2019 April Edition Update

New update brings enhancements and improvements to VStitcher and Lotta 2019 April Edition.

We hope you’ve enjoyed working with and getting to know the new features in VStitcher and Lotta 2019 April Edition. We wanted to let you know that the latest software build is now available for download. The build includes enhancements and improvements as detailed in the Release Notes, and we have fixed some issues from the initial release.

Click here to read the full release notes and here to download.

If you have any questions about the update or any of our products, please contact your Browzwear representative.

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Splashing Around with AATCC

Browzwear was proud to sponsor the AATCC Concept 2 Consumer® Student Design Competition for the second year. More than 120 students from 24 colleges and universities submitted 96 entries to the competition with the theme: Splashing Around. The challenge was for students to design a line for a specific outdoor activity that is both fashionable and functional to use in the rain.

We awarded the first place winner a MacBook Pro with a one-year VStitcher software license and the opportunity for a paid summer internship. The second place winner was also awarded a one-year VStitcher software license and an opportunity for a paid internship from Browzwear. Two honorable mentions received a VStitcher license as well.

This year’s winners include:

It has been our pleasure working with AATCC as a sponsor and supporter of this exciting competition. We love to see the creativity and ideas from the students through their incredible designs.

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Springing into Fashion with VStitcher and Lotta – April 2019 Editions

We’re saying goodbye to winter and springing into fashion and warmer weather with brand new 3D clothing design tools and features for brands. We heard our customers and gathered feedback and input to create advanced features which make it easier for you to design your own clothes virtually.

Some of the new features include:

  • Brand New Colorways Workspace provides the first and only advanced, comprehensive solution for professional apparel designers. The new workspace enables full control over all the different colors, fabrics and graphics as well as the ability to apply changes across all, some or one colorway. What used to take hours, now takes minutes with the new highly intuitive colorways workspace that  provides everything for quick decision making and includes advanced tools to make broad changes in a click of a button.
  • Native Physical-Based Rendering (PBR) material system integration for state-of-the-art material renderings. PBR makes material renders more robust, enabling a realistic look of materials in real-time 3D including metallics, velvet, glitter and many more. PBR materials were originally developed by Disney and are used in professional pipelines for films and animation. We are proud to be the first apparel-focused software integrate this advanced and robust material system.
  • New 3D Styling Properties including retouch, flatten and erase make it easier to make adjustments and communicate issues to pattern makers by showing them exactly where to make pattern modifications while keeping the integrity of the pattern pieces.
  • Group/Lock/Hide enable designers to quickly group multiple elements and move them around together (e.g. a graphic and lines or trims), lock a specific element so it doesn’t move when others move, or hide a specific element’s type (e.g. all the measurement lines from the pattern maker) enabling a multidisciplinary team to work on a single garment together.
  • U3M File Format Support enables brands to add a local/custom library and directly manage the brand materials. Now all the material information – from high end visual information to the physics properties of the fabric – is packaged in one single file, making it easier to share. In addition to the standard Browzwear library, everyone at the organization can access the local library as well.
  • Other improvements including reduce points, auto-save and 3D measurements.

Want to hear more? Check out our on-demand webinars for an in-depth look at VStitcher and Lotta – April 2019 editions, or visit our online Help Center.

Let us know what you think…

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Browzwear Introduces Alvanon Compatibility for Ease of Use

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.

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Looking (Fashion) Forward: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

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.

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Smart Shoes Complete Every Look

Browzwear Shoes top view

Feature

  • Smart shoes

Benefits

  • Complete a total look
  • Fits multiple Avatars
  • Move and bend with foot and legs

You’ve dabbled with Smart Trims and you’ve enjoyed the ease of an integrated Ray Trace engine… Let us introduce you to our new Smart Shoes.

Adding Shoes is Easier Than Ever

Complete the 3D look and the user experience, Browzwear has introduced adjustable smart shoes that work with multiple avatars, and can be animated or used in various poses. The shoes actually move and bend with the foot and legs of the avatar for true-to-life designs. Users can pull shoes straight from VStitcher and Lotta and enjoy full control over both the shoes and avatar feet, so you can make adjustments as needed.

Pre-Loaded Styles or Add Your Own

Browzwear now comes pre-loaded with 5 types of shoes and you can easily import additional shoes of any type including sport shoes, high heels, sandals and more. You’ll be guided through adjusting the foot to fit the shoe in different positions so the interaction becomes fluid and natural. Once its imported, the system remembers that shoe and how it interacted with the foot…for next time.

These shoes were made for walking… Have you experimented with them yet? Let us know what you think.

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Integrated Ray Trace Engine

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!

