The Importance of Standards Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the Fashion IndustryPresented by Christopher Nathan

The importance of Standards Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the Fashion Industry

Vision Fashion 2020 was coined in 2005 as part of the CVI Fashion Industry Development proposal which was presented to the Ministry of Trade & Industry. Vision Fashion has three overarching Goals:

To Establish Port-of-Spain as the region’s fashion capital by the year 2020

To develop the Caribbean into a respected, reputable global fashion centre

To establish a successful Caribbean Fashion Brand

Vision Fashion 2020

Given the possibility that automation can replace labour throughout production processes in the global fashion and garment manufacturing industryWill Trinidad &Tobago be ready to enjoy these cost & process efficiencies and be able to manufacture high quality fashion products at competitive levels? Or are we forced to focus on small scale customized niche markets only and outsource all large orders to foreign garment manufacturers in Colombia, China, Turkey, the D.R. and other high technology manufacturing zones? Christopher Anthony Nathan Chairman TTBS Specifications Committee for Garment Quality/ Fashion Education & Industry Management Consultant

Trinidad & Tobago enjoys many competitive advantages in the region:

Strategic Location: Gateway to the Americas Affordable Energy Long Distinguished reputation as a garment

manufacturing centre. Circa 1920 Vast creative pool Skillful Craftsmanship Tech-savvy highly educated population

Comparative Advantages

The Value of Standards in the Fashion IndustryPresentation prepared exclusively for Fashion TT Fashion Upgrade Workshop

The implementation of new manufacturing technologies andthe adoption of national and ISO International Standards in the fashion sector are key components to industrialization as they ensure that fashion products designed and/or

manufactured in T& T meet global industry standards

A Standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, guideline and characteristics that can be used by organizations and individuals consistently to ensure that materials (inputs) finished products(outputs) production processes and services are fit for their purpose

The development of Trinidad & Tobago National Standards is based on

internationally accepted guidelines and criteria; to date over 500 national standards have been declared. The TTBS is a member of the International Organization for Standardization ISO

The Geneva based organization is the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standard, founded in 1947 ISO has published over 19 000 international standards covering various aspects of technology, innovation and business activities over a wide range of industries.

What is a Standard?

Adopting national and ISO int’l standards assures consumers that an organization’s products are

Safe Reliable Durable Up to date Of good quality Kind to the environment

Mark of Distinction

The revised standard will aid in the Standardization of manufacturing processes in T&T’s fashion sector

Make sure you buy a copy of the TTS 625: 2013 Standard and adopt its guidelines into your label’s operations

TTBS Garment Construction StandardIn 2013 TTBS reviewed its Guide to the Assessment of Garment Quality TTS 21 60 401 – 1985 The revised standard is now referred to as Garment Construction – Requirements TTS 625: 2013

The specifications committee is now exploring the feasibility of establishing a National Sizing Standard for Trinidad & Tobago which we hope will be adopted by other Caribbean nations who have fashion industry agendas

In time to come this Sizing Standard will assist

T&T apparel manufacturers to penetrate regional markets in the West Indies Central and South America

Caribbean Sizing Standard

The National Training Agency has as part of its mandate the responsibility to develop national occupational standards of competence for various occupations in T&T

The Occupational Standard specifies what a person should know and do in order to carry out the functions of a particular job effectively

National Training Agency Occupational Competency Standards

The National Training Agency NTA established a Lead Body in January to design an Occupational Standard for the award of a CVQ Level 2 qualification in Garment Construction

This CVQ will allow holders to work in any Caricom country in the Caribbean region

TTNVQ Level 2 StandardGarment Construction

The 4th Industrial Revolution is upon us It is characterized by digital technology fusions

A World Economic Forum reports that many industry observers predict that this 4th industrial revolution (the digital era) will be centred upon developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence AI and machine learning / Nanotechnology - 3D printing and robotics

Genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one another

Smart systems in homes, factories, farms and entire cities will help tackle problems ranging from supply chain management to climate change and ultimately affect the way we live

Gone are the days too when fashion designers would spend days creating fashion designs on sketch pads; recent innovations by Corel Draw and Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator now enable designers to create full fashion collections using CAD systems; then seamlessly print 3D versions with true colour representation for presentation to clients

Innovations in Manufacturing

The high-technology based manufacturing wave, which is expected to span the 4th industrial revolution (2020-2039) is fast approaching

For the past 65 yrs T&T’s economy has experienced 20 year industrial development cycles:

1950s – Petroleum 1970s - Petro-chemical Birth of Pt Lisas Industrial 1990s Gas fueled by Atlantic LNG’s establishment

2020 + High Technology Manufacturing Sector(Robotics / Automated Manufacturing / Nanotechnology and

