How Fashion Technology Can Be Utilized To Grow Your Brand

The fashion industry is forever changing, and brands are constantly under pressure to keep up with their competitors. Technology is a driving force behind this change, as the industry is constantly embracing its innovation. With constant technological advancements being made, brands have the ability to connect with their customers more than ever with the use of fashion technology (fashion tech for short).

If you’re looking to grow your own brand, utilizing fashion tech may be the next step for you. Let’s discuss some of the leading tech that can be used to develop your current business model.

3D Technology

Best for Low Costs, Fast Production, and Waste Reduction.

In 2020, fashion designers and innovators were forced to think outside of the box when it came to interacting with customers and clients. Without physical interaction and with a major pause in the apparel supply chain, technological innovation came into play, and 3D technology took center stage.

3D fashion design has become popularly used by brands over the past few years. It’s the process of creating a photorealistic digital image, which has the illusion of being a real-life object. There are various benefits to creating digital 3D designs, such as:

• Sample making is easier and comes at a lower cost. 3D designs can be used to create samples for brands looking to reduce costs and resources. As a 3D design is made entirely digitally, the cost for actual materials and production are reduced significantly.
  
• The production process is faster and more precise. While the process of standard production and sample sending can be complex, 3D fashion design speeds up production as it eliminates the need to mail the product back and forth. It also helps to make a product precisely detailed as the measurements can be easily adjusted digitally.
  
• It reduces waste and is more sustainable. Since physical clothing is eliminated from the 3D design process, fabric waste is reduced, along with the elimination of a carbon footprint.

3D printing can result from using 3D fashion design. One can turn their digital design into a physical product with the use of 3D printing. It allows for intricate detailing and customization options, with the ability to create nearly perfect dimensions for each product.

There is also an element of sustainability involved, as textile waste is no longer an issue as the printer uses the exact amount of material that it needs. Recycled plastic and biodegradable materials are becoming fairly common in the printing process as a further means to be more sustainable.

A few of the most popular 3D design softwares include CLO, Marvelous Designer, Browzwear, Tailornova, and Tuka3D. Read about them in our article here.

Artificial Intelligence

Best for Trend Forecasting, Fashion Retail, and Precision.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become relevant to fashion in all aspects of the industry; through design, production, marketing, promotion, shipping, etc., AI is enhancing the fashion experience as we know it. Worth $270 Million in 2018, the industry is expected to grow to $4.4 billion by 2027. AI is beneficial tool for the following:

• Trend Forecasting: Through gathered internet data, AI is able to filter through and identify particular patterns and forecast fashion trends. This improves trend forecasting accuracy through real data from e-commerce stores, social media, and images across the web.
  
• Fashion Retail: AI is an incredible tool for fashion retail as it benefits both consumers and brands. Online consumers have the opportunity to benefit from AI through virtual try-ons and from an automated system that analyzes a customer’s profile and seeks the best product matches possible. AI works on behalf of a company's internal regulation of inventory and back office work, as well as strategic marketing to consumers.
  
• Fashion Design: AI-enabled software has the ability to create patterns and garments through relevant data, eliminating humans from the design process. This generates thousands of digital designs for brands to choose from.
  

• AI Influencers: Social media influencers are a resource often used by brands for digital marketing. New to the scene of social media influencing are AI influencers, also known as CGI influencers. These influencers are digitally-generated people who have characteristics and personalities of real-life humans. Miquela, a ‘19-year-old Robot living in LA’ according to her Instagram bio, has 2.9 million followers, and has collaborated with both small brands to major fashion houses. Working with or creating an AI influencer of your own increases intrigue and helps you perfect the product you’re trying to sell.
  

Fashion NFTs

Best for Expanding A Brand’s Online Presence.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have made their way into fashion’s market as of late 2021. Many high-end luxury brands have dabbled in creating NFT ‘outfits’ so users can have a unique virtual experience wearing their clothing. These clothes can be purchased through augmented reality, the metaverse, virtual stores, and various video games.

Well known fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Levi’s, Gap, Adidas, etc., have all created their own NFTs. The creation of NFTs are attractive to shoppers who enjoy expanding their own digital identity and increasing digital assets.

Dhakai’s Digital Platform

Best for Design, Manufacturing, and Sustainability.

Creating a brand, designing a product, and finding a manufacturer to create your apparel is a difficult and in-depth process with many barriers. Our goal at Dhakai is to eliminate these barriers.

We have created our own fashion tech to create a transparent and cost-effective production process for brands and businesses looking to produce apparel. Dhakai's online platform gives brands access to choose from over 500 pre-qualified manufacturers, with features such as direct messaging, request for quotation, creating a sample order, and much more.

At Dhakai, we care about ethical production and sustainability. All of our manufacturers follow both local and global compliance laws, working towards a more sustainable supply chain. Dhakai is partnered with some of the most sustainable factories in the world.

We invite all brands (fashion brands, creatives, designers and other professionals in the fashion industry) and qualified manufacturers (suppliers) to create an account on our website, for free! If you’re looking to reach out or schedule a consultation, click here.