Fashion must have become more progressive and faster in responding to the social and environmental problems caused by production, responding to a global need for sustainability and saving resources. What to do? Virtual reality is one of the answers
The fashion industry has been taken by storm with the advent of technology in recent years. Fashion is a sophisticated and contemporary industrial sector that continues to grow by incorporating new technologies and influencing retail and design. Until a few years ago the use of virtual reality has become popular in architecture, where the focus is on building structures with as few ornamental elements as possible. Today this type of technology has countless applications and the advantages are many, even for the footwear sector. There is countless research that demonstrates that the fashion industry traditionally has a poor level of sustainability. However, virtual reality aims to change this assumption by allowing all brands to overcome some of the ethical difficulties associated with the sector. Designs in fashion and accessories were realized through virtual reality, for example, substantially reduces material waste to a minimum level. Any defective items or incorrect prototypes, instead of being destroyed, with VR can be eliminated at the touch of a button, leaving no trace and significantly reducing waste and carbon dioxide emissions associated with shipping, therefore lowering environmental pollution. Let’s talk about the fundamental role of virtual reality as an essential tool in the Fashion Industry with Giulia Vaccari, Marketing Executive and Alberto Rossato, Sales Account Fashion Division of Prisma Tech, a company that has been providing software, hardware, consultancy and training for more than twenty years to companies who have decided to improve their product development processes.
There is more and more talk of Virtual Reality. You were the reference interlocutor present in the fair to propose this type of solution. What did you present?
“What we have presented is just a practical example of what virtual reality can do because there is no doubt that the future of fashion must go through digitalization. It is a service that we offer to all our customers to whom we give the possibility, through the use of software for rendering and VR called Autodesk VRED, to visualize in an advanced way the prototypes they create in 2D and 3D. The starting point is the creation of the prototype with a 2D or 3D CAD by the customer – it can be an accessory or even a piece of clothing – which is subsequently rendered using software and perfectly recreates all the details and increases them the qualitative vision”.
What other uses is it intended for?
“It is also used for interactive shopping. In practice, each brand can create its own virtual shop where the end customer can go and select the items or accessories of his interest and see them enlarged. Then he can go about it, see the details and evaluate the purchase. Let’s say that the virtual shop is only the tip of the iceberg in the sense that the client companies obviously focus more on the commercial marketing aspect but we are present on the entire process and product development phase. For us, 3D is the driving force to arrive at the virtual store. The goal is to reduce waste and lower physical prototypes in line with the theme of eco-sustainability. We go to the new designers, the model makers of the future, who absolutely must not lose either their know-how or their manual skills. We absolutely do not want to them replaced, we rather want to support them by giving them a valid tool that helps them in their designs. Companies like Gucci took this path already about three or four years ago. The fashion brands are more or less already acquired customers, but the path is still long because obviously we are forcing to change a work process that has been going on for twenty or thirty years”.
What was the keystone?
“The key was to enter the schools right away. We understood that to change the work process within companies we had to train new figures right from the start of their professional career, therefore starting from the schools. We went to Marangoni, to the IED, to Naba or to Secoli where, for five years now, within their course of study, there is not only traditional modeling but also virtual 3D modeling with our software. At the beginning it was very hard: big investments in terms of people, resources and marketing but now we are reaping the fruits”.
At the fair, you also presented software intended exclusively for the footwear world. Can you tell us what it is?
“Icad3d is a simple and intuitive Spanish software, developed by INESCOP, of which we are resellers, created for the design and engineering of footwear which integrates in the same program two different work environments that work in parallel: one virtual in 3D and a technical one in 2D. The first step of the process consists in importing the digital form; the second involves drawing on the last which is as simple as doing it on a real one; the designs of the soles and heels follows, the creation of the upper and the thicknesses, the addition of details and accessories and the choice of infinite materials and combinations. The tools integrated in the software allows you to draw any type of shoe quickly and accurately and also allows you to add an infinite number of details that increases the quality of the model’s technical information. And finally, another essential aspect, it allows you to calculate the material consumption of each individual model in real time and minimizes waste”.
The applications of your software are able to respond to multiple needs. What kind of assistance do you provide to your customers other than sales?
“Our offer also includes a software dedicated to the world of fashion called CLO for the 3D design of clothing and leather goods. This program allows you to quickly create and modify prototypes in different fabric and color variants. I would also like to mention VIZOO, a latest generation high resolution scanner for leather and fabrics that reproduces them as if they were real. We sell many revolutionary solutions but our services also include training and consultancy for every specific need”.
Why did you decide to return to the fair?
“Above all is to make ourselves known more and more in the fashion industry and create an opportunity to meet our customers after two years of trade fairs we were unable to attend and reach new ones”.
Last question: What do you expect from the future?
“We expect the world of footwear, which in my opinion is still very handcrafted in the fashion sector compared to others, will begin to look a little more closely at 3D technology as an innovative and decisive tool. Here, this is the message we are trying to spread”.