communication Research. A way ahead" has been published[17].

Fashion is closely related with Art and Heritage: among the most important initiatives to digitize fashion history, thus making such heritage available to researchers, practitioners and all interested people, two projects can be mentioned: Europeana Fashion[18] and We Wear Culture[19] by Google Arts and Culture.

References
  1. https://cattytay.format.com/
  3. "Fashion Marketer". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  4. Digital Printing and fashion
  5. Retail Customer Experience
  6. "ModiFace". Archived from the original on 2014-06-08. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  7. CNBC: “Sephora brings augmented reality to real-life shop”
  8. "Freshlook Color Studio".
  9. "Eye Color Changer".
  10. LA Times on virtual dressing room
  11. Trendhunter - Virtual Dressing Room
  12. Huffingtonpost - Kinect Dressing room
  13. Januszkiewicz, Monika; Parker, Christopher J.; Hayes, Steven G.; Gill, Simeon. "Online Virtual Fit is not yet Fit for Purpose: An Analysis of Fashion e-Commerce Interfaces". 3DBODY.TECH 2017: 210–217. doi:10.15221/17.210. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  14. "Master Programmes | Digital Fashion Communication Research". digitalfashion.ch. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  15. "Fashion communication: Between tradition and digital transformation". www.hope.uzh.ch. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  16. "Fashion Communication in the Digital Age". Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  17. "Fashion Communication Research. A Way Ahead – Digital Fashion Communication Research". Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  18. "Europeana Fashion". www.europeana.eu. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  19. "We Wear Culture - Google Arts & Culture". Google Cultural Institute. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
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