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Smart Trims Drag and Drop Their Way Into Your Heart and Your Next Designs

Feature

  • Smart Zipper & Buttons

Benefits

  • Easy to assign
  • Fun to design
  • Quick to share

The release of VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0 has introduced many exciting new features. We wanted to take a closer look at some of them in a series of blog posts over the next few weeks. The first features we’ll highlight are the Smart Zipper and Smart Buttons which enable you to easily assign, design and share a complete zipper or buttons.

Smart Buttons and Zippers

How it Works

Forget everything you knew about the tedious process of measuring edges and making straight lines to line up buttons with their holes or placing a zipper just so. With Browzwear, you simply place the zipper onto a desired location. That’s right…two clicks and your zipper will be automatically applied to the garment, fully functional and inclusive of its main components such as the slider, puller, pull cord, teeth and tape.

It’s so Easy to Add Buttons

Two clicks and to apply both the buttons and the corresponding button holes. Both sides will be incorporated, perfectly aligned for proper buttoning and unbuttoning.

In addition, each smart zipper and button can be customized in many ways and shared and distributed as a complete asset package. Want a different thread color on those buttons? No problem. Looking for pre-loaded zipper? We’ve got five of them…and 11 different buttons, too – each one offering a base with infinite iterations by modifying elements like colors, tape width, textures, and more. Or, of course, you can import your own.

Style the Look

You can button or unbutton that shirt, and zip or unzip those sleeves, with one click. Want to zip it halfway? No problem. With Browzwear, you can see how the fabric, cut and seams move with the closures. In addition to configurable location, you can also configure thread color and other features which can then be cloned or duplicated with a few clicks of the mouse.

So go ahead, try it out and let us know what you think.

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Introducing VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0

Announcing VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0

Unleashing Unprecedented Creative Power and Shorter Time to Market

We are so pleased to introduce to you the full release of VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0! We’ve spent countless hours perfecting some amazing new features and tweaking your old favorites for an even better experience. Seeing (and using) is really believing…so we are excited for you to check them out and let us know what you think.

We will dig deeper into some of these features over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, we wanted to highlight some of the ones we are most excited about. These tools enable designers to produce digital garments that look, drape, fit and move almost exactly like real physical garments.

Integrated V-Ray

Seamlessly access Ray Trace renderings, along with background image-based lighting with our integrated Ray Trace engine.

V-Ray Fur

Quickly and easily render high quality, photorealistic images of fur and other complex materials.

Smart Shoes

Complete the look with adjustable smart shoes that work with multiple avatar shapes and types, and can be animated or used in various poses.

Smart Trims

Easily add and share a complete zipper or buttons with new drag and drop smart zippers or buttons. Simply place the zipper or buttons onto a desired location and it will be automatically applied, fully functional and inclusive of its main components such as the slider, pull, teeth, chain and tape. Each smart zipper and button includes full customization parameters and can be shared and distributed as a complete asset package.

Styles in Action

Evaluate fit in motion to see styles in action with our new animation plugin that also enables you to render the animation in Ray Trace – all in one place.

With the new release also enjoy the following:

  • Be confident with your design iterations by easily and intuitively managing your undo/redo actions via the new interactive history pane and simple user interface.
  • Export animations and turntables to easily share online with new GIF support.
  • Import assets from online and cloud-based asset management systems into the asset library, or use the assets supplied by Browzwear. You can also connect your own libraries with the Browzwear Open Platform.
  • Avatar Group View (Labs) – With multiple avatars, seamlessly preview a range of sizes, colorways and poses in 3D. Easily view multiple garments  of one collection side by side or show colorways together.

Simple, Powerful  UI and UX including:

  • Enhanced end-to-end workflow leveraging VStitcher and Lotta from cutline design to manufacture
  • Improved 2D layers UI
  • Improved element ordering (z-index
  • Improved DXF import UI
  • Support for edge assignable trims
  • Easily drag and drop trims for enhanced versatility
  • Additional parametric avatar poses

This groundbreaking release delivers an enhanced end-to-end workflow from cutline design to manufacture with our trusted VStitcher and Lotta. Leveraging 3D to produce digital garments shortens time to market and significantly reduces wasted resources including budget and materials for a better bottom line and a cleaner environment.

Want to hear more? Listen to recordings from our recent webinars.
Ready to get started? Download the new versions now. For Chinese, download here.

Please take a moment to enjoy the short informational video we created to highlight what’s new in VStitcher 8.0 and Lotta 4.0:

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Meet the Browzwear Interns from Oregon State

We’re excited to introduce two of our interns from Oregon State University. They are based in our Corvallis, OR office and work directly with Browzwear teams to learn 3D Apparel Design  with Browzwear’s VStitcher, Lotta, Stylezone, tech pack, fabric testing, material creation and digitization – necessary tools for a digital end-to-end product creation workflow. In addition, the interns learn to build digital assets, help with fabric testing and assist on client projects. At the end of their internship, they will have their own 3D portfolio project built with VStitcher and Lotta.