Ai will revolutionize production processes)

T&T STI Policy & Framework

4th Industrial Revolution (your customers) Baby Boomers Born 1944 - 1963 Generation X Born 1964 - 1980 Generation Y Born 1981 - 2002

Generation ZBorn from 2003 + The Digital Babies require most focus from fashion brands as they

will be very hard to please. They want individuality; they demand quality products at affordable prices and lots of variety to choose from. They are tech-savvy and aware of trends in fashion capitals

Consumer Demographics

Gen Z is the first generation for whom digital technology is a way of life; unlike Gen Y who used technology as a medium for communication and entertainment

Innovations in digital technology allows Gen Z to enjoy radical improvements in high technology design, manufacture and communications

A fashion business can now be one person and a computer / mobile device

Content for fashion businesses can be curated instantly e.g fashion blogging & eCommerce

Generation Z entrepreneurs revealed

As the government tries to diversify Trinidad & Tobago’s economy, fashion has been identified for development:

There is a great difference between a cottage fashion industry which currently exists in Trinidad & Tobago and an industrial fashion sector

An industrial sector must be globally competitive in terms of manufacturing processes, cost efficiencies and the quality of the products created, particularly fashion products for export

Fashion Stakeholders need to pay close attention to the cutting edge and emerging technologies taking place in the manufacturing sector and get on board the digital train before we are left behind

TT’s Fashion industry…an Industrial Sector?

Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the Fashion Industry

Improvements in fashion design and textiles technology particularly 3D printing have impacted product development in the fashion sector

fabric designs can now be replicated in commercial yardage with the

right 3D printing machines and qualified surface treatment technicians ; however they must be versed in CAD systems in order to create fabrics in large quantities for the local fashion industry

SMART FABRICSRecent Innovations in the Textiles Sector

Nanotextiles Electrotextiles Geotextiles

Textiles Technology

Computer Aided Fashion Design

Innovation may not always be applied to creating new products; many amazing innovations in manufacturing processes have taken place in recent years

Fashion designers may now choose between Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software to create fashion products

CAD systems allow these sketches to be transformed into technical illustrations and Optitex Systems for CAD Pattern Design will produce accurate pattern drafts for Specification Packages/Spec Packs which can be E-mailed to your manufacturer anywhere on the planet.

CAD Garment Specification Technology

CAD Systems for Pattern Drafting

The use of computer software in apparel production has opened up remarkable opportunities for innovative design, improved productivity and greater efficiency for small fashion business manufacturing

Optitex Pattern Design Software allows designers to digitize existing flat patterns and merge the pattern design data with their company’s operations management computer system

Computer-Aided Pattern Design introducing OPTITEX

Optitex Systems for Pattern Design allows fashion to get to market faster, at less cost with an efficient pattern making suite that optimizes pattern drafting at every step of the product development cycle

It eliminates hundreds of manual steps in the design process

Simplify Pattern Grading with Optitex Grading Module. This allows users to adjust pattern sizes to fit the entire range of company products including complex size variations and shapes

Optitex Pattern Design Software

Body Scanning Technology: Cyberware Scanner

To design garments and ergonomic products you need to know the anatomy of people you’re producing for

Through a deep anthropometric survey in various regions and markets on men, women and children CAD Modelling Ergonomics singled out a range of recurring Body Shapes and the Theory of Body-Shape was developed   (Copyright © SIAE n° 9401846) Body Scanning technology provides an automated, anthropometric data collection system that eliminates manual intervention. From the results of automated landmarking 104 anthropometric data can be obtained. Through just 4 seconds scanning it assures precision and accuracy, providing useful data that can be used for several applications such as Semi-automated garment production

Body-ScanFit® 

Client meets with designer Based on the Brief a fashion sketch is done via CAD systems Design is rendered (Colour / Textures / Closures / Notions and

embellishments are added) Client is scanned for measurements (Cyberware Scanner) Body-Scan data is fed to Optitex program for a pattern draft Laser Cutter is used to Measure – Lay up and Cut garment

components Sewists assemble garment components Garment is fitted on Robotic Dress Form (Sized for Client) Garment is adjusted, finished, labeled and packaged for delivery

Semi-automated digital Garment Manufacturing

Managing Quality

What is Quality??? Quality is the characteristics of a product that impact on its

ability to satisfy consumer needs, wants and desires There are many other definitions of Quality:

Fitness for Use / Degree of Excellence / Exceeding Customer Expectation / Conforming to Requirements / Measurement of Satisfaction

Part II Managing Quality

There are three main quality functions

Quality Assurance: This is a planned, systematic, ongoing monitoring system that provides assurances to users

Quality Control: A regulatory process through which actual quality performance is measured and compared with an established standard. Any disparity is auctioned to regulate quality

