Benetton s/s 2011: Now we have your attention…
Last year Dassault Systèmes held an event to showcase what its products could offer the world of fashion; since then they’ve been persuading high street brands to come aboard and now they’ve bagged Benetton as another client.
As the least sartorially-challenged member of the team (anyone who’s seen Martyn Day’s parka-with-shorts combo, or Greg Corke’s eye-wateringly bright sneaker collection will confirm this) I shuffled into the back of last year’s event with a bunch of fashion industry journalists and company execs.
I sat as they all tried to get their heads around the concept – even with big firms such as UNIQLO leading the way – that 3D and Dassault’s Enovia V6 PLM especially would be the future for mainstream clothing retailers.
The technology can be used for simple things such as achieving effective collaborative working between designers, right down to managing stock levels in individual stores.
Today’s announcement that Dassault will provide Benetton with “deep domain-specific apparel design and production capabilities”, is another stepping stone of industries that have traditionally lagged behind in 2D stepping up into 3D.
Although I can never imagine actual garment design taking place in 3D (“it’s all about the sketching dahhrling!”), the development cycle can greatly benefit and achieve cost-savings and ecological benefits.
“To achieve real competitive advantage, however, fashion brands, retailers and suppliers have to differentiate themselves by creating more seamless links between product development and the actual sourcing of the products, between internal and external teams, in order to respond quickly to consumer and fashion trends and speed time to market,” said Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charlès (while dressed as Karl Lagerfeld).
Expect more big name stores announcing their moves soon; in the meantime enjoy this…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=wk4U2uJuFAI
