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When brands design and sample digitally, the goal is to achieve a realistic look.However, for many garments, the realistic look comes down to something invisible: the interlining.
Backing or backing is a hidden layer in many garments that provide a specific shape.In dresses, this could be drape.In a suit, this might be called a “line”.”That’s what keeps the collar rigid,” explains Caley Taylor, head of the 3D design team at Clo, a global provider of 3D design tools software.”Especially for more ‘draped’ garments, it’s very eye-catching. It makes a world of difference.”
Trim suppliers, 3D design software suppliers, and fashion houses are digitizing fabric libraries, generic hardware including zippers, and now creating additional elements such as digital interlinings.When these assets are digitized and made available in design tools, they include the physical properties of the item, such as stiffness and weight, which enable 3D clothing to achieve a realistic look.The first to offer digital interlinings is the French company Chargeurs PCC Fashion Technologies, whose clients include Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga and Gucci.It has been working with Clo since last fall to digitize more than 300 products, each in a different color and iteration.These assets were made available on Clo’s Asset Market this month.
Hugo Boss is the first adopter.Sebastian Berg, head of digital excellence (operations) at Hugo Boss, says having an accurate 3D simulation of every available style is a “competitive advantage”, especially with the advent of virtual fittings and fittings.Now that more than 50 percent of Hugo Boss’ collections are created digitally, the company is actively working with global cut and fabric suppliers, including Chargeurs, and is working to provide the garment’s technical components to create accurate digital twins, he said. .Hugo Boss sees 3D as a “new language” that everyone involved in the design and development style needs to be able to speak.
Chargeurs chief marketing officer Christy Raedeke likens the interlining to the skeleton of a garment, noting that reducing physical prototypes from four or five to one or two across many SKUs and many seasons will dramatically reduce the number of slow-moving garments produced.
The 3D rendering reflects when the digital interlining was added (right), allowing for a more realistic prototyping.
Fashion brands and conglomerates such as VF Corp, PVH, Farfetch, Gucci and Dior are all at various stages of adopting 3D design.3D renderings will be inaccurate unless all physical elements are recreated during the digital design process, and the interlining is one of the last elements to be digitized.To address this, traditional suppliers are digitizing their product catalogs and partnering with tech companies and 3D software vendors.
The benefit for suppliers such as Chargeurs is that they will be able to continue to use their products in design and physical production as brands go digital.For brands, precise 3D interlinings can reduce the time it takes to finalize a fit.Audrey Petit, chief strategy officer at Chargeurs, said the digital interlining immediately improved the accuracy of digital renderings, which also meant fewer physical samples were required.Ben Houston, CTO and founder of Threekit, a software company that helps brands visualize their products, said getting the right display right away can reduce the cost of clothing design, simplify the process and help physical products come closer to expectations.
In the past, to achieve a certain structure of digital designs, Houston would choose a material like “full-grain leather” and then digitally sew fabric on it.“Every designer who uses Clo struggles with this. You can manually edit [the fabric] and make up the numbers, but it’s hard to make up numbers that match the real product,” he said.”There’s a missing gap here.” Having an accurate, lifelike interlining means designers no longer have to guess, he says.”It’s a big deal for those working in an all-digital way.”
Developing such a product was “critical to us,” Petit said.“Designers today are using 3D design tools to design and conceptualize garments, but none of them include interlining. But in real life, if a designer wants to achieve a certain shape, they need to place the interlining in a strategic location.”
Avery Dennison RBIS digitizes labels with Browzwear, helping brands visualize how they will ultimately look; the goal is to eliminate material waste, reduce carbon emissions and speed time-to-market.
To create digital versions of its products, Chargerurs partnered with Clo, which is used by brands such as Louis Vuitton, Emilio Pucci and Theory.Chargeurs started with the most popular products and is expanding to other items in the catalog.Now, any customer with Clo software can use Chargeurs’ products in their designs.In June, Avery Dennison Retail Branding and Information Solutions, which provides labels and tags, partnered with Clo’s competitor Browzwear to enable apparel designers to preview branding and material choices during the 3D design process.Products that designers can now visualize in 3D include heat transfer, care labels, sewn labels and hang tags.
“As virtual fashion shows, stock-free showrooms and AR-based fitting sessions become more mainstream, demand for lifelike digital products is at an all-time high. Lifelike digital branding elements and embellishments are the key to paving the way for complete designs. Ways to accelerate production and time-to-market in ways the industry has not considered years ago,” said Brian Cheng, director of digital transformation at Avery Dennison.
Using the digital interlinings in Clo, designers can visualize how the various Chargeurs interlinings will interact with the fabric to affect drape.
Clo’s Taylor says that standard products like YKK zippers are already available in abundance in the asset library, and if a brand creates a custom or niche hardware project, it will be relatively easier to digitize than interlining.Designers are just trying to create an accurate look without having to think about a lot of extra properties like stiffness, or how the item will react with various fabrics, be it leather or silk.”The fuse and the interlining are basically the backbone of the fabric, and they have different physical testing processes,” she said.However, she added, digital buttons and zippers still carry a physical weight.
Most hardware suppliers already have 3D files for items because they are needed to create industrial molds for manufacturing, says Martina Ponzoni, director of 3D design and co-founder of 3D Robe, a 3D company that digitizes products for fashion brands. Design agency.Some, like YKK, are available in 3D for free.Others are reluctant to provide 3D files for fear that brands will bring them to more affordable factories, she said.“Currently, most brands have to create these bespoke decorations in their in-house 3D offices to use them for digital sampling. There are many ways to avoid this double work,” says Ponzoni.”Once fabric and upholstery suppliers start offering digital libraries of their products, it will be a real change for small and medium-sized brands to have easier access to digital prototypes and samples.”
“It can make or break your rendering,” says Natalie Johnson, co-founder and CEO of 3D Robe, a recent graduate of the Fashion Technology Lab in New York.The company partnered with Farfetch to digitize 14 looks for its ComplexLand look.There is an education gap in brand adoption, she said.”I’m really surprised how few brands embrace and adopt this approach to design, but it’s a completely different skill. Every designer should want a criminal 3D design partner who can bring these designs to life … It’s a more efficient way of doing things.”
Optimizing these aspects is still underestimated, Ponzoni added: “Technology like this won’t be as hyped as NFTs — but it will be a game-changer for the industry.”
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