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The fashion industry's business model is getting a tech-fueled makeover that's 'Zara meets Netflix'

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Designers and buyers are out. Artificial intelligence and big data are in.

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Overstock in the fashion industry is a major barrier to sustainability due to decades-old buying strategies based on high volumes and low unit prices. As a result, many fashion companies are not openly discussing overstock, as their bulging inventory often ends up being incinerated. On the face of it, it may seem a difficult problem to solve. One startup has built a radically innovative business model, replacing designers and buyers with data, to avoid speculative order volumes. In doing so, the brand is also redefining fashion design and production models and, crucially, the value proposition for its customers. Described by its founder Ramin Ahmari as "Zara meets Netflix," FINESSE creates the products their Gen Z target audience want when they want them, and in the quantities they demand. Armed with proprietary deep tech, FINESSE eliminates the subjective style-tendencies of individual designers and speculative order quantities of buyers, thereby slashing the traditional 5 month lead time to just 25 days and eliminating overstock. FINESSE officially launches today and I interviewed Ahmari, a recent computer science graduate with investment banking experience, to find out how (and why) he raised $4.54 million in pre-seed and seed funding to grow the first AI-led fashion house.

Inefficiencies and data: a perfect match

Ahmari's idea for FINESSE came from his propensity to solve inefficiencies with data and a personal relationship with fashion. As a queer non-binary person of color navigating uniquely different identities, Ahmari has used fashion as both a suit of armor and a tool for self-expression. During a Zoom interview, he explained how investment banking had given him crucial insight into how financial institutions use natural language processing algorithms to analyze large amounts of online data from sites including Twitter, to predict market and stock price shifts. Applying this concept to fashion, he explained that the Gen Z community's online interactions have notable language traits. These can be analyzed to determine preference for certain products and other key factors defining the next fashion trends. Whilst data analysis for trends is not new, FINESSE is operating using deep tech in an unparalleled way, combining time series analysis, natural language processing, and computer vision within its machine learning algorithms, indicating the fashion trends Gen Z most want at any given moment.

The philosophy behind this fashion house is also radically different. Ahmari says: "Fashion's birthplace has moved from the catwalks of New York, Paris to social media." Drawing on the style and language of Gen Z and their favored influencers as the cultural and aesthetic driver for FINESSE, he explained that the notion of a single muse endlessly inspiring fashion collections "borders on human arrogance." Given that fashion's most (arguably) creative and exciting eras have been driven by subcultures (including Punk, Emo and Mod), it occurs to me that Ahmari is using data to distill today's equivalent. Their data is capturing what Gen Z communities are doing, wearing, and wanting from influencers and giving them the product they want-without repackaging it via a design team eager to put its own stamp on it. The result, he explains, is that many of the styles they make are vintage pieces recreated in a way they weren't supposed to be made or worn. That is to say, FINESSE communities wear clothing in their own particular way, distorting the fit or silhouette according to break with the mainstream (a hallmark of fashion subcultures).

Data driving creativity and inclusivity

As a result, the clothes are made in what is sometimes an unorthodox pattern-making manner to create the exact look thrown up by the data, sometimes at the protestation of seasoned technical pattern makers. This design process may be data-driven but it is also nuanced and complex. The fashion house only uses 3D virtual prototyping, which belies some of the highly complex designs and garment patterns that require many virtual fit sessions and iterations. Ahmari says that these are styles that "fast fashion brands won't touch" because they would require many rounds of sampling and amendments, which are time-consuming and expensive for brands who rely on physical prototyping-a boon for the near fully digitized FINESSE.

A further important distinction with the FINESSE's design, merchandising and sales strategy is the inclusion of the cultural context of the data used to create the designs. Ahmari explained that the majority BIPOC representation in FINESSE imagery reflects the actual community members that the data is collected from. Mainstream fashion is largely presented via the lens of brands' internal creative teams, which tend to have low BIPOC representation, introducing inevitable biases. Here, there is no reappropriation, just representation. The FINESSE board is also majority BIPOC, as is the team.

A new fashion system

In terms of product cycles and supply chain, the design and production model operates on a weekly design-drop basis. Each week, three virtually prototyped outfits (generated from data analysis) are posted on the FINESSE website for users to vote on. The most popular one goes into production based on pre-orders, with a small number of additional units for those who missed out. So far, during pre-launch, Ahmari told me that styles are selling out. After voting, a single physical production sample is made at a partner factory in China and fitted on a model there, where final sign-off is done. This approach, in place of the traditional fashion one, which requires factories to send samples back and forth from Asia to design and buying teams in Europe and the US, accounts for FINESSE's reduction from 5 months of lead time to 25 days, says Ahmari.

During our conversation, he confesses to struggling to understand why more brands aren't universally choosing virtual sampling over physical sampling. I offer the possibility that 3D digital designs don't always translate to accurate physical garments, however, FINESSE has had no issues with translation into physical garments. It is worth noting that they hired a 3D technical designer with robust pattern-making expertise to create the 3D designs with the express purpose of final physical garment production and a necessity for accuracy. They also use digitized fabrics available to their factories locally in China, and Ahmari says the quality and accuracy of fabric drape they are achieving using Clo3d is giving highly accurate results when compared to the physical twin.

Streamlined production via 3D digital design

One of the factories they work in China with also uses Clo3D, making the process of design development, sampling and final signoff streamlined and swift. On the subject of working with manufacturers, it isn't always straightforward. They "either love or hate" the smaller volume regular orders, Ahmari said. Those that love it do so because of the predictability of a weekly purchase order from FINESSE for a product that is fully vetted with exacting specifications, in contrast to typical interactions with brands who require multiple rounds of physical sampling before placing orders at the last minute and pressuring the factory for a quick turnaround. For FINESSE, the factories know they will receive the order and need to allocate "10 days to our production" says Ahmari, which fits into gaps around other longer-lead production runs. What he describes is a respectful, professional and organised exchange where both parties benefit and work in partnership.

In terms of the FINESSE team, the 3D technical designer executes the designs and garment patterns digitally using Clo3D, and with the same files, creates online content for social media and the website-a win, win, win, if you like. Ex-REVOLVE's Andrea Knopf recently joined as VP of Product, and the broader team also includes bright computer science and economics minds, but no fashion designers. As an ex-designer, I see clearly how this model not only eliminates a staggering amount of sampling waste, but also eliminates the crippling deference given to creative directors whose whims are unchecked by the reality of sampling waste, logistics emissions, and pressured and stretched vendors.

