2020 was an unexpected year for us all, plunging almost every industry into a state of uncertainty. However, the nature of this past year served as a catalyst for change and forced many companies across the globe to rethink their value chains and alter their mindsets to become adaptive and open to change. For Browzwear, our day-to-day work environment was greatly impacted as we all adopted a work from home routine around the globe. However, despite the new set of challenges that were brought to the table, 2020 was certainly a year of technological innovation. Throughout the year, we saw the establishment of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing ones, and the further digitization of our platforms to enable customers to incorporate 3D into more avenues, from concept to commerce.
As 2020 draws to a close, we’re very much looking forward to continuing our journey in 2021. Here are some highlights we’d like to share from the past year:
Over the past year, we have brought our users three new software releases based on their feedback, our technological development, and industry trends. The January Edition focused on facilitating workflows from concept to commerce by enhancing 3D visualization capabilities to hasten time to market and further reduce the need for physical samples. This included tools such as parametric seams and stitch construction , GLTF output, and an expanded asset library including YKK fastening designs and Jeanologia denim finishes for sustainable denim design. With the May Edition , we took a designer-forward approach, introducing a variety of powerful tools to make the design workflow faster, more straightforward, and sustainable. One example is the External Drawings feature which enables designers to leave notes and add sketched details using any image editor or drawing tool directly on the 3D style and Avatar. This works to enhance collaboration between designers and pattern makers to quickly communicate ideas to the rest of the team.
We also gave all users access to the SmartDesign tool, offering a vast selection of pre-configured smart silhouette templates to rapidly create garments without needing to start from scratch. The edition also provided native integration with Substance by Adobe , giving users the ability to quickly and easily create and visualize hyper-realistic print executions along with a variety of ready-for-production visual effects. Finally, the most recent September Edition brought users entirely new capabilities for garment showcasing including the Fold & Hang workspace as well as our latest parametric avatar, Olivia. Our team is now hard at work preparing for our upcoming release, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for what’s to come.
With the turbulent nature of 2020, more and more employees had little choice but to shift to a work from home routine. Therefore, digital tools played a vital role in facilitating the closest thing to business as usual . We took this challenging time as an opportunity to launch our global Indie Program and enable an increasing number of aspiring designers from across the globe to onboard to 3D and gear up for an inevitably digital future. In addition to expanding our Indie Program, we also launched the Browzwear Professional Guild to connect our customers with proficient Browzwear users and through collaboration, scale-up and accelerate their digital journeys.
Indies Stylezone
2020 saw both the growth of existing partnerships and the welcoming of new partners to play an essential role in our mission to revolutionize the fashion industry as we know it. From software giants like Adobe and YKK , to global companies such as Jeanologia and Archroma . It was also exciting to build partnerships with new, innovative ventures including ByondXR , FNX , VNTANA , meepl , and Metail , and together push the adoption of 3D forward within the industry. We also joined forces with many universities and fashion schools around the world, with the goal to best prepare fashion students for a tech-powered future. Check out our growing list of educational institutions here .
Last June we launched our e-learning platform Browzwear University to facilitate apparel companies in building a digitally-skilled workforce and drive forward their digital transformation processes. The on-demand learning platform provides users with all of the essential tools and skills to become an accomplished VStitcher user without being limited to time or location. Currently, the program consists of the foundational course series VStitcher 101, which moves to a more intermediate level with VStitcher 201 . It doesn’t stop here, stay tuned for 301 and more in 2021.
In light of the new set of obstacles brought by the pandemic, this past year saw the concept of selling with 3D become a reality, and in fact a necessity in many cases. With costs at an all-time high, and limited access to physical samples we saw a growing number of our customers turn to 3D as a selling tool from internal pitching to eCommerce. As a result, these companies learned that 3D could sell just as successfully as photographed garments, at a fraction of the production costs.
This year, we made it our mission to bring openness to the apparel industry and facilitate fluid, and efficient collaboration. We’ve launched VStitcher Headless to enable apparel companies to effectively combine their high-scale workflows with our advanced technology as a means to fit their unique business and production needs. We also took our Open Platform to the next level, launching the industry’s first accessible API . Our API was already utilized successfully by great companies such as PTC, Centric Software, BeProduct, Metail, ByondXR, Trapdoor Creative, Jeanologia, and more. With this, comes seamless integration, giving both our customers and partners the ability to build, customize, and manage an entirely digital workflow through seamless, cross-platform interoperability.
As 2020 draws to a close, we’re very much looking forward to continuing our journey in 2021.