4 Megatrends for the Fashion Industry

At DDIGITT we are a little bit of futurists ourselves. We understand the world from what is becoming, not from what it is! And, the Fashion Industry is going through major shifts accelerated by new consumer needs, technology innovations and social-economic disruptions.

We are witnessing some changes in the apparel industry, and in society as a whole, that could add to the benefits of digitization and more sustainable practices.

Making Fashion less of a dirty word

Nothing new here. We know that consumers are more ecologically driven than ever before, and so ‘throw-away’ fashion has to evolve. Consumers are searching for brands with purpose, with strong ethics and policies regarding “doing the right thing for our home planet.”

The time is now to innovate the fashion business model towards more efficient sustainable practices that value and save on energy, labor and raw materials.

Instant gratification

Every generation’s attention span is halved compared to the previous one and we believe, linked to instant gratification, the consumer expects products purchased to be readily available. Taking 3 months to produce garments and delivering it in 7 days might be already too late for the consumer of tomorrow.

Even in an era of fast fashion, time to market is a competitive advantage. An end-to-end digital transformation can squeeze the calendar by up to 40%. When a piece is designed and built from the ground up in digital form, with a common set of tools and libraries, mistakes and do-overs fall sharply.

Consumer centricity

No longer is “product king”. No longer do we manufacture great product and push this product onto the consumer. The consumer is now king; what the consumer wants, the brands have to cater for (and if they don’t their competitors will). This is a shift from “brand push” to “consumer pull”.

Fashion innovation remains rooted in the past and based on gut and guesswork. Digital will help bring design and the consumer closer together. Designers can gain data-based insights into trends and consumer behavior. This tightening loop can help fashion brands anticipate the next big trend and increase the amount of merchandise they sell at full price.

Customization and personalization

Looking at this from a lifestyle perspective, our Netflix and Spotify selections are personalized to our preferences already. Consumers are overwhelmed by the amount of apparel available and are looking for personalized selections. Fashion brand are starting to look for ways to bring their customer to the design process — even virtually.

Looking at this from the perspective of fashion designer, consumers are also dissatisfied with the “average” approach to shape and sizing. No one ‘Medium’ is comparable and I believe consumers are looking for brands that fit them as individuals.

So, what if we offer a viable shift to a new model of fashion production? Rather than producing stock in advance, each garment is made on-demand — after the point of purchase — meaning that every item has a home.

This is the realization of a vision to bring the benefits of personalization and efficient manufacturing of individual products to customers.

Looking at this scenario, our goal is to revolutionize the way the fashion industry operates. We are more committed to the digital transformation of the fashion industry than ever before.

But, what exactly is Digital Transformation? To simply put, it is to digitize processes that are currently analogic. Easy as that!

DDIGITT learned a lot on the way and we are here to help YOU take this courageous step into Digital Acceleration.