A new consumer-centric fashion philosophy

Throughout our discussion, Ahmari often refers to FINESSE customers as "users." The fashion house's attitude towards its users is that of a peer, not a customer to whom stuff should be flogged. Leaning on deep tech was what resulted in the recent successful funding round, with investors including Alex Roetter (former head of engineering at Twitter), Ali Diab (CEO of Collective Health,) Hoxton Ventures (investors in unicorns such as Deliveroo), MaC Venture Capital, Mango Capital (led by Deep Tech veteran investor Robin Vasan) and Sam Teller (cofounder of Fab Fit Fun). The funding round will support the fashion house to expand its sustainable "on-demand" production capability and fund refinement of its proprietary algorithms. This is crucial to the business, as an expansion to include data generated via their online voting system offers further potential to refine style choice and product offering. Ahmari talks of a future iteration of the site where users see only designs that are relevant to them-personalization akin to Netflix. Naturally, this will accompany the analysis of demographics and communities beyond Gen Z, expanding the fashion house across customer segments. FINESSE answers a call I made in an earlier article for fashion to use AI in more creative ways. In doing so, can it offer a blueprint to fashion brands for eliminating overstock? The answer may depend on the industry's willingness to recognize the creativity and sustainability potential of data and relinquish, at least some, of its subjective decision-making.

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'Zara Meets Netflix'-The Fashion House Where AI Removes Designers And Overstock

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Overstock in the fashion industry is a major barrier to sustainability due to decades-old buying strategies based on high volumes and low unit prices. As a result, many fashion companies are not openly discussing overstock, as their bulging inventory often ends up being incinerated.

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Ever wish Cher Horowitz's virtual closet existed beyond the fictional realm of Clueless? Now, it does. FINESSE is the newly launched brand using artificial intelligence to predict trends, reduce fabric waste and deliver customers perfectly coordinated outfits at just-right prices.

Before actually producing anything, FINESSE uses proprietary algorithms and machine learning technology to analyze fashion trends across the internet. "We look at fashion in the same way an economist or hedge fund trader would [look at stocks]," CEO Ramin Ahmari says. "What are the signals that predict this stock - or fashion item - will be going up to record highs, and what are the chances it will underperform?" From there, the brand ideates three potential drops - coordinated outfits that incorporate what's trending across the industry - that shoppers then vote on. (Examples of fan-favorite drops include the Maddy, an ensemble inspired by Maddy Perez of , and the Bella, an all-white fit taking cues from Bella Hadid's street style.) The pick with the most votes goes into production while the other two are scrapped, cutting down on fabric waste. The entire process takes less than 25 days, a shockingly speedy turnaround time that puts Zara and H&M to shame.

Ahmari, who is queer and non-binary, launched FINESSE in a quest to reclaim his identity. "My narrative [was] consistently taken out of my hands by labels that were forced upon me," the founder, who studied computer science and art history at Stanford, explains. "Fashion was my way of regaining control over that narrative. I would wear baggy jeans and oversized hoodies to fit in with the straight guys when I wasn't ready to come out yet. Eventually, I got older and would browse the female section, allowing me to explore my femininity when I was ready to," he reflects, adding the fashion is a powerful tool for self-determination. Seeking to remedy the rigid binaries that clothing often promotes, all FINESSE drops are unisex (though the brand's website mostly features female models). In addition, the company's board is comprised entirely by people of color, and over 75 percent of FINESSE employees belong to minority communities. "Most of fashion today has been told from a specifically white male gaze. True equality and diversity has to start from the very root of an organization," Ahmari advocates, expounding on values that are unapologetically expressed on the label's Instagram. After the Capitol riots, the brand quickly denounced white supremacy. On the day of Joe Biden's presidential inauguration, it celebrated the end of Donald Trump's term. The company's outspokenness is refreshing, especially considering it is backed by major investors including Hoxton Ventures and Mango Capital.

"Mainstream fashion has absolutely no idea about what will sell, so they play it safe and produce everything under the sun. Our focus at FINESSE is to eliminate this outrageous inefficiency."

Though FINESSE may seem like a fast fashion brand, it aims to revise the wasteful and often unethical practices the industry at large operates on. By only producing what its customers want - i.e. the most voted-on drop - and using 3D-modeled samples during the early stages of garment development, it reduces fabric waste and streamlines the production pipeline. "Mainstream fashion has absolutely no idea about what will sell, so they play it safe and produce everything under the sun," Ahmari states. "Our focus at FINESSE is to eliminate this outrageous inefficiency. We produce only what we know will sell, and we pre-estimate carefully how much demand there is based on data." In turn, the company saves money by producing such a curated range of items, allowing it to sell drops at accessible price points. Most drops, which include about three items, are sold in sets that retail at approximately $100 USD. Individual pieces average at about $30 USD.

Getting into the nitty gritty of its production methods, Ahmari explains that the brand works with just three factories in China. "We have vetted these factories thoroughly to make sure they are both ethical and invested in innovation. Our main manufacturer is particularly invested in the use of 3D renderings to improve the production process. They have seen first-hand how archaic the industry is, and are fed up by large fashion houses commandeering them to output at all costs," the CEO says. Considering FINESSE's incredibly affordable prices, it's worth noting that the brand likely isn't using the highest-quality materials. The founder acknowledges the need to explore more sustainable alternatives, as well as the possibility of working with fabric mills once the company hits scale (after all, it just launched today). In addition, FINESSE has plans to push out a recycling and up-cycling initiative in the next few months. "There is so much you can do with garments if you're given the right tools," Ahmari hints.

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FINESSE Is the Innovative New Brand Using Artificial Intelligence To Disrupt Fashion

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Ever wish Cher Horowitz's virtual closet existed beyond the fictional realm of Clueless? Now, it does. FINESSE is the newly launched brand using artificial intelligence to predict trends, reduce fabric waste and deliver customers perfectly coordinated outfits at just-right prices. Before actually producing anything, FINESSE uses proprietary algorithms and machine learning technology to analyze fashion trends across the internet.

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3D Fashion and virtual models have improved the design workflow, setting a new standard for fashion design creation, a way faster and more practical approach for the fashion system of tomorrow.

Digital fashion design and 2D-3D creation tools are growing rapidly through fashion companies and designers who are willing to reduce their environmental impact, and to make fashion design a more straightforward process.

Creating digital fashion designs in virtual software platforms is, indeed, the first step of what we call the fashion digitization, and not only creating digital content for fashion presentations in social media with real garments.

The aim of 3D digital clothing development in fashion is to eliminate unnecessary physical sampling and waste generated by pattern cutting or fittings. Shortening production and lead times are some of the benefits of virtual garments, also correcting design inaccuracies on the go.

Moreover, there is a deep changing perspective in how we conceive fashion, and how the fashion industry can serve itself from technology for cleaner business practices. Doing things, the same way every time, cannot lead to different outcomes.

Innovative Techniques and Designers Who Anticipated the Future

The hybrid approach in fashion started more than a decade ago with using rare and innovative techniques such as 3D printing and digital prints, at the time there were also full research in engineering teams for developing intelligent textiles;using technology as a tool for creating unexpected results, testing and analysing all construction possibilities.

The Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen, is well-known for articulating craftsmanship with the latest technology. She was pioneering the field when she founded her namesake brand in 2007 using 3D printing and laser cut technology as the definitive tools for her work. Now she is experimenting with heat bonding and 4D printers as they code movement into material, transforming it. "There's usually a presumption that the clothes will be difficult to wear, because they don't always look like the clothes we are familiar with, but that is perception rather than reality", Van Herpen stated in a New York Times feature.

Van Herpen's work has been selected by museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for her contribution to fashion, as well as for the technical significance of merging the valuable hand treatment of couture with digital experimentation.

Peter Pilotto's duo, Christopher de Vos and Peter Pilotto, and the Greek designer, resident in London, Mary Katrantzou, started a fever around digitally manipulated print in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Both brands established a new way of fabric treatment and printing, promoting the endless possibilities of Photoshop and Computer Aided Design, and breaking fashion's traditionalistic construction rules for high-fashion.

Fourteen years later, technological materials with cutting-edge creation software are combined and the result is a game changer for the fashion industry. A new perspective is found for virtual garment production and distribution before creating physical samples, even an entire digital collection just for virtual runway communication purposes.

The Rise of 3D Software: From Digital Clothes and Fabrics to Virtual Models

A new generation of designers is growing worldwide, learning new digital skills, and reinventing the traditional ready-to-wear model, making it faster, eco-friendly, completely accurate and visually stunning, and delivering a real change for the fashion supply chain.

There is a specialized software variety on 3D creation including programs such as CLO3D, Optitex, Marvelous Designer, to name a few. Others are covering digital pattern-making like Gerber Technology or Lectra as a transversal industry design tool for fashion, automotive and furniture.

Currently you can create, modify, alter and edit a fashion garment in 60% less time than with traditional methodology delivering virtual samples in hours, and working collaboratively and remotely. It is also possible to design garments using virtual fabrics, which allows you to adjust lengths and finishes, and doing fittings for virtual avatars, which has led to us to question the whole design process.

Luxury fashion has been experimenting with different digital tools. For example, Louis Vuitton and Final Fantasy collaborated to create digital garments; Balmain has launched a fully virtual showroom last year; Prada now makes a Limited-Edition monthly drop "Time Capsule" featuring a 3D designed pieces to be sold for 24 hours only; Carlings, a Scandinavian brand, has created a virtual collection applied to the shopper's photographs; and finally, The Fabricant, a Dutch startup creates digital-only clothing, products with very high demand in Second Life and other virtual gaming platforms.

Models and influencers have also been part of this beauty campaigns for brands such as rising 3D movement too. Lil Miquela and Shundu Gram, are CGI ( Generated Imagery) Computer models, that is, they do not exist in real life and have been featured in Fenty Beauty and Pat McGrath.

The fashion designer of the future will be dealing with high level hybridizations between the physical world and the digital world, uncovering and developing new ways of transforming the design process. Innovating, to put forward cleaner, and more environmentally-friendly fashion designs.

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Digital Fashion Designer: 3D Disruption in Fashion and the Design of the Future

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3D Fashion and virtual models have improved the design workflow, setting a new standard for fashion design creation, a way faster and more practical approach for the fashion system of tomorrow. Digital fashion design and 2D-3D creation tools are growing rapidly through fashion companies and designers who are willing to reduce their environmental impact, and to make fashion design a more straightforward process.

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3D Clothing Tech Helps Fashion Brands Survive COVID-19 (3D Garment Created by Seemsay)

During the past few decades, the fashion industry has made great progress in material innovation, weaving technology improvement, sales model upgrade, etc. However, there is nearly no change in the way we develop products. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global fashion market and forced the whole world into lockdown, fashion brands, material suppliers and clothing manufacturers began to realize that the old way they ran their business in the past would no longer be feasible in the pandemic and post-pandemic era.

Some of the industry pioneers turned to advanced technologies for help. 3D clothing technology started to grow its presence at an eye-popping speed, as it enables fashion brands to work remotely and keep their business moving during the lockdown.
· No Person-to-Person Contact
Owing to the social distancing policies imposed by governments, fashion companies were exploring innovative product development practice. How can designers develop a garment without physical samples? 3D clothing technology seems to be the optimal solution.

The old-fashioned product development process involves plenty of in-person meetings during the physical sample review and editing phase. Since it's hard for designers to get access to physical prototypes due to the shipment and transportation restrictions during the pandemic, product design teams needed to change its working practice. With 3D technology, designers can create digital garment with the fashion design software like Clo3D and Tuka3D, or transform their 2D fashion sketches into 3D models on the 3D digital clothing service platform like Seemsay. So, further changes, editing and modifications can all be made on the 3D virtual model, and designers and decision makers can see amendments and make decision in real time, instead of relying on physical patterns and garment samples. 3D fashion design eliminates the need of in-person meetings during the garment development process, and allows brands to continue their business while isolating at home.
· Online Material Sourcing
How can brands purchase fabric without feeling its textures? This is a crucial question facing apparel companies as the industry adjusts to the "new normal" brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. 3D technology might be the answer. Digital clothing technology assists apparel companies to fundamentally reshape their out-of-date supply sourcing models featured by long lead times and low agility.

In addition to providing a new fashion design method, 3D digital clothing technology is also a perfect base for establishing a comprehensive clothing solution platform, where fashion brands can manage and optimize their supply chains. One such platform is Seemsay, which provides fabric and trim supply information and compiles yellow pages of reliable clothing manufacturers. 3D clothing technology can create digital image of fabrics and trims, display their appearance and simulate their behaviors on human avatars. Through checking those digital fabric and trim assets, fashion brands can complete material sourcing online.
· Cope with New Customer Behavior
Attributable to the COVID-19 epidemic, there is great shifts in people's clothing consumption habits. People are becoming more comfortable staying at home, searching the Internet to keep up with news and trends, and browsing clothes on e-Commerce platforms. 3D clothing technology has brought new opportunities to fashion brands to upgrade their merchandising models.

Without exaggeration, consumers hardly differentiate between the 3D image of digital garments and photos of real physical clothes. With the help of digital clothing technology, customers can purchase garments based on the digital images. Moreover, 3D modelling technique have created a brand new business model: virtual fitting room, where consumers can try digital clothes virtually to check the size and fit. 3D technology transformed the way brands showcase their products, change the online shopping experience, and thus to cater for consumers' new shopping habits and reduce return rate.

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3D Clothing Technology Helps Fashion Brands Survive COVID-19 Crisis

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During the past few decades, the fashion industry has made great progress in material innovation, weaving technology improvement, sales model upgrade, etc. However, there is nearly no change in the way we develop products.

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When it comes to breaking into an entrenched industry like fashion, it helps to have a competitive advantage. For digital fashion startup the Fabricant, that advantage lies in its founders' willingness to embrace NFTs before most people had ever heard of Beeple.

