Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

How Virtual Sampling Went Mainstream

There’s been an uptick in brands from footwear to luxury adopting the technology as they look to speed up their processes, cut costs and burnish their sustainability credentials.

Three realistic 3D images of Timberland boots are lined up against a beige background. — Timberland boots, in 3D. (Timberland)

Marc Bain

21 November 2022

BoF PROFESSIONAL

In 2019, Timberland’s design team got a last-minute brief for a new footwear style to be developed as quickly as possible. Normally, however, creating a new product is slow: it can take months to make and revise physical samples, each of which must be shipped back and forth between factories in Asia and the company’s US offices.

Please sign in to ensure you can read our agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice. Or get in touch at support@businessoffashion.com if you experience difficulties.

The New Technologies Fashion Schools Are Teaching Students

Students are training in 3D design and data analytics as the fashion industry undergoes a digital transformation and readies itself for an increasingly virtual future.

Inside Adidas’ Billion-Dollar Digital Transformation

The German sneaker giant is investing for a new era of tech-enabled retail in a bid to close the gap with Nike.

The New Creatives Bringing Fashion Brands Into the Virtual World

Their mix of technical expertise and digital artistry has put 3D creators, game designers and NFT experts in high demand among fashion brands as they venture further into virtual territories.

About the author

Marc Bain

Marc Bain is Technology Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. He is based in New York and drives BoF’s coverage of technology and innovation, from start-ups to Big Tech.

In This Article

Topics

Technology

Alibaba Targets $100 Billion of AI Revenue in Five Years

The Hangzhou-based company is the most aggressive Chinese spender on AI technology, having pledged over $53 billion of AI investment over several years.

Exclusive: Nvidia and Antoine Arnault Are Moving Into Virtual Try-On

At the Nvidia GTC conference on Monday, the AI company announced it was partnering with Catches to launch RealFit, a new platform that uses physics to improve digital try-on technology.

Which High Street Fashion Brands Are Winning the AI Discovery Battle?

Getting recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI chatbots is fast emerging as a competitive advantage for fashion brands. As AI reshapes discovery, which brands are being favoured by AI and why?

Why Fashion Doesn’t Talk About How It Uses AI

A new analysis suggests most big fashion and retail players are using AI, though many are still reluctant to speak about it publicly.

Why H&M’s Sustainability Report Is So Unusual

The Swedish fast-fashion retailer is one of a shrinking number of companies that’s still drawing attention to its emissions goals. Plus, a Shanghai Fashion Week preview.

The Industry That Eats Its Young

Small fashion labels have always been shortchanged by their wholesale partners. A wave of high-profile bankruptcies has turned a structural injustice into an existential crisis. There is a better way to do business, writes Imran Amed.

The Zara-Fication of John Galliano

Fashion’s enfant terrible is trading exclusivity for the mass market. Is it the ultimate fashion coup, or the final surrender of prestige?

The Impact of War on Fashion’s Supply Chain

Textile hubs are already feeling the cascading risks of the conflict in Iran as Washington ramps up forced labour probes to revive tariffs, while decarbonisation in fashion’s factories might finally have a standard to go off of.

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

CONNECT WITH US ON

News & Analysis

Topics

More

Careers

Community

Subscribe

About Us