Burberry steps into the sustainable market space using technology

Burberry has joined hands with a digital production agency, Koffeecup in a venture to develop new software that can revolutionize the fashion design and engineering industry. The application is to bring together gaming technology and design to greater speed to simplify the process of placing prints onto garments.

The new software will be designed to place two-dimensional prints onto three-dimensional product templates to have an overview of the finished product immediately to ensure real time instant feedback. The utilization of 3D is now a part of Burberry’s merchandising model that enables the company to become more sustainable, creative and gain process efficiency.

The application will reduce paper utilization at the design stage by a minimum of two thirds. The accuracy of the application has the potential to cut factory waste, supporting Burberry’s sustainability agenda of innovating in the reduction of excess material. The products designed utilizing these technologies will be made available to the public in the pre-fall 2020 collection.

Mark Morris, the Senior Vice President of Digital Commerce at Burberry, stated that the new software was a great example of digital innovation and cross-functional collaboration. He further added that the internal 3D development team built based on the games B Bounce and B Surf identified the potential in streamline a part of the product design process.

Thomas Michelou,  the Managing Director at Koffeecup, stated that it had been a pleasure to work closely with Burberry to deliver the project and see first hand how the print placement application had improved their creative process. The company viewed this opportunity to leverage the technology typically used in gaming development and apply it to the luxury fashion space. He stated that the shift from gaming to the luxury fashion space allowed the company to move towards generating a real-time visual experience that resonated well with their creative audiences. The company looks forward to incorporating artificial and virtual reality to extend the software.