In 2019, the Fabricant sold the first-ever NFT couture dress, which means it sold a digital version of a couture dress for a then-astonishing $9,500. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) can serve as a digital stamp or watermark, conveying ownership, for any kind of digital file in the form of a photo, video, or audio item.

As the market for NFTs has grown, with one by digital artist Beeple fetching $69 million in March and another by Twitter's Jack Dorsey ringing in at $2.9 million the same month, it was only a matter of time before major fashion houses joined the craze.In May 2021, Burberry partnered with startup video game developer Mythical Games to create the luxury brand's first NFT, which is slated to launch in July, as a part of the tech developers first "play-to-earn" video game, where players can trade and sell digital belongings for real money. Separately, Gucci auctioned off its first NFT earlier this month at a starting bid of $20,000.

Still, the Fabricant has a first-mover advantage. "The whole NFT space is going to complement every single part of our lives," says Kerry Murphy, who co-founded the Fabricant,alongside Michaela Larosse and Amber Slooten in 2018. "You can literally make a digital translation of anything, digital chairs, digital perfume, digital quotes, digital real estate, these are all going to be big things."

Earlier this year, the Amsterdam-based company collaborated with RTFKT, a sneaker designer and meme creator, to produce a digital collection. The seven-piece collaboration sold a record-setting $3.1 million in sneaker NFTs before ceasing the sale after just seven minutes.

What the Fabricant and RTFKT are doing that's really interesting is giving people an opportunity to turn fashion-statement pieces into investment vehicles--and that's going to become more prominent, says Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of RTFKT. "It is completely shifting the fashion industry to digital governance and digital identity," says Pagotto. "We are allowing ourselves to do things that we could never do in traditional brands or traditional business."

It's also very much of this moment. While he declined to provide exact numbers, Murphy noted that his company's sales grew by 400 percent in the past year. NFTs, which tend to operate off the Ethereum blockchain network, grew in popularity over the course of the pandemic, in part, Murphy says, because consumers were stuck at home and turned to investing opportunities to pass the time. But he's convinced that even once people start leaving the house again, the benefits of this technology will remain.

NFT's are becoming more widely embraced for two reasons, says retail industry consultant Alexis Kahler. "First, they represent a way to fully engage an audience digitally." Because consumers have increasingly embraced digital shopping options, Kahler says, it is crucial for brands to find ways to make the online experience unique. "This is especially true among digitally savvy generations," she says. The second reason, revolves around the zero to no waste element of digital clothes, says Kahler. "With the decline of fast fashion, consumers have become more interested in shopping consciously."

As more brands join the NFT fray, however, the Fabricant may lose market share. Trades of NFTs reached $2 billion in the first quarter of 2021, representing a 13,118 percent uptick from the same period a year ago, according to data from NonFungible.com, a site that tracks NFT transactions. Murphy, for now, is content with his company's status. "A lot of brands and people have come to us because they see us as innovators in the space who are capable of recognizing something that's going to be massive in the future," says Murphy.

And as for that $9,500 digital couture dress, its owner is now reportedly weighing a resale of the one-of-a-kind item--this time for much more than what he spent. Murphy thinks he'll get it. That iridescent gown will be the next Mona Lisa in 500 years, he says. "The first of its kind that really started the ball rolling for the digital fashion industry."

When it comes to breaking into an entrenched industry like fashion, it helps to have a competitive advantage. For digital fashion startup the Fabricant, that advantage lies in its founders' willingness to embrace NFTs before most people had ever heard of Beeple.

In 2019, the Fabricant sold the first-ever NFT couture dress, which means it sold a digital version of a couture dress for a then-astonishing $9,500. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) can serve as a digital stamp or watermark, conveying ownership, for any kind of digital file in the form of a photo, video, or audio item.

As the market for NFTs has grown, with one by digital artist Beeple fetching $69 million in March and another by Twitter's Jack Dorsey ringing in at $2.9 million the same month, it was only a matter of time before major fashion houses joined the craze.In May 2021, Burberry partnered with startup video game developer Mythical Games to create the luxury brand's first NFT, which is slated to launch in July, as a part of the tech developers first "play-to-earn" video game, where players can trade and sell digital belongings for real money. Separately, Gucci auctioned off its first NFT earlier this month at a starting bid of $20,000.

Still, the Fabricant has a first-mover advantage. "The whole NFT space is going to complement every single part of our lives," says Kerry Murphy, who co-founded the Fabricant,alongside Michaela Larosse and Amber Slooten in 2018. "You can literally make a digital translation of anything, digital chairs, digital perfume, digital quotes, digital real estate, these are all going to be big things."

Earlier this year, the Amsterdam-based company collaborated with RTFKT, a sneaker designer and meme creator, to produce a digital collection. The seven-piece collaboration sold a record-setting $3.1 million in sneaker NFTs before ceasing the sale after just seven minutes.

What the Fabricant and RTFKT are doing that's really interesting is giving people an opportunity to turn fashion-statement pieces into investment vehicles--and that's going to become more prominent, says Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of RTFKT. "It is completely shifting the fashion industry to digital governance and digital identity," says Pagotto. "We are allowing ourselves to do things that we could never do in traditional brands or traditional business."

It's also very much of this moment. While he declined to provide exact numbers, Murphy noted that his company's sales grew by 400 percent in the past year. NFTs, which tend to operate off the Ethereum blockchain network, grew in popularity over the course of the pandemic, in part, Murphy says, because consumers were stuck at home and turned to investing opportunities to pass the time. But he's convinced that even once people start leaving the house again, the benefits of this technology will remain.

NFT's are becoming more widely embraced for two reasons, says retail industry consultant Alexis Kahler. "First, they represent a way to fully engage an audience digitally." Because consumers have increasingly embraced digital shopping options, Kahler says, it is crucial for brands to find ways to make the online experience unique. "This is especially true among digitally savvy generations," she says. The second reason, revolves around the zero to no waste element of digital clothes, says Kahler. "With the decline of fast fashion, consumers have become more interested in shopping consciously."

As more brands join the NFT fray, however, the Fabricant may lose market share. Trades of NFTs reached $2 billion in the first quarter of 2021, representing a 13,118 percent uptick from the same period a year ago, according to data from NonFungible.com, a site that tracks NFT transactions. Murphy, for now, is content with his company's status. "A lot of brands and people have come to us because they see us as innovators in the space who are capable of recognizing something that's going to be massive in the future," says Murphy.

And as for that $9,500 digital couture dress, its owner is now reportedly weighing a resale of the one-of-a-kind item--this time for much more than what he spent. Murphy thinks he'll get it. That iridescent gown will be the next Mona Lisa in 500 years, he says. "The first of its kind that really started the ball rolling for the digital fashion industry."

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Meet The Fabricant, a Dutch Startup That's Riding the NFT Wave On Top of a $9,500 Digital Couture Dress

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When it comes to breaking into an entrenched industry like fashion, it helps to have a competitive advantage. For digital fashion startup the Fabricant, that advantage lies in its founders' willingness to embrace NFTs before most people had ever heard of Beeple.

