Digital vs Analog…again

Do you really want to replicate EVERYTHING you do in physical when moving to DPC?

Let’s take a look at the design & product development process and decide together:

DESIGN:
- 👎Concepting: I think designers still want an inspiration wall with physical items to touch & feel
- 👎Sketching: this could go either way, but I think most designers will want to hand-sketch initial ideas
- 👍Color/Print Development: partnering with the artist & PD, a lot of time can be saved if the color/print/graphic is digitized at the very beginning. This can pre-determine yield and leap-frog the cycle of “can I see that 15% bigger/lighter?”
- 👍Merchandising Meeting: many companies bring Merchandising in at this stage to ensure the designs are in line with the seasonal Line Plan. Allowing the merchants to see the line as a whole, mixing & matching tops with bottoms would bring everyone to the same page. BUT (there’s always a but…), this would mean a shift in the process, bringing in 3D or some form of technology earlier in the calendar. Looking at you, NewArc.ai

(hand-off to…)
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
- 👍Style Development: 3D is an obvious advantage here, as you can finalize a design in digital 27 times to get that sleeve length perfect before asking for a physical proto.
-👎Fabric & Trim Development: still a hands-on task that requires the tactile aspect of the product.
- 👍Initial Fit: if you have a digital avatar that is an exact replica of your dress form, this is able to be done in 3D (Apotheosis is the one company that can supply these avatars).
-👎Functional Fit: this ultimately needs to be confirmed in production fabric on a dress form AND a fit model.

What am I missing? Are there specific tasks that you think can be moved into digital, or tasks that should be put to pasture all together with the implementation of DPC?