VIRTUAL COUTURE FASHION™: A REAL TIME FASHION SYSTEM

Virtual Couture Fashion™, is a vision for a new Real Time Fashion System bringing AI driven design, new technologies, a new value chain, a completely new business model and new manufacturing methods to the Fashion industry. It aims to accelerate the transformation of the industry towards a direct to consumer, customer-pull approach; enhancing the customer’s virtual shopping experience and optimizing the Virtual Retail value and service delivery chain using 3D & 2D CAD, teamed with AI, machine learning, deep learning & procedural modelling.

From business intelligence, multi-channel analytics and prediction to real-time demand planning; personal demand to optimized product design; and from individual AI driven design to on-demand just in time manufacturing – this real-time fashion system provides accurate predictions of the style and size needs of individual customers while also forecasting product demand and supply chain planning and optimization.
By matching customer needs with product customization options and matching products with other products, it will enable brands to forecast and plan product demand in real-time – improving the social and environmental impact of the whole fashion industry, on a global scale.

3D CAD in Fashion

Although many people associate 3D CAD, Computer Aided Design, with engineering and architecture, there is definitely a place for 3D CAD in the fashion industry. The days of fashion designers sketching their designs out on paper and then creating them are in the past. Fashion designers now use 2D CAD to “sketch” their initial designs. After that, they can use 3D CAD software to bring their designs to life and visualize their designs on virtual models that look and move like real people. This is one of the many ways that technology is helping the fashion industry create new products more efficiently.

There are many benefits of CAD in the fashion industry. First of all, it reduces errors. Designers can change around colors, fabrics and styles on the virtual models until the product looks perfect before creating the physical sample. 3D CAD also cuts costs because of the minimized errors. Fashion designers also have more room for their creativity. They’re able to play around with their products design in real time, build upon current designs and make alterations on the spot. The list of benefits goes on and on, but overall, CAD helps the fashion industry create better products in a better way.

Adidas has started using CLO, a CAD software for fashion designers. With this software, the designers at Adidas can design on CLO and while they’re designing they can view the products on virtual models using 3D CAD. According to many of the designers at Adidas, 3D CAD eliminates misunderstandings and errors. It is also helpful for them to be able to view their designs from different angles on 3D models so that they can modify products while still in the design phase.

Theory also relies heavily on 3D CAD now. According to Theory, one of the benefits of using 3D CAD is that they don’t waste time and money on samples that they don’t need. Before they even create the samples, they can test out different fabrics and patterns on the 3D models to see what looks best. After using the 3D CAD system, they know exactly which fabric to order and exactly how much to order for their samples.

3D CAD is used to enhance the design process for fashion designers, not to take away from creativity of the process. Contrary to popular belief, 3D CAD is beneficial for high end designers as well. At Roberto Cavalli, they used to create paper dolls to be able to visualize in a 3D way what their products and prints would look like. However, after integrating 3D CAD and 3D printing, they have no reason to waste time making the paper dolls, they are able to instantly visualize exactly what they’re making.

In order to take 3D CAD to the next level, companies will start using 3D printing in the future. This way, there will be no waiting period between the design period and viewing the prototype. Right after visualizing the product on a virtual model, it will be printed. In addition, the products will be made in an extremely precise way to ensure it fits the customer perfectly. Most companies have already implemented 3D CAD, but there are very few companies that have started 3D printing products.

“Personal Style Patterns”

One of the hottest buzzwords in the tech world right now is “Machine Learning”. Machine learning is the idea that if we give machines access to data, over time, they will be able to learn and predict our preferences. Overall, the fashion industry, unlike the weather industry, is extremely unpredictable. It is very difficult to forecast what trend is going to be in next and what customers will like and won’t like. However, the introduction of machine learning to the fashion industry will make it easier for brands to understand what consumers want and what they are going to buy. In other words, with access to data, brands will eventually be able to predict personal style patterns.

Stitch Fix was one of the first companies to use personal data to predict preferences. Stitch Fix is a subscription service that sends customers a box once a month full of clothes picked by personal stylists. Upon signing up, customers are required to answer questions based on their preferences and based on that, the box is put together. Customers can keep whichever products they like and pay for them and return the unwanted products at no cost. As the months go on, the product predictions become more and more accurate. The items that you keep teach Stitch Fix what you like and the items you return teach Stitch Fix what you don’t like.

The Amazon Echo Look is also another example of machine learning. The Echo Look is a virtual styling consultant that customers install in their rooms. Customers can stand in front of the Echo Look and show the assistant their outfit and receive instant feedback on whether their outfit is fashionable or not. It’s no secret that Amazon is trying to make their way into the fashion industry and by using the data coming in from the Echo Look, they will be able to understand better what their customers like to wear. Amazon will be able to create styles based on what customers are wearing and by understanding what customers wear daily, they will be able to give great recommendations to them. The more the customer uses the Echo Look, the better amazon understands their personal style and the more curated and personalized their fashion suggestions will be on amazon once amazon eventually launches their fashion line.

Being able to predict personal style patterns will be extremely valuable for brands in the future. In the age of online shopping, it is difficult for customers for sift through all of the millions of products available to them. Therefore, brands will have to curate extremely personalized and targeted product recommendations for consumers.  Personal style predictions will also be beneficial for forecasting demand, so that brands can always create the perfect amount of a particular product.

Interested in how this could be realized technically? www.virtual-couture.org