Will the fashion industry ever embrace technology?

I love technology, ways to make work faster, more efficient and accurate. Yesterday I attended a seminar from a company named Tukatech. They specialize in various products all aimed at making the design, production and retail process more streamlined and integrated. But there is so much resistance in the fashion industry to move forward with technology. Companies will claim they simply don't have the money to afford the equipment and software and Designers and Patternamakers will claim that designing and pattern making by hand is an art, and it is. I won't argue with that but who says you can't create art in the computer? And putting art aside, when you work for a company sometimes it's about the bottom line, making a profit. So why so much resistance from fashion when all other industries have already move on and arrived at the future?

Their presentation was great. They offer a similar program to what is already out there for tech pack management and pattern making but where they really stand out is with their 3D software. They have created a way to scan fabric and demo how a pattern will fit before it is actually sewn by a sample maker, there by eliminating any extra steps in the fitting process. The program is called e-fit Simulator. You can scan in your model and do a virtual fitting session, see how the fabric drapes and how the pattern fits before you ever have to sew it.

Even better still is the future of web-retail. Although they don't have customers yet for this technology it is amazing to see just how far they can go. They are working on a way that customers can go to their favorite retail store and scan their own body. Your body would be uploaded to system and when you are home you can shop virtually, try on clothes and create your "closet". Try on new items with others that you have already purchased and so on... I'd like to see this made available asap. I just love it.

I'm glad I was able to attend this presentation and stay on top of the latest that is available in the fashion world. Very dope!

-Alex