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3D Fashion Design - MSKPU

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Digital Fashion is the visual representation of clothing built using computer technologies and 3D software. This industry is on the rise due to ethical awareness and uses of digital fashion technology such as artificial intelligence to create products with complex social and technical software.

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

The fashion industry in general has paved the way for digital fashion to be introduced with more technology being in the industry like virtual dressing rooms and the gamification of the fashion industry. This evolution in the fashion industry has called for more education and research of digital fashion which will also be discussed in this article.

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 has brought together the worlds of fashion, technology, art, chemistry, and printing to produce a new process for printing textiles on clothing.

Digital Textile printing also offers other benefits such fast printing speeds that help the time and space needed to print different patterns on garments of choice. https://ourfashionpassion.com/how-to-style-a-slit-skirt-with-plenty-of-options-in-2022/

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

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.

The fashion industry has faced its own problems including pollution and fabric waste, which has resulted in a shift to more sustainable methods like digital fashion. The industry is also constantly being intertwined with digital media and has allowed for the use of digital tools within the business itself and with consumers. Two of the ways digital fashion is utilized with consumers is through virtual dressing rooms and virtual cosmetic counters.

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. 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.

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. Colorful Eyes also offers a virtual color contact lens try on room.

A virtual dressing room (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 this technology eliminate the arm-waving altogether.

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. 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.

Nike is among the brands that have incorporated ground-breaking AR technology that allows customers to try on shoes virtually. This function incorporated in 2019 into both Nike's mobile app and retail stores is called "Nike Fit" and was created so that costumers can accurately determine their shoe size, as according to their website "three out of every five people are likely wearing the wrong size shoe".

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.

Social media in general has catapulted the impact fashion has on our everyday lives and values. Fashion has taken a central role is mass production and is constantly evolving due to the ever-lasting digital transformation.

Social media has also helped evolved to a point where not only can brands reach consumers, but consumers can reach brands as well. TikTok for example started a trend in 2020 with #GucciModelChallenge. This creates a space where the brand is gaining awareness from their consumers in the ever-changing digital age.

Garments from luxurious brands have been copied and adapted into the aesthetics of games such as the quarantine-released Animal Crossing: New Horizons and The Sims. As to the former, users found themselves filled with time during the COVID-19 confinement and recreated outfits from a great variety of fashion brands, including Chanel, Gucci and Versace. Moreover, it became a platform for users to showcase their costume designs.

In April 2019, Moschino collaborated with simulation game The Sims in a capsule collection that featured signature Jeremy Scott garments. The collection was made available to shop and the campaign was set against the backdrop of a Sims-like atmosphere. Furthermore, in May 2019, Nike partnered up with Fortnite to include their iconic Jordan sneakers. In similar fashion, in May 2020, Marc Jacobs designed 6 of the brand's favorite looks for Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons in a partnership with Instagram user @AnimalCrossingFashionArchive. They were made available to download. Valentino also collaborated with the account and provided 20 looks from the house's SS (Spring/Summer) and F/W (Fall/Winter) 2020 collections.

Another example is Ravensbourne University's 'Digital Technology for Fashion Pathway,' launching October 2021. This new pathway will offer BA Fashion students the option to specialise in digital fashion with a focus on emerging technologies within this field. The Ravensbourne BA Fashion Class of 2020 paved the way for this new offering by collaborating with the gaming department and launching a digital fashion game live and in partnership with Twitch in July 2020, and featured in Forbes as 'Visionary.'

In 2021, University for the Creative Arts became the first major arts university to launch a new postgraduate higher education degree in Digital Fashion, the first Master's course of its kind in the UK. This new course allows creative researchers to learn how to create garments which are completely free from the material world, and how to fit them digitally to a client - whether they are a model for a virtual catwalk, a social media influencer looking to boost their reach, a gaming avatar in need of a fashion edge or a movie character being given a bespoke costume.

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. 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. During FACTUM19, a document titled "Fashion Communication Research. A way ahead" has been published.

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 and We Wear Culture by Google Arts and Culture.

Since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, the fashion industry has suffered strong economic losses, as sales plummeted and jobs were lost, but it has since learned to digitally recover through virtual clothing, catwalks, and showrooms.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, fashion is among the industries that have been forced to adapt their commercial and creative strategies to better suit the social distancing measures. Therefore, the digital channel has since seen a rise in use, offering live shopping and has been highlighted as the only way to overcome physical barriers. It is also believed that these changes will prevail in years to come, as reported by WGSN.

Fashion brands and well-known personalities in the industry spread welfare messages on social media and brands such as Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Gucci and Prada began mass-producing face masks and hospital gowns in order to help with the shortage of the coveted sanitary product. Moreover, brands stepped up and launched initiatives to aid in the battle of COVID-19's impact on economy. Ralph Lauren donated $10 million to help fight coronavirus and initiated the transport of free coffee and baked goods to New York hospitals to thank healthcare workers for their service.

Once events only attended by selected people, catwalks and showrooms have become more accessible through live streaming and virtual fashion shows. Thus, they have resulted in high fashion becoming more procurable to the general public. Milan Fashion Week was renamed "Milan Digital Fashion Week" and the New York version prioritized outdoor spaces to further prevent the spread and set the maximum capacity at 50. The British Fashion Council also took upon the opportunity to show this year's designs online. Consequently, many celebrities decided to watch fashion shows that they used to attend front row from the comfort of their own homes and showed their glamorous looks from their Instagram pages.

In 2021, big virtual fashion events are becoming more common. An example of this is the International digital Fashion Week. With this event, there is the largest virtual fashion show being held with over 100 designers in the fashion industry being represented. This has occurred as a result to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, now digital fashion has a chance to thrive in a new technology and fashion fusion industry.

The importance of fashion films has also been stressed as a medium to creatively show designers' upcoming collections. As a result, methods that were only used by digital focused houses such as The Fabricant are expected to become the norm. Therefore, 3D experiences have gained momentum. As a matter of fact, high-profile models such as Bella Hadid have already incorporated such advanced and revolutionary practices into their curriculum, as seen in an Instagram post that displays the star getting a full body 3D scan for a Mugler Spring Summer 2021 film. The video shows her in a gold outfit as Pegasus, against the backdrop of a fantasy-filled world.

Other embraced formats include avatar videogames such as Zepeto, which Louboutin partnered up with to showcase their SS21 collection. This way, attendees could create personalized avatars and view the brand's latest designs. On June 15, Balmain also resorted to digital fashion and created a virtual showroom hosted by the avatar of creative director Oliver Rousteing, who posted on Instagram his face getting 3D scanned, adding "#future".

