Digital Fabric Roadmap supports global collaboration in virtual design
Dutch fashion and textiles association Modint, the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), powered by ClickNL, have drafted the ‘Digital Fabric Roadmap’ (DFR). All three organisations are fully aware that 3D virtual visualisation of garments is one of the prime challenges, and also one of the prime opportunities for the fashion and textile industries. The DFR seeks to align textile producers, garment manufacturers and buyers, as well as providers of technology to pave the way for 3D virtual visualization of our industry’s products.
Workflow improvement
3D virtual visualisation enables companies to share and modify their designs, carry out virtual fit reviews and approvals and hold buying sessions across the supply chain on true-to-life virtual avatars. The process also helps speed the product development time, reduces the need for physical samples, can improve the workflows and decision-making – and critically, lets companies be more agile and responsive to changing market needs.. Adding to these benefits, 3D solutions can also have a substantial impact on sustainability and waste reduction, with fewer samples meaning less material waste and a smaller carbon footprint and, perhaps even more importantly, with a better match between supply and demand leading to less unnecessary production.
__Standardisation required __
3D virtual visualistion or creating a true to life virtual garment sample or digital twin requires the fabric used in the sample to look, behave and drape exactly the same as the physical sample. But when it comes to materials simulation based on physical and mechanical properties, the industry is still underdeveloped. There is lack of experience, but also a lack of standardization of gathering and communicating the data on which the digital twins are based. Standardisation efforts have certainly commenced, led by large brands and retailers and the major technology suppliers, but the ‘rest of industry’ as represented by industry associations across the world is insufficiently connected to these efforts.
Accelerate
The Digital Fabric Roadmap aims to act as a catalyst for a global and industry-wide collaboration on this topic. Proposed actions range from stimulating companies to simply get to work and start digitizing their fabric and garment samples to specific calls for further standardization of measurements and communication. Aided by the Digital Fabric Roadmap MODINT, IAF and AMFI are taking a leading role in our industry’s drive to accelerate the implementation of 3D virtual visualisation.
Source: Modint