Supporting The Two Faces Of Fashion Technology

Later this month, The Interline will be returning to SOURCING at MAGIC in Las Vegas, as part of a long-running events and content partnership. Ahead of the show, we spotlight the different ways that technology continues to manifest itself in the industry, how it shows up at milestone fashion events, and what this all heralds for fashion’s ongoing digital transformation.

Technology occupies a unique place in fashion. It’s both a source of newness, excitement, and invention, and a bedrock of everyday business – made up of enterprise tools and systems that fashion professionals in every discipline interact with constantly, and data and assets they share and collaborate on with colleagues without necessarily thinking about it.

Because of this dual role, the ways we talk about fashion technology also tend to fall onto two different tracks. A piece of software or hardware, or a process or intervention, is typically labelled as either a brand-new innovation or as part of the established ecosystem of tools and solutions. There’s excitement on one side of the coin, and efficiency on the other.

Or at least that’s the case in the short term. On a longer timeline, though, the best new ideas become part of the foundations on which the next strata of the future get laid down. 

We only need to look back at the progress of 3D and digital product creation to see this theory in practice. The world’s biggest and most ambitious brands provided the crucible for testing solutions and helping to develop processes, before progressively smaller businesses gained access to the same possibilities and 3D became more deeply ingrained into the industry’s processes until it became a core part of the way fashion works.

Fashion, as a whole, has become very adept at assimilating new technologies and incorporating them into its everyday practices. So the challenge for the industry (and for individual entrepreneurs, designers, brands, and retailers) is not whether to adopt technology but rather where on the continuum of invention and everyday improvement each technology initiative sits – and which parts of fashion’s trajectory are anchored to it.

Answering this question, for fashion professionals, is an ongoing challenge: understanding the possibilities that the near and longer-term future present, as well as constantly developing a practical understanding of the capabilities of a huge array of tools and solutions today.

This is why long-established fashion industry events like SOURCING at MAGIC (which takes place in Las Vegas twice per year, and which is just one event from the stable of shows that exist under the MMGNET Group, alongside the MMGNET content ecosystem) have become important destinations for diverse audiences to both ask those forward-looking questions and build that understanding of current capabilities.

At the upcoming SOURCING at MAGIC, for example, newness will be explored in live stage sessions, exhibitor pitches, panel discussions and exclusive, behind-closed doors sessions. From the digital transformation of materials and manufacturing, to artificial intelligence, virtual try-on, and the new frontiers of personalisation, there will be numerous opportunities to experience, debate, and grasp the implications of new innovations.

But at the same time, the event will also explore the deep ecosystem of technology platforms, solutions, services, and best practices that already cater to the central mechanics of the fashion business – from business intelligence and analytics, to PLM, ERP, supply chain management and more. These core tools will be present on the show floor, in on-stage discussions, but also in a new “ask me anything” format, where The Interline’s Editor-in-Chief will be available for attendees to explore everything from the fundamentals to the future applications of technology.

All of which will be taking place alongside key networking, vital connections, and education sessions and exhibitor spaces that explore the core business of sourcing, the vital considerations of sustainability, and the pressures and possibilities of being an entrepreneur or established fashion professional.

To experience these two-part conversations in context, and to take part in them yourself, consider visiting SOURCING at MAGIC in Las Vegas later this month – from 19th to 21st August – or in New York, from 22nd to 24th September. In Las Vegas, The Interline will be part of the fashion technology agenda in the following live sessions:

• Technology Trends: How Fashion Is Using Tech To Thrive & Transform – 13:30 on Monday, 19th August
• Technology: A Symbiotic Partner to Sustainability – 15:00 on Monday, 19th August
• The Rise of Digital On-Demand Production – And What It Means for Domestic Manufacturing – 12:30 on Tuesday 20th August
• AI Strategic Applications, Integration & IP Concerns – 14:30 on Tuesday 20th August

Or, to discover a deep catalogue of content that address both the experimental and the everyday sides of fashion technology, readers can explore the back catalogue of collaborations between The Interline and SOURCING at MAGIC – including the DPC Report 2022, DPC Report 2023, and the two most recent instalments in the series of Fashion Technology Foundations guidebooks – covering AI and sustainability. 

And to have your say in how and where the future of fashion technology should blend with the present, take part in a new industry survey, developed in partnership between The Interline and MMGNET, with the results to be presented in a brand new report, looking forward to the ways technology will influence fashion in 2025, later this year.

Together, The Interline and SOURCING at MAGIC will continue to support the two faces of fashion technology through 2024 and beyond.