Additionally, for their SS21 show, Italian streetwear brand GCDS recreated a 3D runway with cutting-edge technology and avatars that displayed the digitally rendered clothes. They even incorporated the celebrity avatars of Dua Lipa, Anwar Hadid, Chiara Ferragni and Fedez, to name a few. They were shown sitting front row in the audience as if it had been a traditional show. It was referred to by the brand as the "first digital front row".

One advantage of the digitalization of fashion is being eco-friendly, as it reduces fabric waste. Opposing beliefs state that clothing is only meant to be worn in real life, and that the process involved with sewing has always been sacred.

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Digital Fashion is the visual representation of clothing built using computer technologies and 3D software. This industry is on the rise due to ethical awareness and uses of digital fashion technology such as artificial intelligence to create products with complex social and technical software. Digital fashion is also the interplay between digital technology and couture.

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Over the past 20 years, technology has developed in leaps and bounds, and we've seen changes occur that we couldn't have even imagined back at the turn of the millennium! Take a look below at our review of the most dramatic changes that technology has undergone in the past two decades.

Mobile Phones

Today, your mobile phone is likely never more than an arm's reach away, but 20 years ago things were quite different. According to a study by The Office for National Statistics (UK), in 2000, only 47% of households in the UK had a mobile phone, and unlike the ones we own today, they were very limited on what they could do, mostly restricted to SMS texting and calling.

Nowadays, everyone has a mobile phone in their pocket, but it's no longer just a mobile phone! Today, mobiles have internet access, high definition cameras, gaming capabilities, music storage and a whole host of apps, from ordering a taxi to finding a date in minutes.

It's hard to imagine a world where our phones didn't have cameras, but camera phones didn't actually start appearing until the 2000s. It was Nokia and Motorola that dominated the market throughout the 90s and early 2000s. The models that were released between 1998 and 2000 brought about the first ever customisable ringtones, appearances and games, with the first 'smartphones' beginning to appear between 2004 and 2006 as they enabled GPS.

Flip phones were extremely popular throughout the 2000s, with Samsung being the most notable brand. The first iPhone was released in 2007, however, iPhones weren't immediately popular like they are today. Instead, Blackberrys were popular due to their physical keyboard with singular letters, email function and instant messaging system 'BBM'. Today, touch screens are the norm and physical keyboards are somewhat of a rarity! Compared to the 47% of households that had mobiles in 2000, in 2018 this figure had more than doubled to 95%.

Television & Entertainment

I n the early 2000s VHS tapes were ever popular as a way to watch films that you had bought, or to record programmes that you were going to miss, as there was no catch up function on televisions back then. Around 2002, VHS tapes decreased in popularity as people switched to DVD's due to their higher quality, and by 2008, VHS tapes were practically obsolete. Today, streaming sites such as Netflix are the most popular way of watching films and TV shows, and it's a rarity for people to purchase physical copies of films. Interestingly enough, Netflix initially started as a DVD rental service, and didn't introduce streaming services until 2010!

In terms of television, back in 2000 it was rare to have more than the standard five channels, yet today satellite boxes can give you hundreds of channels to watch, perhaps even too many to choose from! There is also the option to catch up on the programmes that you've missed from the broadcaster's on demand services - meaning you don't have to program your VHS player to record your favourite programmes while you are out.

The introduction of streaming services such as Netflix, Now TV and YouTube also mean that fewer people are watching traditional TV. Instead, they are opting to stream programmes online where they can choose what they want to watch and when.

Gaming

Huge advancements have been made in the gaming industry since the millennium, aided by increasing internet speeds. It was the year 2000 that the PS2 was launched, which marked a turning point for gaming culture - it was the first console that looked 'grown up'. Prior to then, gaming consoles were mostly aimed at children and teenagers, with popular games being classics like Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, played on N64, Xbox, PS1 and Sega consoles.

Where portable gaming is concerned, the Nintendo GameBoy was popular in the early 2000s, with the Nintendo DS being released in 2004, introducing a touch screen into the portable gaming world. Gaming systems nowadays are more portable than ever, with consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and the introduction of Google Stadia - which allows you to stream games over wifi and play them on a desktop, smartphones and tablets.

Gaming graphic capabilities have also advanced hugely in the last 20 years, moving from colour blocks through pixelated images, arriving at the near lifelike quality of imagery we know today. As we head into 2020, a huge number of different gaming consoles are available, with features such as motion tracker technology and virtual reality headsets that make you feel like you are actually in the game rather than just playing it! This is aided by the advancement of realistic 3D graphics and game physics that occur just as they would in real life. Using this technology the Nintendo Wii provided a breakthrough in further expanding the appeal of gaming, reaching older 'non-gamers', as did mobile gaming. Finally, there is a much richer range of gaming content available today thanks to market places such as Steam and online app stores, which have given indie developers a real foothold into the industry.

Music

In the early 2000s, music was stored on cassette tapes and CDs, bought in store and listened to on devices such as stereo systems or portable Sony Walkmans. The first iPod was released in 2001, where you uploaded your CDs into iTunes and stored them all on a portable device, that you could listen to anywhere.

The original iPod featured a 5GB hard drive capable of holding 1000 songs in 160-Kbps MP3 format. A 10GB option was available from March 2002, which doubled its capacity to around 2000 songs. Even the iPod and other MP3 players themselves have become almost obsolete in the last five years, as the memory capacity of mobile phones grew to be large enough to store your music collection on.

Nowadays, practically all music is downloaded or streamed to our phones and computers, dismissing the need for physical in store purchases. We can listen to our entire music collection anywhere, in great contrast to the year 2000 when you had to physically carry any tapes or CDs you wanted to listen to on the go.

Computers

According to a study published by The Office for National Statistics (UK), only 44% of households in the UK had a home computer in 2000. Twenty years ago, computers were heavy, bulky and took up a lot of space on a desk (monitors could be more than 30cm deep!) They could be slow and unreliable, with the graphics being a lot slower than what we are used to today. Memory in computers was also limited, so external hard drives were common.

Today, it's hard to imagine a world without computers. By 2018, the figure of those who had home computers had doubled from 44% to 88%. They are smaller, faster and more convenient than ever, and subsequently are part of our daily life, as we use them at work, home and even on the move. Rather than taking up a whole desk, computers can fit into a handbag in the form of a tablet or notebook, to be taken anywhere you like. They also have more memory than they used to.

Although laptops first came about in the 80s, it wasn't until 2005 that they overtook desktops in terms of sales. Laptops have transformed the way we work, enabling hot desking and remote working. With technology advancing at the rate it has, a laptop today costs a fraction of what it would have in the early 2000s, yet the performance is infinitely better.

Social Media & Messaging

The first blogging sites became popular in the late 90s starting a social media sensation that continues on to this day. Early blogging sites included Blogger and LiveJournal. MySpace was launched in 2003 to become one of the first ever worldwide social media sites, and was popular among budding musicians as a place to upload and share their tracks. Facebook was launched in 2004, and by the end of the year, it had 1,000,000 monthly active users.

