Fashion designers who don't look at the data may lose their jobs
What do you think about "data-driven apparel design"?
I believe that many people's first reaction is to question: "Fashion design is creative work, aesthetics is subjective, how can it be measured by data?" There are also worries: "Will the design effect guided by the data make the designs on the market look similar, resulting in the homogenization of clothing?" ”
These concerns are not unfounded, and to a large extent reflect people's curiosity and confusion about new things.
But in places that many people can't see,Data is becoming a rigid need in the apparel industry. Looking at the data, it has naturally become one of the basic skills that a fashion designer should have。
As early as 10 years ago, some apparel companies realized the wonders of data, and therefore took the lead in tasting the most lucrative dividends of "data-driven clothing design", opening more than 2,000 stores in 88 countries around the world, and becoming a world-class clothing brand representative.
Speaking of ZARA, the fast-fashion brand that sent the founder to the second richest person in the world is the most praisedThe minimum speed of 3 days, twice a week, and 12,000 new models per year, once shocked the entire clothing industry, causing peers to begin to study how the "miracle model" was born.
According to the data, it was reported and analyzed in 2013 that ZARA attaches great importance to collecting consumer feedback, even the most subtle feedback such as "this collar pattern is beautiful" and "I don't like the zipper of the pocket" will be digitally uploaded to the design staff of the headquarters, and then the headquarters will make a decision and immediately transmit it to the production line to change the product style.
From the first-line store to the design and decision-making department of the headquarters, this bottom-up information transmission, ZARA must do it at least twice a day, and even after the store is closed, it will make statistics on the daily goods on and off the shelves, customer purchase and return rate, etc., and then combine the transaction system to make a transaction analysis report on the day, analyze the hot sales ranking of the day's products, and then the data will be directly sent to the ZARA storage system.
When this massive amount of consumer feedback is digitally aggregated into a single database, we can say,The user insight analysis system dedicated to ZARA has begun to take shape。
Since then, ZARA has been able to analyze consumer preferences based on the price, department, time period, customer and other data of each successfully sold garment, so as to guide the design and decision-making of new models, including summarizing fashion trends such as seasons, regions, and crowds, as well as consumer preferences for colors, styles, fabrics, etc., to help designers optimize products that best meet consumer needs, reduce the inventory rate and grasp the consumption changes of the majority of Generation Z in a timely manner.
In recent years, there have been many more clothing brands that have also achieved success with data-driven design, such as:Gymshark, a British sports brand valued at $1.45 billion, itsThe secret to this skyrocketing growth lies in the amount of effort and resources invested in keeping track of consumers' changing tastes。
They will buy data, combine Instagram views and fitness app usage information and find that target consumers like black sweatpants, black vests with big brand logos, like to do deadlifts on Thursdays and Fridays, and like to exercise their chest muscles on Mondays... Based on this, GymShark is able to anticipate demand through data and advertise deadlift accessories, such as shoulder straps and lifting shoes, to the right target users at the right time, which in turn allows them to reinvest in production at a faster rate. So the growth flywheel spun at a rapid pace.
And alsoniko and…After entering China in 2019, 30% of product development has been completed in China, mainly based on in-store sales feedback and third-party data platforms to analyze consumers' price acceptance of various styles and categories in the market, so as to clarify the most suitable pricing range for their products, so as to adjust the price strategy and the relevant operating methods behind it.
niko and ... Takayuki Ozawa, the person in charge, said, "Only by firmly locking in the demands of consumers can 'Niko and...' always have insight into consumption trends, grasp the pulse of consumption, and constantly update consumer demands, and always stand at the forefront of the market." ”
The above cases all illustrate,Data can provide more accurate insights into consumer needs, which is crucial to the digital transformation and business success of apparel brands。
In 2023, the wave of reform set off by big data and algorithms has affected the upstream and downstream of various industrial chains, and the specific performance in the apparel industry is as followsBrands have reached a whole new level of research into consumer insights and fashion trends。
E-commerce, private domain, live broadcast... The diversification of shopping methods, as well as the rise of social platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, have made more and more clothing brands urgently need data analysis toolsAggregate online shopping data, social data, search data, and trend dataand so on to carry out accurate demand insight and mining.
After all, under the current situation, even e-commerce platforms and brand-developed data analysis systems are limited by a single source of sales data, and cannot fully cover the sales of various channels in the market, such as Taoxi, Douyin, Dewu, Xiaohongshu and overseas sites, to form effective insights.
Many of the trends listed by magazines and fashion websites lack landing, and are more about showing the avant-garde and creativity of big-name design. A fashion designer who has worked for more than 10 years once revealed to us that when he reported the new design, the most common words of the boss were "the process is too complicated, we don't do it", "the cost is too high, we don't do it", "the cost is more than 50, we don't do it"...
This is a typical dilemma faced by fashion designers now: too many good designs have the opportunity to become a hit, but if the corresponding process and cost are not paid, the final product is difficult to achieve the desired effect, and the price change caused by the rising cost may not be accepted by consumers.
