Transformation of the textile industry from push to pull production through digitalization

The fashion industry is characterised by the mass production of homogeneous and standardised fashion items. Fast fashion attempts to respond to rapidly changing trends and ever-changing consumer tastes with short lead times of around five to six weeks and fast-changing fashion cycles (up to 24 collections per year). The “fast fashion” model is associated with high volatility, low predictability of demand and overproduction and significantly exacerbates the already existing sustainability problem. Low prices and increasingly fast-moving fashion trends are also changing society’s consumer behaviour towards overconsumption and a throwaway society, which leads to high environmental and social costs. Further problems arise from the outsourcing of production to low-wage countries with poor working conditions and environmental standards. The project has pursued the vision of transforming the textile industry’s supply chains from a push to a pull system and thus making textile production more sustainable and transparent.

Future supply chains are to be developed centred around a cloud-based platform. Such a platform brings together end customers, fashion designers, garment manufacturers (sewing factories) and fabric and haberdashery suppliers and has the potential to liberalise the textile industry in a disruptive way and make it as transparent as possible. As a “real” fitting is not possible without the physical production of the garment, virtual fitting was developed as a key technology for such a platform as part of the project. By integrating CAD cuts of the garments and a personal avatar, it should be possible to try on clothes digitally. CAD models are used as standard in the garment design process and personal avatars can be created by measuring the body or using a 3D body scan.