With the release of VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0, Browzwear now support avatars from Alvanon’s new 3D body platform – the Alvanon Body Platform (APB), which recently launched with 6,000 models. The virtual 3D AlvaForms are a standard for body shapes and sizes of consumers around the world and offer useful design and development features including AlvaForm textures and measurement lines; T, A and regular poses; and a high-resolution 3D mesh to facilitate draping functionality.

“We believe brands need an effective method to monitor the correct usage of their fit standards within their supply chain and the Alvanon Body Platform allows brands to view, monitor and distribute fit standards with authorized vendors,” said Jason Wang, Chief Operating Officer at Alvanon.

We are looking forward to seeing the new enhancements Alvanon has scheduled for their virtual 3D AlvaForms in the coming months, including poseable parametric bodies and enhanced textures, which will automatically sync with Browzwear applications.

We were ready to say “goodbye” to 2018 and welcome the new year with open arms. While 2018 saw a lot of advancements in the fashion industry, we know the next year or two will see even more and we’re excited to get to work. So what do we think are the biggest trends to hit the fashion industry as we head towards 2020?

Sustainability. And personalization powered by AI.

After so many decades of wastefulness and over-production, we are excited to see the move towards sustainable and scalable solutions. Consumers are becoming more environmentally aware, rightfully, they are demanding a higher level of commitment to the environment from the brands and companies they know. And brands? We are proud to see the efforts to streamline production and know that sustainable and scalable solutions are possible and worth the investment in the long run.

Sustainability

A recent article in EcoWatch examined just how much pollution and waste is created from clothing production, calling it the second largest polluter behind the oil industry!

According to the EcoWatch: “While cotton, especially organic cotton, might seem like a smart choice, it can still take more than 5,000 gallons of water to manufacture just a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Synthetic, man-made fibers, while not as water-intensive, often have issues with manufacturing pollution and sustainability. And across all textiles, the manufacturing and dyeing of fabrics is chemically intensive.”

The Denim Footprint

Let’s look more closely at jeans as an example of a garment that has undergone serious adjustments to achieve more sustainable production. Nearly 3000 gallons of water are needed to produce a single pair of traditional denim jeans. Much of that is needed to grow the cotton, but water is also used in the dyeing process.

Companies like Browzwear partner, Jeanologia, have recognized the need for more sustainable and environmentally-friendly production methods. In fact, Jeanologia has stated that their objective for 2025 is “to achieve the total dehydration and detoxification of the jeans’ industry.” According to their website, a few years ago they developed and released a tool that assesses the environmental impact of the garment finishing processes “by measuring key factors like water and energy consumption, the use of chemicals and the health and safety of workers; giving brands and laundries the tools they need to set goals and monitor their progress on the road to sustainability.”

Smart Factories for Smart Production

According to a recent McKinsey Apparel Go-to-Market Process Survey, 98 percent of executives said it was a priority to improve go-to-market processes and disciplines, and 59 percent said they had already appointed a dedicated team to manage these processes. So how are they doing it?

With 3D digital workflows and smart factories. By implementing a 3D digital workflow, it won’t take two years to produce a new collection. With 3D digitization, in fact, the entire workflow will be shortened to mere weeks, cutting out the infinite waste produced by constant revisions to physical samples. That’s not even to mention the weeks and months (and petrol) spent sending samples back and forth from the studios for revisions.

With the move towards 3D digital workflows, we also predict a real shift towards smart factories over the next few years. We are already starting to see the use of True-to-life 3D digital garments on websites and in catalogs, and we expect that they will only become more and more accurate. The digital garments are becoming more and more detailed and accurate to the point that consumers may not even realize they are purchasing garments that haven’t yet been produced. With smart factories and 3D garments, each order will be filled as it is placed, significantly reducing waste from excess inventory.

Personalization

According to boldmetrics.com, sites like Amazon.com enjoy a 35% conversion rate, while average eCommerce apparel sites only see a conversion rate of 2.5%. Sadly, these conversion rates haven’t changed in the last 20 years. But why? Why is there this glass ceiling that seemingly can’t be broken?

One of the main reasons is because we haven’t yet mastered the art of personalization yet.

So finally, things are changing. With the help of 3D digitalization, we predict a wave of personalization opportunities that will shatter the 2.5% conversion rates.

Predictive Analytics

McKinsey says, “The next-generation model should be based on anticipating what the consumer wants. Powered by predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, this model would proceed from design to delivery in close to real time.” The engine driving this is a digital process enabling brands to keep the momentum by quickly move from the design stage to manufacturing, while integrating customer feedback along the way.

But with those advancements comes the need to make the buying experience more personal too.

