Technology in the fashion industry is changing how the industry works. In this blog, we’re taking a look at the issues faced by major fashion brands, as well as the technology helping them solve their problems.
Leading fashion companies such as Crew Clothing, Phase Eight and Karen Millen launch new garment lines every season. It is exceedingly difficult to estimate how many of each garment they will sell, which can lead to the warehouse’s heavy duty garment rails filled with excess stock, which is then sold at discount prices. Newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) inventory management systems are able to monitor stock levels and predict customer demand, which can eliminate excessive stock.
An issue facing online fashion retailers is the high rate of returned orders. This is often due to customers being unable to try on clothes before buying. Virtual and augmented systems allow customers to try on virtual outfits to get a more accurate feel of how the actual garments look and fit.
Garments are often made in factories overseas, which means that they must be transported long distances to UK warehouses. 3D printing, however, could change that. This technology is already being used to prototype new designs, but may shift the future of large-scale garment production away from the factory. This technology could also be used to make custom-fit garments tailored to the individual customer’s body shape.
AI technology has the potential to make the fashion production process more efficient and even predict future fashion trends, and is already being used by many of the biggest brands in the world, to varying levels of success.
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