Today, we have multiple social media platforms that all fit different social networking niches, such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn and many more. It's rare to come across someone who isn't on at least one social media channel, and as of the third quarter of 2019, Facebook had 2,499,000,000 monthly active users - making it the most used social networking platform worldwide.

The first widely used instant messaging platform was MSN Messenger, which was popular with noughties teenagers as a way to connect with school friends after classes were over for the day. It started as a text messenger, but later added photo sharing, video calls and games. In 2009 it had as many as 330 million users but was closed down in 2014 when Microsoft replaced it with recently purchased Skype. Today's popular messaging platform is WhatsApp, which in 2018 boasted 450 million daily users, with 1.5 billion people using the app.

Internet Speed

Twenty years ago, the internet connection used was known as 'dial-up', which used a telephone line to connect to the internet. This meant that you could only use either the phone line or the internet at one time, sharply increasing the number of arguments in households with teenagers! Dial-up would take up to a minute to connect and was characterised by a series of musical beeps, screeches and boings as the modem connected. Needless to say dial-up was notoriously slow - 56kbit/s, which contrasts with UK average speeds today of 22 Mbps. To put this into context - a 6MB image would take 15 minutes to download on dial-up, but only 2 seconds today.

Today, we are able to access the internet completely wirelessly, from wherever we are. WiFi was introduced in the early 2000s, but demand for it exploded when WiFi enabled phones hit the market around 2007 and consumers wanted public WiFi points for when we're out and about. On our mobile phone networks we also have internet access via 4G, and are slowly being introduced to 5G, which will only make our access to the internet even faster.

The number of people who have access to an internet connection has also hugely increased in 20 years. In 2000, only 25% of all households in the UK had broadband access, yet in 2018 over 95% did!

Memory

There is a stark contrast between the data storage of 20 years ago, the storage available now. Twenty years ago people were using floppy disks and Compact Disc Rewritables (CD-RW) to hold files such as documents and photos, and although they were large in physical size, they didn't hold much data. At the beginning of the millennium, USBs had just been invented, which held around 8MB - enough for two ebooks or a 90 second low-resolution video. Nowadays, we have USB-C drives, that can carry significantly more information compared to USB drives and offer double the transfer speed, all whilst gradually getting smaller in size.

SD (Secure Digital) cards are also commonplace today, they come in a variety of different sizes to suit your different devices, from cards around the size of a stamp to ones the size of your fingernail! It's also not unusual to see SD cards today that hold over 250GB - which is a huge advancement from the 32, 64 or 128 MB cards available 20 years ago! This is the equivalent of being able to hold just ten 12 megapixel photos on a 64MB card, whereas a 250GB card can hold around 30,000.

Over the last few years, we've gradually been moving away from storing information on physical devices as cloud storage has become very popular. Cloud storage allows us to access data from anywhere that has an internet connection, removing the need for us to carry around memory devices. Instead, our information is stored on huge servers around the world, providing almost limitless capacity. This does, however, leave your files at the mercy of other companies, so many people prefer to privately store them on memory devices.

It's evident that huge advancements have been made in the past two decades across all areas of the technological world. It almost seems impossible to imagine what will happen in the next two!

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How Technology Has Changed In The Last 20 Years | MyMemory Blog

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Over the past 20 years, technology has developed in leaps and bounds, and we've seen changes occur that we couldn't have even imagined back at the turn of the millennium! Take a look below at our review of the most dramatic changes that technology has undergone in the past two decades.

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CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB

#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB

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CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB

#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB https://t.co/7Ed5J0XzsC

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CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB pic.twitter.com/7Ed5J0XzsC
— CLO (@itsclo3d) July 29, 2020

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CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB

#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB https://t.co/7Ed5J0XzsC

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CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB

#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB https://t.co/7Ed5J0XzsC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
CLOLLAB is your one-stop destination to showcase your work, explore other CLO user’s designs, and collaborate with talented 3D artists from around the globe! Check out @mponz and other talented creators here: https://t.co/sLTji2M5jB

#clo3d #virtualfashion #virtualdesign #CLOLLAB

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Soundbites the likes of "the future of fashion" and "an industry makeover" have been floating around since early 2020 in the context of the global pandemic that swept through much of the world. It's not surprising given the industry-wide disruption caused by Covid-19, touching everything from supply chains to retailing to consumer behaviors.

And the discourse surrounding the changing fashion industry this year has often revolved around digitalization: some experts refer to digitalization as "the way in which many domains of social life are restructured around digital communication and media infrastructures." This definition implies that digitalization is primarily a social phenomenon, like social media or communication. But others take a more business-minded approach, defining digitalization as "the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities."

In the case of the fashion industry, both definitions are applicable. First, the digitalization of fashion as we know it this year has indeed been social: consumers are reacting and interacting with each other and their favorite brands in new, immersive ways. Second, it has equally been business-focused: brands have had to change their ways of show and retail execution to adapt to new restrictions.

Consumers and brands are embracing digitalization to communicate in new ways

As physical interactions have been drastically limited this year, consumers and brands have found ways to not only replace interaction, but to improve it. Technology now empowers consumers to take a more active role in fashion: they belong to a brand's universe, interacting with and letting them know what trends they like and don't like, and what values they accept and don't accept.

By producing content that is accessible, digestible, and zeitgeist-esque, these fashion brands among others are creating digital links with their consumers that thus translate to the emotional.

Gucci's short film series in October of this year is a perfect example, pulling trending personalities among Gen Zers and millennials to direct and star in the series. Billie Eilish, Florence Welch, Benedetta Porcaroli, and more featured in the series, proving the efficacy of engagement: the Financial Times of Fashion asserts that "until the pandemic, films were often perceived as a cost-effective but lacklustre replacement to a live show." How the times have changed.

Fashion brands are digitalizing physical shows

One of the pillars of fashion is of course the fashion show. Models strutting down a catwalk, giving life to a designers' latest collection for photographers, industry insiders, and guests to admire or critique. But this year, fashion shows were rendered impossible for months, beginning with Milan FW20 Fashion Week through the Summer's Cruise collections. Now as we near the end of 2020, we've witnessed a total makeover of how shows and shopping are carried out through digital means.

FW20 Pronounce digital fashion show in Shanghai

The world's first ever fully digital fashion week happened in Shanghai in March of this year, with over 150 brands participating via TMall, China's biggest e-commerce platform. Designers live streamed their collections, some actively interacting with their audiences, and others introducing the event's "See Now, Buy Now" format which allowed participants to purchase directly from their smartphones. This week-long event drew in over 11 million viewers, far more than any Instagram live stream during typical Fashion Weeks. Shanghai Fashion Week effectively set the example for the remainder of the year and likely onward: the event proved that digitalization is not a hindrance to creativity, but in fact a facilitator.

