Consulting agency Accenture spoke about a joint project with the US Council of Fashion Designers to retrain industry workers, taking into account the latest principles and technologies.
Innovation in the fashion world is not only about design. To attract new customers, offer them fundamentally new ideas, models of clothing and accessories, designers need to innovate in business. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a group of about 500 US fashion and accessories designers, has approached consulting firm Accenture and its subsidiary, Fjord, a division of Accenture Interactive, for an innovation partnership.
The aim was to give emerging and established designers the opportunity to experiment with new technologies both in the physical store and online, so that they could then innovate their brands and connect with consumers. The Council and Accenture are collaborating on several initiatives, from research and immersion programs to the Retail Lab. All of this will help designers get real business and retail experience.
Touching the product, not the screen
Accenture and Fjord help fashion designers understand consumer behavior and use that knowledge to promote their brands across multiple channels. For example, designers have learned to engage customers by telling them the story behind their creations. This approach to getting to know the product creates a sense of ownership in the client, leading to increased sales.
A. Retail Innovation
The Retail Lab is a real store located in New York City at the Cadillac House, which is a live demonstration of technology and innovation and allows designers to explore new technologies for serving retail customers in practice. The CFDA selects a group of designers who run the store for three months, learning how to run the business in a highly competitive environment.
Accenture worked with designers to reimagine the retail space and create a new customer experience with products. For the selected designers, working at the Retail Lab was their first experience of managing a store and translating the brand concept into a physical space. Working closely with Accenture helped them develop key business skills: communication, brand visualization, application of artificial intelligence systems, facilitating consumer tactile contact with products, familiarization with its history. Here are some of the new concepts:
- testing the RFID recognition function in fitting rooms to understand which combinations and sets of clothes are most attractive to customers;
- product tags that can combine in-store clothing with online models to create a look based on the designer’s recommendations. Unlike the usual recommendation engines used in most online retailers, this mechanism takes into account the professional opinion of the fashion designer, and not the preferences of the buyer. This opens up the possibility for brands to use predictive intelligence that matches the designer’s vision.
B. Understanding the essence
We are talking about an immersive program, that is, immersion in the essence. Fjord works with design school graduates on human-centered design and business strategy. The design challenges included in this intensive program have become an addition to the main academic work of design students. They learn by doing how to conduct research, create prototypes, and launch new concepts. Students are taught to pay particular attention to consumer behavior, new business models, sustainable economics, social responsibility, and existing technologies in the fashion industry.
C. New thinking
How can fashion designers use the fashion design process to grow their business? As part of the entire project, Fjord produced a presentation entitled “How Building a Collection is Like Building a Business”. It was introduced in the spring of 2017, first at the 6th Annual CFDA Fashion Education Summit, then at the first Fashion Future Graduate Showcase, which has since become an annual event.
In addition, Accenture and CFDA are studying customer service trends through pilot projects with Council members. The first study, jointly conducted with DHL, looked at how the fashion supply chain must change due to changing customer expectations, new technologies and digital business models.
D. Networking
In collaboration with the H&M Foundation, designers learned how they can apply some of the cutting-edge fabric developments presented at the Global Change Awards. As part of the Elaine Gold Launchpad educational event (also hosted by the CFDA board), Accenture spoke to aspiring fashion designers about how to expand their business and create their own brand.
E. Working in the Retail Lab
One example concerns designer Pamela Love, creator of the jewelry brand Pamela Love. A team of experts used social analytics to help her with marketing. For example, choose events where her clientele could potentially be present, or analyze the portrait of a potential buyer who would help Love organize her own event, increasing sales.
The second example is the Nepalese American fashion designer Prabal Gurung. The political message is very important for his brand, but how do you combine new technologies with stories to hook the client? A team of experts has created and patented a mannequin with a projector: it broadcasts slogans and other phrases to the mannequin on the chest, immediately making the consumer understand the designer’s message and forcing them to touch the products with interest.
The future of fashion retail
The Fashion Designers Council of America and Accenture are working together to help emerging designers interact more closely with clients and products. Fashion designers gain digital skills to be at the forefront of innovation, create agile trading strategies and grow businesses. Council members now have a better understanding of how to:
- implement innovative technologies to increase sales without creating obstacles for customers;
- attract customers and encourage them to tactile contact with the product;
- use retail space more efficiently and embody the brand concept on them;
- consistently implement innovative solutions;
- create stories about the product to attract the attention of customers to the brand.