On July 4 the conference ‘FASHIONTEC Berlin’, discussing the future of fashion, was held at Kraftwerk Berlin under the umbrella of Berlin Fashion week. Speakers from various industries such as experience design, hardware tech or to online retail platform shared insights and tips on how to approach and succeed in the digital age.
I had 2 favorite speakers:
Steve Lidbury from Eight Inc., agency for human experience design, went over how especially young people, also called Gen Z, show a different approach in their consumption: instead of wanting goods, they want experiences. Great examples from experiences being memorable and increasing the probability of forgiving consumers were given, clearly demonstrating how brands need to do much more than just selling goods.
how Gen Z customers are different from older generations in requiring meaningful experiences
Second I also very much enjoyed Florian Heinemann’s presentation, who is the co-founder of Project A, a venture capital company investing and consulting with start-ups/companies going digital at an early stage. The necessity of companies owning a certain part of the tech knowledge, in combination with outsourcing tech and data expertise was something I strongly agree with.
Florian Heinemann presenting at FASHIONTECH Berlin
Further exhibitors presented innovative products and processes outside the FASHIONTECH stage. I enjoyed Hugo Boss’ VR experience (they have been strongly investigating in their 3D assets and team over the past 1-2 years) as well as sizolution, who have an interesting approach for virtual fitting by measuring the garment flat and letting the consumer enter his data online. However, regarding the latter I must admit I am quite critical as it requires the consumer to measure key areas (bust, waist, hip) where a lot can go wrong already, besides the fact that estimating your own body shape is also purely subjective.
Hugo Boss offering VR experience at the exhibitors space
While I had expected some more innovation in digital creation there were lots of fascinating insights from other industries with a big focus on digital (e-)business. After all, it all goes together, and one of the key factors remains interoperability between the sectors creation, communication and sales.
Polygondressing 