At the end of last year, we launched The Interline’s first deep-dive report on digital product creation (DPC) in fashion. To say it exceeded our expectations would be an understatement: The DPC Report 2022 was read by thousands of DPC leaders and digital transformation decision-makers around the world, reaching the world’s biggest brands and its most disruptive startups.
That impact was a tough act to follow, but our team, our sponsors, our writers, and our brand and technology partners were up to the challenge. And the results are now available: The DPC Report 2023 builds on everything the 2022 report did, and layers more on top. Across 225+ pages, you’ll find exclusive stories, perspectives, and statements from brands like VILA, GAP, Timberland, HUGO BOSS, and New Balance, and educators, thinkers, and actors across the 3D / DPC landscape – along with detailed technology profiles and executive interviews, and a detailed market scope and analysis.
Like all The Interline’s content, The DPC Report 2023 is free to download, with no strings attached, using the buttons below. And because we commissioned some great design work this year from Harry Tribe (who was supported by the team and the technology at DMIx), we’re also offering the report in two filesizes: a “Shareable” version, which is the best fit for most people and most use cases, and a larger “Quality” version, with uncompressed artwork, for anyone intending to read on high-DPI displays.
Supported again by our North American partners at SOURCING at MAGIC, and building on the approach we took in our pioneering 2022 publication, The DPC Report 2023 is split into the following sections:
- Introductions and industry context, containing a top-level briefing on the role of DPC in fashion from our Editor-in-Chief, as well as further industry insight from Kelly Helfman, President of Informa Markets Fashion.
- Editorials, op-eds, and interviews, containing 17 exclusive stories from DPC leaders at major global brands, our own contributors, industry figures, influencers, and educators – all charting different elements of the journey of digital product creation in fashion, and each sharing a unique perspective on its future.
- Technology vendor profiles and executive interviews, containing 16 in-depth profiles of some of the key technology companies that are shaping the landscape of DPC in fashion – as well as exclusive interviews with their senior execs, where we ask about everything from ROI and digitisation bottlenecks, to the future of rendering.
- The next stage in our market analysis, containing updated estimates for user counts, software licensing revenue, and our team’s deeper thoughts on how the market for DPC in fashion is evolving against a difficult economic backdrop.
The full report is intended to be read cover-to-cover as a storytelling snapshot of DPC in fashion as it stands at the end of the calendar year 2023, and each of our exclusive editorials and vendor profiles can also stand alone, but you’ll find a full content index below:
- An introduction from our Editor-in-Chief, Ben Hanson.
- A foreword from Kelly Helfman, President of Informa Markets Fashion.
- A passionate argument for the urgency of DPC adoption, from Eva Mattsson Culafic, Founder of Creation Fields.
- An examination of the steady march of process and technology that’s been required to deliver showcase quality digital assets, from Charlotte Fabienne Stobrawe, Head of 3D for VILA.
- A look at the how brands can build the right blueprint for DPC success, from Brendon Ronon, Head of 3D / DPC at GAP.
- A look behind the curtain at the tools and workflows that went into designing the exclusive outfits for this year’s report, in an interview format with designer Harry Tribe, with input from senior executives at CLO and DMIx.
- A view on the importance of bottom-up change in digital product creation, from Sylwia Szymczk, 3D Apprel Specialist at Timberland.
- A breakdown of the untapped potential of digital materials and soft avatars, and the DPC expertise that exists in the fashion supply chain, from Anupama Fernando and Hasini Weerasinghe, both from MAS Holdings’ DPC team.
- A personal history of the cross-media role of digital assets in connecting VR, AU, and 3D, from Mackenzie Delev, a DPG strategist.
- A long-form editorial examination of how fashion’s DPC strategies have evolved post-pandemic, and where the industry might go from here, by Aasia D’Vaz-Sterling, a long-time contributor to The Interline, and now Partnerships Manager at Central Saint Martins.
- A first-hand account of the role of DPC in unlocking the possibilities of domestic production, from Jenny Holloway, CEO of Fashion-Enter.
- An analysis of the possibilities and challenges of real-time 3D, and how those map to strategic objectives in fashion and luxury, by Safir Bellali of Aliph Digital.
- A look at how technology and culture are combining, and the role that digital fashion could play in physical spaces, by Antonio Talarico, Co-Founder of Future Front Row.
- A deep-dive from our News & Features Editor, Emma Feldner-Busztin, looking at how DPC is slowly but surely extending further into the supply chain.
- A manifesto for how the next generation of creative professionals can interact with technology, and what this means for creativity, from Michael Ferraro, Executive Director at the FIT Design & Technology Lab, New York.
- A far-ranging interview with two senior leaders in DPC at footwear giant New Balance: Jared Goldman – VP of Design, Innovation and 3D Visualisation, and Mary Grim, Head Of Global Digital Operations.
- An examination of how virtual stores and other 3D-native retail experiences are creating a new endpoint for 3D assets, from Neha Singh, Founder & CEO of Obsess.
- An overview of the crossover between fashion and videogames, from Clare Tattersall, Director & Founder of Digital Fashion Week.
- A picture of the ideal end state for DPC in fashion, from Ben Hanson, with an exclusive company statement from HUGO BOSS.
- Detailed vendor profiles and executive interviews for:
- Bandicoot Imaging
- Browzwear
- Centric Software
- CLO Virtual Fashion
- DMIx, by ColorDigital
- Happy Finish
- Kalypso
- Mode Maison
- Optitex
- PTTRNS.ai
- Romans CAD
- SEDDI
- Style3D
- THREEDEEMEE
- Vizoo
- WhichPLM Advisory
- An update to our market analysis, bringing additional detail to our breakdown of the technology market and userbase for DPC solutions in fashion.
If you’d like to cross-reference any of the statistics, ideas, or content from this year’s report on DPC in fashion, you might find our DPC Report 2022 useful as a frame of reference. For other deep-dive reports from this year, we have also released the PLM Report 2023 and the brand-new Sustainability Report 2023.
Look for more reports from The Interline in 2024.