During this year's SS21 Fashion Weeks in Europe, for instance, designers challenged the physical aspect of shows: JW Anderson revealed his collection on a line of paper dolls, Khaite involved QR codes and 3D rendering to display the collection from the audience's phones, and Loewe sent out wallpapers and posters to quite literally surround his would-be attendees with the collection. The examples are many, with some designers even integrating AR and virtual effects to create the illusion of a physical event.

Retail's makeover to a digitalized shopping experience

When thousands of physical stores closed for the pandemic starting in early 2020, brands were suddenly faced with a dilemma: to adapt to e-commerce, or wait it out. Naturally, many brands caught the survival bug, and e-commerce took off around the world. A recent report from the Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that in 2020, online retail sales in the top 60 economies rose by over 30% as a result of this shift to e-commerce. Additionally, Euromonitor International's report on retail innovation predicts that by 2024, global online retailing will see growth of $1.5 trillion.

Prada Linea Rossa shot by Rita Lino

Luxury e-commerce reseller Farfetch, for instance, recently announced their join-up with Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce platform. The move signals a greater change in the industry, as luxury brands are turning to e-commerce to pick up the slack for in-store sales. Amazon's luxury platform continues to add brands, one of the most recent being Oscar de la Renta.

In-store experiences h ave changed as well, with brands integrating augmented reality technologies, virtual shopping assistance, digital payments, links to social media, and more. Gucci hired shopping assistants to virtually style customers, for instance, and brands including Macy's, Adidas, and ASOS are looking into virtual fitting rooms.

A more digital future for fashion?

Industry players and consumers alike can look forward to the coming breakthroughs in fashion's digitalization . Communication will become more intimate between consumers and brands, events will become more accessible thanks to technological solutions, and retail will present a new way of shopping. Drinkwater summarizes fashion's digitalization along the course of this year in concise precision: "The requirement to integrate all forms of digitisation from supply chain and creation, to showcasing and retailing is forcing every brand to embrace the technologies that empower this."

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Digitalization: Has fashion adapted to new ways of interaction?

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Soundbites the likes of "the future of fashion" and "an industry makeover" have been floating around since early 2020 in the context of the global pandemic that swept through much of the world. It's not surprising given the industry-wide disruption caused by Covid-19, touching everything from supply chains to retailing to consumer behaviors.

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The Fabricant x WoW // Minting opens soon

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We teamed up to make Web3 more fashionable and diverse.

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Interest in virtual fashion has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic as people explore ways of dressing their online avatars, according to digital fashion designer Amber Jae Slooten.

"We got huge interest," said Slooten, co-founder of The Fabricant, a virtual fashion house based in Amsterdam. "I've never dressed so many people in my life".

Slooten said that digital fashion allowed people to act out their fantasies online.

"How do we want to represent ourselves within the virtual space?" she asked. "If we can be anything, will we still want to be ourselves?"

The rising interest in virtual outfits echoes the growing popularity of images depicting fantasy landscapes that "offer a chance to wonder and escape", according to visualisation artists.

"Given the global situation, the desire for escapism is at an all-time high," interior designer and creative director Charlotte Taylor told Dezeen earlier this summer.

Slooten spoke to Dezeen during a live panel discussion held as part of London Craft Week. The discussion, called Textile Intelligence, featured Slooten alongside Seetal Solanki, founding director of London studio Ma-tt-er, plus multimedia artist Lauren Godfrey and textile artist Celia Pym.

The Fabricant, which Slooten describes as "the world's first digital fashion house," designs garments that only exist digitally.

Created painstakingly with 3D modelling software, the bespoke items are designed to drape and move as if they were real. Customers' avatars can "wear" the items on social media platforms, gaming environments and virtual worlds.

Ying Gao's "chameleon-like" autonomous dresses react to their surroundings

"We create clothes that only exist in a digital space and never exist in the physical world," Slooten explained, adding that virtual fashion allows consumers to avoid the waste and pollution associated with traditional fashion.

"We try to create a new fashion narrative for the 21st century because we really believe that we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and see if our vanity really needs to harm the planet in this way."

Previously, The Fabricant's garments were made to order. But in April, the studio launched the beta version of a new platform called Leela, which allows people to download a range of ready-to-wear items for their online personas.

"There were about 10,000 people that actually use the app to wear these clothes, which to us was completely crazy," said Slooten. "People were able to create their own avatars and wear our clothes for the first time."

Virtual fashion comes naturally to the younger generation, Slooten said, since they are comfortable with the idea of having parallel real-world and online identities.

"I'm a millennial," she said. "I grew up with digital and physical at the same time. But the generation below us doesn't even see the difference any more between physical and real."

People adopt different personalities for different digital platforms, each requiring different dress codes, Slooten said.

"Your digital identities are actually looking different everywhere," said Slooten. "For instance, your Instagram profile might be very different from your LinkedIn profile."

The Fabricant was launched in 2018 by Kerry Murphy and Slooten, who studied at Amsterdam Fashion Institute and became the first-ever fashion student to graduate with an entirely digital collection.

"I'm educated as a traditional fashion designer," she said. "I learned everything at my school; how to sew how to make patterns. [But] I got really sick of all the material that I was using. The physicality of things is something that I never really enjoyed."

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"The physicality made me sick, because of all the materials that we were wasting," she explained. "I felt like a huge responsibility for the future of the industry, which I which is why I started questioning physicality altogether."

"And then after I graduated, there were absolutely no jobs in that subject," Slooten added. "And it made me realise that I needed to create it."

The Fabricant's first virtual collection was launched with a digital show with virtual scenery and models, pioneering a format that has now been adopted by many brands due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

"We didn't have to ship any collection, we didn't have to hire any photographers, we didn't need any models," Slooten said. "We didn't even need to fly to the desert to photograph it".

Last year, the Fabricant made history when a virtual dress was auctioned for the first time, selling for $9,500.

"The new owner wore it on her Facebook and on her Instagram," said Slooten.

In future, Slooten believes that real-world fashion will become increasingly technological and sustainable, featuring smart materials that act as a second skin and are able to monitor the body.

"I feel like the future lies in materials that are smart and that are able to grow with us or even grow on us," Slooten explained, adding that the physical world will allow people to exhibit "a more sober expression of who we are".

Parallel to this, virtual fashion will offer people ways of being more expressive.

"And then within the digital world, we can go completely crazy. We can wear a dress made of water or have lights everywhere and change your textile according to your mood."

Eventually, technology could make the digital and the physical worlds indistinguishable, Slooten believes, with garments offering haptic feedback so that virtual reality becomes similar to the real world.

"And this opens up even a more philosophical question," Slooten adds. "Is it even a reality? Because if the virtual world feels like, looks like, and behaves like reality, how do we know it's virtual?"

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Virtual fashion will allow people to "go completely crazy"

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Interest in virtual fashion has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic as people explore ways of dressing their avatars for online environments, according to digital fashion designer Amber Jae Slooten.