What is Digital Product Creation in the Fashion Industry?

With the rise of AI and innovative technology and its impact on consumer behavior, the fashion industry is slowly but surely undergoing widespread digital transformation to adapt to evolving industry trends and bridge the gap between physical and digital processes.

Shifting from traditionally physical processes to digital product creation (DPC) is no easy task; however, as apparel organizations look to future-proof their businesses, digital technology allows them to reduce costs, transform how they engage with consumers, and ultimately create better products. 

What is Digital Product Creation (DPC)?

Let’s return to the traditional design process. Before any garment goes into large-scale production and is ready to be sold, it goes through a lengthy and complex journey, starting with the creation of physical samples. The sample approval process entails weeks of back-and-forth shipping, often overseas, with endless flawed physical samples ending up in landfills and contributing to large-scale pollution.

This is where Digital Product Creation (DPC) comes into the picture. DPC is the process of utilizing advanced technology to conceptualize, design, create, and produce 3D products in a virtual, collaborative environment. Through material digitization, 3D pattern simulation, and 3D assets, it provides an eco-friendly and cost-efficient alternative.

How does 3D clothing design software cover the entire DPC process?

Digital apparel design and 3D assets are key to achieving a successful digital workflow. As technology advances, there is no better time to implement 3D clothing design software to help your apparel organization reach its desired DPC goals.

VStitcher is the go-to software that provides apparel designers with a comprehensive suite of the latest design and visualization tools at their fingertips, allowing them to take their designs from concept through to creation. With this software, designers can seamlessly create accurate true-to-life digital twins of the physical garments in all different colors, sizes, and styles, removing the associated costs, waste, and not to mention time delays.

Global fashion house Perry Ellis International is a great example of this. By digitizing their apparel creation workflow, they were able to shorten their apparel calendar by 2 months and reduce salesman samples by a remarkable 50%.

Although the DPC process may be complex at first, once effectively implemented, it enables all the relevant stakeholders, design teams, and vendors to cooperate and collaborate seamlessly so that they are continuously kept aligned if any changes and alterations are made, enhancing productivity throughout their supply chain. Browzwear’s cloud-based end-to-end apparel collection management platform, Stylezone, can do this.

Why is DPC Becoming a Norm for Apparel Brands?

Apparel brands are starting to catch on to the concept of DPC as it enables brands to shift their focus and resources towards creativity by utilizing advanced digital design tools and increasing their usage of digital assets. They can design, develop, conduct adjustments and alterations, validate, and prepare entire collections on-demand for production with a simple click of a button in a matter of minutes.

Digital product creation eliminates the costs and waste associated with creating physical samples, and apparel brands are reaping the benefits as they leverage digital prototyping capabilities, enabling them to merchandise garments effectively before going into production. The other is using a digital prototype for purposes other than the design process but utilizing them for sales presentations and consumer marketing. Taking the physical sample out of the equation can drive efficiency throughout product development.