So, for a large number of clothing designers/brands, theyWhat is really needed is the perfect integration between artistic innovation and commercial landing, which is a comprehensive conclusion of show trends, market sales, hot marketing and other aspects。
Based on this, Zhiyi Technology has been developed in recent yearsA series of data intelligence SaaS products in the apparel industry, such as Zhiyi, Zhiqian, Shake Clothes, Overseas Exploration, Zhixiaohong, etcIt can help fashion designers/brands in the way of "AI helps the apparel industry", and constantly balance art and business with data and show information covering multiple platforms such as Taoxi, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Dewu, and overseas sites, and adjust the design and product strategy that best conforms to the brand's tonality.
First from【Market Data】Look.
At present, Zhiyi TechnologyThe largest structured clothing database in the industry has been built, with a large number of high-quality clothing data assets, more than 1 billion clothing picture materials and 100 billion structured design elements.
Therefore, if a clothing designer/brand wants to understand the category, color, and fabric trends in the macro market of the entire market, or focus on a certain hot sale, pricing, or even a new cycle of competing stores, they can get a definitive conclusion through the products such as "Zhiyi" and "Shake Yi" under Zhiyi Technology.
For example, since last year's popular outdoor category, "Zhiyi" showed that the largest increase in sales in the past 30 days was the sunscreen clothing category, and the number of new products also exceeded other categories, and quick-drying T-shirts, outdoor casual clothes, etc. also had a good month-on-month increase, followed by a good month-on-month increase.
If a fashion designer/brand has a plan to develop outdoor clothing, it is completely possible to make a plan based on the statistical results to avoid missing the opportunity.At leastHave a good idea of the market profile of your target category。
And then there's[Look at the trend data]。
Powered by the latest algorithms such as big data, image recognition technology, and artificial intelligence recommendation engines, fashion designers/brands can also connect with international fashion trends through "Zhifu", and get the latest information and high-definition blockbusters of front-line shows and big-name press conferences in the first time, which can be used as an element for deconstruction and storage.
In addition, Zhiyi Technology providesTrend Report service, produced by industry experts with excellent design capabilities such as major trend agencies, well-known clothing brands, and fashion buyers.More than 30 articles are regularly put on the shelves every month。
The report is mainly divided into:Business Reports & TrendsThere are two major directions, among which the business report will review the major sales nodes or platforms from the perspective of market e-commerce, such as "23Q1 Women's Clothing E-commerce Data Review", "Spring and Summer Tao Men's Wear Industry Trend White Paper", etc.Trend reports tend to summarize the runways and big names in each season, such as "Fall/Winter 23/24 Paris Fashion Week Color Analysis Report", "Spring/Summer 24 Children's Outerwear Trends", etc.
And finally[See promotion data]。
We all know that Xiaohongshu and Douyin have outstanding sales results and are important positions for promotion and marketing. Costume Designer/Branding SocietyUse data to target consumers with high levels of interest and overlap across different channelsOpinion leaders are also important.
For example, in "Zhi Xiaohong" or "Shake Clothes"Click on any of the clothing categories and you're doneGain insight into all relevant data for that category, a comprehensive understanding of the category's popularity performance on Xiaohongshu/Douyin, including representative popular content and associated brands/influencers, to further grasp the hot spots of clothing trends on different channels.
In addition, vertical data such as [Talent Analysis], [Live Overview] and [Fan Portrait] are displayed, which can accurately gain insight into the growth points under each category, so as to grasp the direction of clothing design and screen potential cooperation partners.
In short, under such a wave of data,If fashion designers and brands are still stuck in the past, they do not value the use and efficiency of data and digital tools in design work, and rely too much on subjective judgment and rough market decision-making, which is tantamount to a closed-door approach in the new era.
Just like the way humans paint, from the ancient chiseled stones, to the forging of bronze, the painting of pottery and lacquerware, the embroidery of cloth, to the depiction of paper... The use of tools has always evolved, and now is the age of digitalization.
Of course, we can't completely deny the simple way of working, and there will be many surprises like Miyazaki's insistence on ingenuity, but there are also slow changes in design styles, as well as inventory risks after the double decline in word-of-mouth sales, which will unwittingly put the brand in a passive situation, be at a disadvantage in the competition, and even fall into an existential crisis.
For most fashion designers/brands, a flash of genius is always hard to come by, and it can't afford to invest a lot of time, energy and cost. After all, survival is the most important thing in the first place, whether it is a clothing designer who links sales to performance, or a clothing brand that faces market competition.
Therefore, those clothing designers/brands that are in the middle of the competition,What is really needed is a proven design approach, such as a shift in digital and data thinking, and the use of Zhiyi products。
As shown in the diagram,Digital tools, such as Zhiyi products, are becoming the infrastructure of the apparel industryIt is not only recognized in the industry, but also has become one of the standard abilities that fashion designers should have.
According to the results of Zhiyi Technology's regular return visits to customers, through the use of Zhiyi products,The explosion rate of the vast majority of customers developing new models every year has been increased by 15%-20%It can be seen that under the empowerment of "data-driven clothing design", clothing designers/brands can indeed greatly improve the market acceptance of new products.
And this is also the original intention and source of Zhiyi Technology's "AI to help the clothing industry".
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