Inspection: An appraisal activity that compares product and processes with applicable standards. In a Total Quality Management organization everyone takes responsibility for inspection and the best inspection takes place at the source when the output is being made in order to correct defects in a timely manner before more inputs are applied to the product’s development. The Result – Zero Defects

Quality Functions

Quality or a lack thereof directly affects the profitability of all businesses Modern customers demand high quality products and services, on time and

at affordable prices. They also want new product introduction frequently Marketing professionals are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that

they accurately identify customer requirements; define and interpret these needs then convey them to the relevant departments for product design and development to begin

Once customers’ requirements are clearly determined the product must be designed accordingly however the quality of design, inputs including all materials and manufacturing processes are vital for the product to be successful in the marketplace

Quality Principles & Management

Sharp Fashion Management ® A fashion management term coined by Christopher A. Nathan It is a cutting-edge management tool for fashion businesses to gain and retain

competitive advantage in the increasingly competitive fashion market It requires Sharp businesses to become FRO fast response organizations /

adopt TQM total quality management throughout their organization’s structure All staff from the creative director / designer to the stitcher must practice

quality control and implement of a Zero Defects Policy Sharp Fashion Businesses place customers at the top of their organization’s

totem pole both internal and external customers Sharp Fashion Businesses are technology innovators not just tech users. They

embrace all the opportunities the 4th Ind. Revolution brings with it

Sharp Fashion Management

Bespoke Bridal Bespoke Bridal Bespoke Bridal

Innovations in the Fashion Industry

Recycled wedding dresses Coco Velvet Caribbean Fashion Company Ltd will

introduce Bespoke Bridal in 2018. Brides will be able to sell their used bridal gowns to the company. CVCFC factory will utilize wear2 disassembly technology to recycle the bridal materials, remove closures, notions and all embellishments then remodel the gowns to suit the style aesthetic of new customers

Bespoke Bridal

Problem Identification Tons of used clothing is discarded annually around

the planet; this causes major environmental challenges as cloth takes years to degrade. No reliable statistics are available for Trinidad & Tobago but it is estimated that over 1 M tons of discarded clothing end up in UK landfills every year

High cost of raw material for bridalwear production Raw material for clothing manufacture will eventually

run out on planet Earth so it’s Time to recycle

“Custom made bridalwear from recycled wedding dresses” Rationale: Today’s bride wants to stand out on her special day. Bespoke Bridal products will be hand-crafted and made-to-measure using recycled material; utilizing the latest garment manufacturing technology such as CAD software for fashion design, Optitex PD software and wear2™ technology

The wear2™ technology was developed through the SUSCORP project, a project co-funded by the UK's Technology Strategy Board. It is envisaged that wear2™ will become synonymous with sustainability in the textiles sector.

wear2™  is a new textile processing technology in the United Kingdom which allows garments to be selectively disassembled at end of life.

Incorporating wear2™ technology into clothing enables zips, buttons, fastenings,  linings and other similar materials to be easily removed and recycled without damaging the surrounding fabric. By engineering durable garments that literally “fall apart” on command, wear2™ provides a unique means to recover pure fibre, reuse casual and corporate clothing or up cycle garments.  

  wear2™ technology is jointly owned, and is being developed by: NIRI Ltd - R&D technical textile engineering (joint IP owner) C-Tech Innovation Ltd – R&D process technology (joint IP owner)

Textiles Recycling Technology wear2™ United Kingdom

Every bespoke suit starts life as a 2D length of superfine suiting cloth, transformed over time to fit the customer precisely to his requirements. Every suit is unique, made to the customer’s exact measurements (typically around thirty measures will be taken across the customer’s body), drafted into an individual paper pattern from which his chosen or ‘bespoken’ cloth is cut

The suit will then be handmade, with the cloth shrunken, stretched, pressed, stitched and structured into a perfectly form-fitting three-dimensional garment. Apprentice tailors can train for up to six years to be considered a specialist in but only in one area of bespoke tailoring: whether this is cutting a customer’s pattern or trouser making

A new pattern is created for each individual wearer. No modification or use of base patterns, as that could lead the tailor to miss some of the small nuances of the wearer’s body or slight changes over time. More than just measurements are needed to achieve this (what is the slope of the shoulder, the arch of the back, etc). No two bodies are the same. The skill sets of several different specialist craftsmen combine into every suit and an average of fifty man-hours, three intermediate fittings and some three months from commission to finished garment characterize the Savile Row bespoke process – a process that has changed little since the seventeenth century

The Bespoke Process

Process Flow Chart A Custom Designed Garment

Process Flow Chart: Seasonal Fashion Collection

Q & A

Conclusion