Apparel brands and their supply chains have been shaken to their core this year, with the Covid-19 pandemic presenting an untold number of challenges. From store closures and mountains of unsold inventory, to the cancellation of orders leading to mass factory closures, companies are being forced to rethink the way they operate – with new and smarter fashion manufacturing models starting to emerge.

Shopping habits in the US and Europe have also shifted dramatically because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with rapid growth of online sales putting pressure on retailers to provide updated products and new experiences. Customisation, on-demand, made-to-measure, and digital try-on are all key to helping them become more responsive to consumer needs, and take some of the long lead times and guesswork out of sourcing.

Digitalisation, big data and analytics tools are helping companies look beyond the crisis to secure a competitive advantage, gain better insights into consumer purchasing behaviours and forecast trends more accurately – as well as play an integral part in helping businesses become more nimble and agile. Many are looking to the adoption of blockchain and RFID for improved supply chain transparency, while virtual and augmented reality is being used to improve privacy, and 3D for speeding up time-to-market and reducing costs has become key for sustainability and the circular economy.

Circular models

The fashion industry is continuing to push the boundaries when it comes to sustainability, and circularity has become key as businesses start to look beyond the current linear take-make-dispose extractive model and instead take the end of a product’s life into consideration. A circular economy is based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. With shoppers developing greater antipathy towards wasteful business models, circularity has become an opportunity for companies to re-evaluate the fashion retail model.

  • Hong Kong-based yarn spinner Novetex Textiles is helping scale up a mechanical recycling process that combines both new and existing technologies to produce recycled fibres from textile waste. The Billie System doesn’t consume water, emit wastewater, or produce chemical waste. The recycled fibres are sent to Novetex’s Zhuhai facilities in Southern China where they are blended with virgin fibres to ensure the best quality for garment production, before being spun into yarn.

  • Swedish brand Monki’s new Green Machine textile-to-textile recycling technology marks a tipping point on the fashion industry’s path to a circular model. Developed through a research collaboration between the non-profit H&M Foundation and HKRITA (The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel), the process uses a closed loop of just water, heat and biodegradable green chemicals to separate the fibres, which can be used again and again. It marks the first time a hydrothermal system that can fully separate and recycle cotton and polyester blended fabrics into new fibres has moved from trial to products.

    GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

    US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

    Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

    By GlobalData

  • On a country level, Bangladesh’s garment industry sees itself as a potential leader in the global circular economy with a new business plan aimed at tackling the country’s textile waste problem. As part of The Circular Fashion Partnership, the sector will map and trace waste streams, and set up new ones directly in the factories. The recycler and the brands will be brought together to improve the quality of the waste and discuss pricing mechanisms in order to make recycled yarns competitive with virgins. “The word circular economy is no more just a concept, it is the future and we have to embrace it if we are to make the world sustainable,” says Dr Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “The global fashion industry has a huge part to play, shifting this entire linear model to a circular one. That is the only way in which we can conserve resources.”

  • A new three-year cotton project also launched last month to prove circular fashion is possible, backed by EUR6.75m (US$8m) from the EU. A consortium of 12 companies spanning the entire supply chain are working to develop an entirely circular model for commercial garment production using patented technology that can regenerate cellulose-rich textile waste into fibres that look and feel like cotton. Through the initiative, textile waste will be collected, sorted, and regenerated into fibres, which will be used to create different types of fabrics for clothing that will be designed, manufactured, and sold by German sportswear giant Adidas and brands in the H&M Group.

Customisation

With companies re-evaluating their larger production set-ups and customers now desiring more input into the clothes they buy and wear, there is an increasing interest in moving away from mass manufacturing to mass customisation. The return for fashion companies is higher customer retention, less storage of goods and therefore a reduction in overhead costs, and more efficient production.

  • 3D printing firm Stratasys is using its novel PolyJet Technology to make customised fashion design commercially viable. The digital designs are 3D printed directly onto sustainable fabrics, while its collection also allows for the easy adaption of personalised sizes derived from 3D scans of the wearer. Instead of sewing for assembly, all seams are connected with 3D printed joinery, which is said to be the first time 3D printed connectors have been used in textile assembly.