Personalized Shopping Experience

In pilot programs, McKinsey says that virtual dressing rooms brought more than a 50% increase in conversion rates for first time buyers and a 30% to 50% reduction in product return rates.

We will start to see a movement towards taking the physical experience of designing, manufacturing and selling clothing straight into the virtual world. By combining digitized 3D pre-production with customized and innovative online storefronts, brands can provide an authentic online experience. Virtual garments and virtual fitting rooms will soon be so realistic that shoppers won’t be able to tell that their avatars are actually trying on digital garments.

The next step will be customized avatars that remember each customer’s personal measurements and past purchases for a truly personalized online shopping experience.

The Future of Design Looks Bright

With the proper digital tools, brands will be able to reduce waste and increase their bottom line. By leveraging speed factories to produce garments after they are purchased, we will see a real shift in the way customer orders are processed. Keeping a finger on the pulse of the market, brands can adapt designs in real time and bring new designs to customers in a fraction of the time. The entire process will be streamlined and the amount of waste – from wasted water to dye to fabric and more – will decrease dramatically. The future of the fashion industry is environmentally sustainable and highly customized.

Feature

• Integrated ray trace engine by V-Ray

Benefits

• Out-of-the-box integration
• Quickly preview photorealistic renders and high quality production renders
• Visualize complex materials such as fur, fleece and velvet

In our last post, we introduced you to our new Smart Buttons and Smart Zippers. We hope you’ve had time to enjoy them by now and that you’re ready to hear about more exciting new features available in VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0 like the integrated ray trace engine.

Rendering, Straight Out of the Box

We’ve streamlined the V-Ray rendering process by including its ray trace engine out of the box. This integrated configuration enables you to see – almost instantly – the effects of fur and other complex materials like fleece and raw edges of jeans. It also enables you to visualize the background IBL, ( image based lighting) . Want your avatar to be walking through a jungle? No problem. Changed your mind and want it strolling the avenue? The integrated composition capabilities make this easier than ever before.

No More Waiting

Because we’ve integrated the ray trace rendering into VStitcher, you can render using V-Ray while simultaneously working on your garment. And better yet…you can make and see adjustments and changes as you make them. The days of waiting for renders to complete are over… this integration means your creations will render as you work. Simply hit “refresh” and see the updates appear before your eyes.

Let us know what you think!

Design in Sizes allows you to position your graphics on the 3D virtual garment and then scale and adjust the size and position across multiple sizes in a set. Design in Sizes gives you complete control over the way your graphics are displayed on garments of every size.

To see Design in Sizes in action, check out our short demo video:

For more information, contact us today

After much success with our last student intern project, we asked Mylisa Krueger, another one of our interns, to delve into the ins and outs of designing a plus-sized garment from concept to creation using only Browzwear 3D. She chose her garments and got to work.

“I knew that for this project, I wanted to try something that would be a fit challenge, so I chose a garment that I always found the most ill-fitting,” said Mylisa. “Because of my body type, there are usually many fit issues with mass-produced jumpsuits that usually have too low of a waist, or are too long, have too much bust room, or not enough length in the crotch. I was hoping to finally make a jumpsuit that fits me well and is comfortable.”

First, she created a personalized parametric avatar by plugging in her measurements and visually comparing actual photos of herself and the avatar she created in order to perfect the posture and distribution.

Once she created her avatar, she drafted sample base patterns to the parametric measurements and chose the one she liked best to execute in 3D.

She added tested fabric physics and customized her preferred base pattern to the style she liked best and then worked on prototype creation.

Mylisa prototyped five versions in 3D before printing and sewing it physically. Even though she could see on her screen that the pattern would work well and that it would fit, she was still surprised to see how few changes were needed to perfect the physical garment. Overall, she reported that the design came out great and only required slight alterations once sewn.

“As much as I was hoping to sew up a perfect final version, having only one additional alteration is still amazing!” said Mylisa. “I haven’t found a reason to why the top was a little bit loose, but my guess is that it has to do with the way I shaped the avatar. To get the avatar’s bust to match mine, I had to do some alterations that made the measurement lines curve.”

Results: Easy-to-do with Browzwear 3D

• See immediate results from a pattern change
• Test different fabric types for your garment without ever sewing it up
• 2D and 3D inputs provide continuous feedback on your pattern adaptations
• Create a parametric avatar (finally, you can be “outside of yourself” when you are the fit model!)
• Technical maps to show tension of garments

“There is really nothing better than seeing your garment come together as quickly as you can think it,” she said “Being able to make adjustments without ever having to sew it up cut out so much guess work and time.”

To see Mylisa’s full project write up, visit her website.