Every morning you increasingly feel like you are waking up in a completely new world. This is particularly true for Kornit Digital, an Israeli-American textile technology company whose world was turned upside down when one of its home countries quickly turned into a war zone. This was also evident at a VIP event at the European headquarters in Düsseldorf, to which industry experts, customers and students were invited to network and discuss solutions for the further development of the supply chain in a constantly changing world.
As a technology-driven company focused on producing and scaling textile printing solutions, the event’s panels and presentations naturally revolved around such topics. This was evident in the first talk of the day by keynote speaker Zoe Scaman, founder of the strategy innovation studio Bodacious. She addressed the ever-changing demands, needs and communication of consumers and brands in the not-too-distant future.
Consumers as creatives
Scaman’s topic gave a taste of what would be addressed in every discussion throughout the day: the changing role of consumers and how this will inevitably impact the supply chain. From Scaman’s perspective, these changes were defined by three phases of user-generated content (UGC) observed over the years. While the first phase referred to the way brands previously held control of communications and design to guide decision-making, the second phase – which we have been in for over a decade – opens the boundaries of creation.
Brands have leaned heavily into influencer culture in recent years by collaborating with creatives and taking on a curator role as the importance of incorporating external perceptions became more important. This in turn leads to Scaman’s third phase, in which the increasing dominance of community building will prevail. This is primarily supported by white label platforms like Discord, changing the way consumers expect to interact with brands.
For Scaman, in the third phase, which is now slowly taking hold in the fashion world, brands are moving towards the idea of consumers themselves acting as collaborators and creators through co-creation and interactive social media. Pushing forward with spaces that enable this type of design. This has emerged as a counterpoint to the more impersonal platforms that once led the way – particularly Facebook, where user numbers are beginning to decline amid increasing demand for what Scaman calls a “cozy web.”
Elaborating on the digital aspect of this phase, Scaman said: “This new phase of UGC, self-expression and potential development that we are moving towards next is also about the rise of Web3 and ownership. As more and more material is generated, we need a way to track who created it in the first place. That leads to this idea of mutual value creation. In these different [virtuellen] New economic sectors are emerging in spaces, and [die Kund:innen] want to take part in it. When we think about giving people the opportunity to work with us as brands, we have to think about the mutual value we create with them.”
The role of brands and designers
Of course, this change in behavior has a direct impact on fashion brands, who are actively trying to stay in touch with younger generations whose values revolve around these patterns. Scaman explains that this is the basis for brands to transform into tools that allow consumers to have influence and thus give up control over creation in favor of a freer approach to design and production.
This sense of democratized creation is already evident in a number of projects initiated by various brands that leverage technologies such as generative AI, exclusive platforms and technology-based loyalty programs. Sporting goods manufacturer Nike, for example, is a pioneer in such concepts. From the launch of its interactive Nike Swoosh Studio – a closed community where members have the opportunity to design their own versions of iconic Nike sneakers – to the release of its “Cryptokicks” with RTFKT – a shoe that tracks the brand loyalty of its wearers – the company has already extensively researched the possibilities of joint management.
“We will become collaborators and evolving ecosystems. When we think about how brands change, especially in the fashion world, they are becoming more of a toolbox. They give up a certain level of control to the consumer and say that they can create something together with us: ‘Give us your ideas, here are the 3D files. Start creating something and see where it leads.’ This also gives rise to the idea of an evolving ecosystem. Instead of brands controlling everything, they’re instead saying ‘we’re open to seeing where our fans and our customers might take this next,” Scaman added.
While brands are just beginning to adopt this new way of creating, this mindset is already widespread among young designers and creatives starting their careers in the industry. A group of them were given a platform during the VIP event by taking part in a panel discussion after presenting a selection of their designs to those in attendance the previous evening. The participants were named Kornit 2023 Graduate Fashion Foundation winners earlier this year and came from various institutions in the UK, where they were recognized for the use of print in their graduate collections.
The group discussed not only the general difficulties faced when attempting to start a career in fashion, but also the growing desire to break away from mass production. “We all agree that the design process, the fabrics we use and the processes we use are very important. If we want to design sustainably, it is also important to think a little about the psychology of fashion. This is about embracing the storytelling aspect because I think that’s what consumers are looking for today – away from mass production and towards something that has a little more meaning. This could include creating a graphic or design that is more personal and therefore creates a slightly more emotional interaction with the wearer. This will then increase the longevity of the product,” said panelist Natalie Evans.
How does the supply chain need to adapt?
As consumer demand changes and responds to how a brand works, the currently static supply chain must also move. This is not entirely flexible these days when it comes to rapidly changing mindsets, widespread personalization and rapid responses. A panelist in the third talk of the day, “Collaborating to drive change,” elaborated on the perspectives shared so far.
“The next generation of social media users are creators. Around 53 percent of TikTok users are creatives, which means they not only consume, they also create. They create for their community and then you have a different business principle because suddenly everything belongs to the consumer,” explained Jochen Mensch, IT supplier manager at Deutsche Kreditbank. He noted that companies like Shein handle this type of process well, striving to respond to fast-moving social media trends to meet demand and provide consumers with quick solutions.
“This destroys the traditional way of planning a collection, how you make a collection, how you research, the entire supply chain.” For Mensch, the delivery companies and factories that are more flexible and produce niche products will prevail “I work in Sri Lanka has a 60,000-employee organization that has 20 factories producing millions of items per day. They’re not made for that. But if you’re a small workshop somewhere in China and can only make 100 yellow T-shirts a day, then suddenly you’re in business. “We suddenly have a tribalization of business, and it’s phenomenal to see how this platform thinking is turning the entire supply chain on its head,” adds Mensch.
Scott Walton, head of global business development brands at Kornit Digital, noted that digitizing the back-end of production, as demonstrated by Shein’s expansive growth, is imperative to keep pace. “Part of the problem is that it’s so fragmented,” Walton said. “All of these manufacturing companies need to partner with technology companies to build these components of the ecosystem to support this [Teil der Lieferkette] to come together, and the demand comes with that.”
Finally, and to underscore the importance of change and adaptation, Scaman’s final comments come into play: “People will no longer just sit there and be content with what we give them. They want to be part of the process, it’s about participation. It’s about reciprocity and ownership. They’re building these resilient economies that they can participate in. Fashion has always been about culture. We make them, we spread them, we destroy them, we rebuild them. But the culture is changing. We have to share them, we have to help shape them, we have to open them up. We need to become kaleidoscopic, and we need to invite people. You have the tools to do this. If we don’t do this, they will still do it, but we will be left behind.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.