To kick off the summer, The Interline continued its partnership with Première Vision by collaborating on a content series – covering a whitepaper, podcast, and a series of technology-focused interviews. And earlier this month, we took part in the 50th anniversary edition Première Vision Paris (PV Paris from here on), with our Editor-in-Chief hosting a series of four panel discussions which each focused on a different area where technology is helping to enable or accelerate fashion’s digital transformation.
This is a role we’ve filled before – including at the start of this year for the February edition of PV Paris – but this season’s participation was a little different. For this show, Smart Creation – the umbrella under which material innovation and fashion technology (or “Smart Tech”) sit – had been relocated to the new PV Hub, which was an innovation-focused zone situated front and centre in one of the event’s buzziest halls.
The Interline’s tech takeover took place on the new Talks stage, which sat at the heart of the PV Hub. An open space, surrounded by a curated list of exhibitors from fashion technology and fabric innovation, the Talks stage drew a large audience for every session we had the opportunity to observe – as well as for the Smart Tech sessions we hosted. Replays for each of those sessions are now available below.
But first some statistics. Despite some deeply confused weather conditions – with most of Europe swinging wildly between burning sun and blankets of rain – this edition of PV Paris drew more than 25,000 visitors from 90+ countries. The show featured more than 1,300 exhibitors across both the core categories the event is known for (fabric sourcing, inspiration, and forging connections between creators and producers) and the new cloud of solutions, services, and innovations that occupy the Smart Creation space.
While there is a great deal happening in the material innovation and sustainable fabrics space (much more on this to come from The Interline and Première Vision later this year) our focus was on the direct Smart Tech solutions, software, and services that had been intelligently arrayed around the Talks stage.
From 3D simulation and digital knitting, to supply chain traceability and AI-assisted fabric inspection, this autumn-winter season drew in a diverse mix of technology exhibitors, with a global emphasis rather than a narrow, Europe-only focus.
Smart Tech Talks – replay on-demand
Each of those Smart Tech exhibitors also participated in the fashion technology takeover of the Talks stage. For four consecutive hours on the second – and busiest – day of PV Paris, The Interline hosted a series of panel discussions that brought in a large and deeply-invested audience across the full spectrum of fashion roles, from creative to supply chain.
Each of these talks is now available to watch on-demand through the PV website (no registration is required) using the links below, and we have also provided some insight into the key talking points that were tackled in both moderator and audience questions for all of them.
Digital Transformation: Creating New Possibilities Across The Fashion Ecosystem
From cutting-edge examples like AI and VR, to the progress being made towards new methods of digital sampling and production, a huge amount of digital transformation is taking place at every stage of the product journey. What’s coming next?
Key topics discussed included:
- How disruptive ideas become accessible and get industrialised.
- How wider access to digital tools and assets is transforming a broad spectrum of fashion job roles.
- What the fashion industry can learn from other sectors – especially beauty – in creating new digital experiences.
- How technology can bridge the two worlds of physical material invention and software and hardware innovation.
How Can Technology Help Fashion Meet Its Sustainability Targets?
The mandate from consumers and governments is clear: fashion must find ways to curb its impact on people and the planet. But how far is the industry from meeting its targets and achieving compliance? What role will Smart Tech play in making further progress?
Key topics discussed included:
- What roadblocks fashion is encountering on its route to compliance with current legislation.
- Why existing regulatory frameworks and impact models are only the starting point for sustainability.
- Whether short-run, on-demand production can help fashion to transform the way it thinks about manufacturing.
- How brands can translate ambition into measurable KPIs.
- How technology, overall, can unify the supply chain and support fashion in having a chance of meeting its targets.
The Future Of Supply Chain Connectivity, Collaboration, And Resilience
Against a backdrop of historic disruption, instability, and unpredictability, fashion’s supply chains have been tested to their limits.
Now we are entering a new era of digital connectivity, new tools and platforms, and the necessity of collaboration. What is technology doing to unlock those possibilities?
Key topics discussed included:
- The importance of time in rearchitecting fashion’s supply chain relationships and building resilience.
- How brands and their partners can start to gather and manage a wide variety of different variables to build closer, more collaborative ways of working.
- The role of AI in creating greater supply chain visibility and connectivity.
- The current picture of the average fashion supply chain, and how much farther the industry has to go to realise its ambitions.
- What the future of lifecycle impact assessment looks like, and how a better-connected supply chain can start to move the industry towards it.
Technology’s Role In Traceability & Circularity
From the data required for product passports, to the complexities of post-sale journeys, the lifespan of any given product is longer and harder to track than ever. But technology could have the solutions to both tracing products and creating new experiences pre and post-sale. What does the future have in store for traceability and circularity?
Key topics discussed included:
- The mechanics behind lifecycle assessments, and the right way to communicate large volumes of data to the consumer.
- The importance of shifting from third-party, trust-based information to objective, first-party data and insights.
- How fashion brands and their partners can work to design with waste reduction and circularity in mind.
- What the technology ecosystem looks like for capturing data at source and incorporating it into enterprise platforms and workflows.
- Why it’s vital to reframe traceability not as a “supplier” problem, but as a collective, collaborative effort that the entire fashion industry must work together to realise.
The future of Smart Tech
Later this year, The Interline and Première Vision will release the final piece in our content series for 2023 – a new, industry-defining report that follows the same structure as our DPC Report, but directly addresses a different, vital topic that occupies a similar position near the top of the investment and action agenda for fashion. Look for an announcement about this report later this week.
Independently, Première Vision will host events in America, Europe, and China between now and the end of 2023.