  • At the front end of the supply chain, denim giant Levi Strauss & Co launched a new store concept in the UK in October where worn denim can get a new lease of life thanks to customisation and repair services provided by in-house tailors who will stitch, patch repair and customise well-worn denim. The brand has also launched a new product solution made from entirely repaired, reimagined and recycled Levi’s product. In a nod to the circular economy, the launches are part of efforts to encourage shoppers to purchase more thoughtfully and sustainably.

  • Apparel company Unspun was a new innovator to the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator Programme in September last year. The company uses 3D scanning and fit algorithms to generate digital consumer sizing and this year launched mobile phone scanning so shoppers can scan from anywhere for custom fit jeans. By selecting preferred style, fabric, thread colour, hem length and waist height, consumers can then create a digital avatar before placing an order for delivery in 3-4 weeks. The technique eliminates back-end inventory, reduces wasteful processes and ultimately increases the lifespan and wearability of garments. The company, which has former Levi’s head of global design Jonathan Cheung on its board, has evolved its fit algorithm to include not only body measurements but geometry, body shape, and body softness.

On-demand

Moving to on-demand production – when goods are produced when or as they are required – allows brands and manufacturers to build more responsive and flexible value chains, reducing waste, upfront costs, excess inventory and requires no warehousing. It is both an economical and sustainable way of manufacturing.

  • Alabama-based OnPoint Manufacturing has developed a facility that allows fashion brands to deliver on-demand clothing to a customer’s doorstep in up to two days. Its factory model, which automates and integrates almost every aspect of the manufacturing process from order entry all the way to delivery, is driven by complex software that allows OnPoint to manufacture millions of unique SKUs on demand, thereby eliminating inventory costs and streamlining the supply chain.

  • Smaller brands are also demonstrating how effective on-demand manufacturing can be. Canadian shoe company Native Shoes has teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to 3D print two of its most popular footwear designs on-demand. The Liquid Printed Natives are 3D printed in liquid rubber and can use a higher percentage of recycled EVA than the injection-moulding method.

  • On-demand is taking on a new meaning for global fitness brand Reebok, with a digital platform that acts to minimise waste by enabling US consumers to collectively determine whether a particular footwear design should enter production. During a set period, consumers have the chance to back production, with the first to commit to the design pledging US$1 to purchase the shoe. The price will increase by $1 with each commitment until it hits retail price. The goal is to reach a minimum of 500 pairs sold. If that demand is not reached, the sneaker will not be made. If it is, the shoe is made, it will ship approximately nine weeks later.

Smart manufacturing

While once the key to success was having a fast supply chain, smart companies are now looking at how they can become more nimble and agile. Increasingly, customers’ demands have begun driving the supply chain, and in order to adapt, companies are having to invest in digital capabilities. Automation, artificial intelligence, 3D, and robotics are all featuring in new production models to help improve product, time-to-market and benefit from more data and analytics.

  • Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba opened its Xunxi Digital Factory in September to “create a user-centric approach to production by leveraging various digital solutions” including cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things) technologies and AI (Artificial Intelligence) algorithms. Essentially, what this means is that the huge amounts of data generated by consumer insights and real-time market trends across the Alibaba e-commerce platforms will help the shift from a traditional “made-to-stock” manufacturing model to “made-to-sell” production. Results so far suggest the Xunxi factory is able to increase manufacturing efficiency from 25% to an average of 55%. Overheads have also been reduced by 43% and the need to hold inventory by 30%. Order lead-times are also 75% shorter.

  • With growing environmental concerns, pressure to reduce waste, ever increasing automation in apparel manufacturing and a shift in manufacturing out of China, brands are increasingly looking at alternative ways of production that can provide flexibility of product, flexibility of quantity, speed to market and a lower carbon footprint. As such, micro-factories are set to become an increasingly important part of the apparel supply chain. There are also certain advantages towards lower costs such as overheads, freight costs, and lower custom duty impacts.

  • Chemical manufacturer BASF opened its first global footwear innovation centre in Taiwan this year, bringing together manufacturers and designers to accelerate the adoption of the latest technologies and materials. The centre enables brands to address common operational challenges, optimise manufacturing processes, and improve efficiencies, while also testing and refining material innovations within a shorter timeframe, as well as evaluating concepts on a global scale.