Digital solutions for the clothing industry supply chain can drive the industry forward in an innovative and sustainable manner. Yet they are mostly overshadowed by the Metaverse when it comes to digital fashion. The new trade fair format “Digital Fashion – The Phygital Network” is dedicated to this topic. FashionUnited has summarized the takeaways from the first issue for you.
The beta edition took place on Wednesday and Thursday as part of the marketing trade fair ‘Digital Marketing Exposition & Conference’ (DMEXCO), which, like the digital fashion event, is organized by Koelnmesse. For digital fashion, the trade fair organizer cooperates with the German Mode Institute DMI GmbH. The trend and consulting company approached Koelnmesse a year ago to offer a platform for digital solutions in the clothing industry.
Exhibitors show digital solutions for the supply chain
This physical space is said to have never existed before and in doing so the organizers are closing “a gap” for the industry, explained DMI managing director Carl Tillessen to FashionUnited. From printing to digital prototyping, different stages of the supply chain should be addressed.
On the two days of the trade fair, the organizers presented stands in a separate area in one of the halls of the Cologne exhibition center from a selection of companies that definitely wanted to be part of this first “teaser” event for digital fashion, even though only lectures were planned at the moment were. These included the Japanese printer manufacturer Epson, which presented its digital printing solutions for the textile industry, Verce, a developer of virtual models, and the Cologne-based company ColorDigital GmbH, which offers digital color and 3D solutions in the supply chain with its product DMIx busy. But the Digital Fitting Lab from Hohenstein, a research and service center for textiles, was also on site.
The “The Phygital Network” exhibitors were in good company. Right next door, the digital agency Dept had a stand, presenting its Metaverse showroom for the Swedish fashion giant H&M.
“The exhibitors are totally happy because contacts have been made with companies that would otherwise never have approached them on their own,” said the DMI managing director.
The upcoming edition of “Digital Fashion – The Phygital Network”, which will take place again in September 2024 as part of DMEXCO, is expected to be significantly larger with around 20 exhibitors, says Tillessen. Larger technology developers such as Microsoft, Meta and Snap, who are already partners of DMEXCO and would then have their own stand with their fashion department, could also be there.
Lectures show a cross-section of digital solution approaches
The Hamburg trading group Otto Group was also already active as a DMEXCO exhibitor and was also on stage at the first “Digital Fashion” edition. There Benjamin Köhler, head of sustainability management at Otto, presented the mail order company’s Circular Collection. Using the collection, he showed what possibilities in the areas of customer insights, engagement and experience the ‘Near Field Communication’ tag (NFC tag for short) integrated into the pieces in the collection could offer in addition to the digital product pass and resale.
CollectID CEO David Geisser showed examples such as NFC tags in products that can expand the experience for consumers during his presentation. The Swiss company works with fashion companies such as Hugo Boss, among others, to unlock physical products in a digital world by scanning NFC. Brands like Jako also use this technology for storytelling. CollectID helped the German sports goods retailer to ensure that fans of the VFB Stuttgart football club can scan the tag and thereby learn more about the circular economy of the jerseys.
Other lectures dealt with the digitization of products and models in order to simplify the processes from production to sales and also save costs, time and materials. Bastiaan Geluk, Head of Digital Fashion at the Amsterdam company INDG, showed how true to the original digital twins of products can be, down to the smallest detail of the fiber. But topics such as nearshoring and made-to-order approaches through mico factories were also part of the program.
‘Digital Fashion’ provided a comprehensive cross-section of digital solution approaches for the entire clothing industry and showed what is currently possible. The lectures not only attracted industry representatives from the fashion sector, but also other visitors to the DMEXCO trade fair, who may have taken away a new digital approach for their own industry.