IMPRESSIONS from a Cross-section

I do not think so. There are multiple solutions and system upgrades that need to be implemented. These refer back to design, factory monitoring, inventory management, and then through the selling process. The innovation is there, companies just need to investigate and invest.

I believe that marketing and communication is the area in which the fashion industry has been able to quickly catch up with digital technologies available. However, the supply chain still remains at a stage where several changes need to happen. I’m talking about the possibility to track the products alongside the supply chains through IoT for instance, or about the digital prototyping that can open up new avenues for e-commerce optimisation.

During the early days of Supply Compass when I was living in India, I felt that many communication and production processes had been entrenched over decades, and few had paused to question why they were being done in such a way. It didn’t make sense to me that the retail and consumer-facing side of fashion was exploring all kinds of exciting technologies, but that behind the scenes product development, production, and supply chain management was essentially being done via email, Excel and WhatsApp. Whilst these are all great tools, none have been designed for the unique complexity of fashion supply chains. What’s more, with sustainability rising up the agenda of every brand, I couldn’t see how these ambitious sustainability goals would be achievable without technology at the core. I noticed that although brands and factories were quick to talk through the challenges that existed within fashion production and supply chains, technology was rarely seen as a viable solution to their problems. For me, the basics of how brands and manufacturers find each other and work together required a rethink and digital overhaul. It has been hard at times to get brands to see the benefits of using cloud-based software, but now everyone has been forced to work from home, they can’t go into the office to manually look something up. Overnight, working from home has brought about an immediate need to design and produce online. If we look at how fast everyone has adapted to this new normal in response to the global pandemic, imagine how fast businesses could adapt in other areas? Rather than reverting to how things have always been done, there is a huge opportunity here for brands to reinvent, adapt and experiment with new technologies and methods of working. This ranges from the radical—such as buying virtual clothing from companies like The Fabricant—to the practical, such as using virtual sampling software like Clo3D whilst closed factories are unable to produce physical samples. I’ve seen brands react fast to lockdown and experiment with digital fashion shows, virtual catwalks and virtual showrooms. Since most fashion brands have been forced to operate remotely, working from home has brought about an immediate need to design collections and manage production online. It’s important that teams use this time to explore and train themselves on new digital tools and bring product libraries into the cloud. Production software provides a necessary single source of truth and means teams can be working on the same collection or order at the same time, whilst at home. This reduces miscommunication, increases team visibility, drives efficiency and encourages better team collaboration, regardless of whether you are together or not. Slack, WhatsApp and Zoom are great tools for communication but aren’t built for product development, factory collaboration, or effective order management. The reinvention won’t just be limited to retail; we think this will transform parts of the supply chain too. We’re exploring virtual showrooms for factories so they can better showcase their capabilities whilst brands aren’t able to visit—and we wonder whether tools like this could last beyond the crisis.