Lauren Johnson
Oregon State University, Apparel Design

Browzwear intern Lauren Johnson was born and raised in Albany, Oregon, which is just “down the street” from Corvallis. She attends Oregon State University as a full-time student double majoring in Merchandising management and Apparel Design, and is now entering her senior year. Lauren likes to draw, listen to music, and hang out with her roommate’s cat. When she decides to do something a little more exciting, it’s usually spending time with roommates, friends or her family. Lauren enjoys hiking, playing soccer, thrift shopping (for clothing and home decor), and taking trips to “ma-and-pa” restaurants around Oregon. After her internship ends, she is planning to take a trip to Virginia to see her boyfriend of 5 years. He joined the Navy last year and is now stationed in Little Creek, VA, but is able to visit home every 6 months for about 2 weeks at a time… she can’t wait to see him!

Lauren hopes to gain skills from this internship that enrich her capabilities in the apparel industry. Fit has been one of the more challenging subjects for her in school, so she is excited to use an interactive visual tool to help her understand the mechanics of a garment and also create her “Vision to Reality” project this summer. Lauren first majored in apparel because she likes clothing, but couldn’t necessarily find exactly what she wanted in the stores, so she thought it would be better if she could alter or make make her own clothing. With everything she has learned and hopes to learn in the future, Lauren wants to own her own line of eco-friendly clothing with a sustainable business/production model.

Braden Yokota
Oregon State University, Apparel Design 
Braden Yokota is originally from Portland, Oregon and joined Browzwear part-time in March, 2018.. In the Fall, he will be a Senior studying Apparel Design with a minor in business.

When Braden first started university, he planned on becoming a Mechanical Engineer because he enjoyed playing with any new technology and unique software that he could find. He most enjoyed the process of understanding how machines and technology worked. After one term, he was not enjoying the classes as much as he thought he should, so he searched for a different major that would better fit his interests…and he found Apparel Design. Braden’s interest in Apparel came from the latter half of his middle school years when he lived in Germany, a few steps from a large H&M shop. Braden really enjoys the Apparel Design program and has not regretted the switch, but he does still miss tinkering with technology, and he sees Browzwear as a bridge between his two main interests.

Braden loves working with all of the new technology that he is exposed to through Browzwear. Learning the ins and outs of the software, and tinkering with the Fabric Analyzer and Vizoo imaging box have been a lot of fun for him.

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Feature Highlight: Design in Sizes


Have you gotten comfortable with our Design in Sizes tool yet? This is one of the tools that we developed especially for all the apparel designers who have struggled to keep costs low while perfecting the scale and positioning of your graphics across all sizes.

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

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Browzwear FIT Event Gathers 300 Industry Pros who are “Inspiring the Digital Revolution”

On the evening of May 30, more than 300 guests attended our “Inspiring the Digital Revolution” event at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. The hall was filled with amazing energy and ideas as attendees had the opportunity to mingle. We were pleased to welcome some of our ecosystem partners who were able to share their products and tools with everyone in attendance. These partners include Vizoo, Fit3D, Metail, Jeanologia, swatchbook, BeProduct and Kalypso.

Inspiring the Digital Revolution

Throughout the event, attendees also had the opportunity to hear from our special guest speakers. First, we heard from Shaul Cohen, Executive Vice President at Jordache, who shared that 3D is the future of apparel industry and tips for successful 3D integration. Lotta Jurica, Design Director at Adidas, took the stage and brought physical samples of garments she designed in 3D. We were grateful that she showed her design process from sketching and concepting to viewing the garments in 3D. Ada Suneson, VP of Technical Services at PVH, discussed how they are using the software to place graphics, change colorways, and apply patterns. She went on to explain that the 3D garments they create are then used tin virtual showcasing rooms for retail purposes. We also heard from Margarita Pasakarnis, 3D Manager at VF Jeanswear, who showed how she is using 3D to evaluate fit and make design changes. She spoke specifically about using Lotta to design lines on the back pockets of jeans.

Jordache, Adidas, PVH and VF at Browzwear Event

After the presentations, attendees enjoyed the Q&A portion of the event where they were able to have personal conversations with the speakers.

Thank you to everyone who came. We enjoyed hosting you and look forward to seeing you again soon. Check out more of our pictures from the event here. And if you have a moment, we would appreciate your feedback on your experience. We’ve created a short survey to help us make improvements for future events. Please click here to respond.

To be added to our mailing list to receive notifications about upcoming events, please send an email to Hannah at hannah@browzwear-global.com

 

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