Why High-end fashion, Watch, Accessories & Handbags Industries?
High-end fashion,
Watch, Accessories and Hangbags industries have 2 common product features
which are wearable and fashionable. Also,
3D printing technology is already impacting these industries and there are
still many opportunity gaining by 3D printing technology.
Expensive, trendy and more formal clothing has an established
reputation and is known for high quality. Although the high-end
fashion industry is limited by a small number of brands, top fashion designers
set the tone for fashion trends, in addition to initiating the way consumers
choose their lifestyles and apparel selection from their high street fashion
shop like Top Shop, Zara, Marc by marc Jacob etc.
Fashion designers have been using 3D printed materials
since 2010; their range has been limited until recently.
The World's First Fully Articulated 3-D Printed
Gown. Fashion designer Iris van Herpencollaborated
with New York company .MGX by
Materialise and artist Daniel Widrig to
create 3D printed clothes
Currently 3D printing adoption in watch industry was quite slow and most
of the large watch brands did not apply 3D printing in their production. Citizen
was one of the first large watch companies to apply 3D printing in their
production process. Besides of Citizen, some other watch/jewelry company
use 3D printing to print the band/ casing cast in different materials e.g. gold,
titanium.
Fashion (accessories)
industry is traditional low-end manufacture industry, which already developed
in many countries. Currently manufacturing centralized in China, South-east
Asia and South America. Matured market sits in North America and Europe. With
the 3D printing technology emerged, we could foresee the globalization
opportunities and effects presented in global supply chain and global
manufacturing.
Regardless of time, handbag is a necessity item for women to carry
personal items who leave home. Nowadays, handbag is a luxury and fashionable
item which reflects personal taste and self-image. Kipling is a
famous Belgian-based bag and luggage brand that have released an upcoming 3D
printed handbag in 2014, named “The Monkey Madness city Jungle Shopper”. A
large format SL 3D printer enables the bag to be produced with resin, resulting
in a unique, smooth and detailed print that could hardly be produce using other
production method. High-ended handbag brands emphasis on the high-quality,
innovative design as well as the limited number of production. It is believed
that only customized handmade handbags can satisfy personalize needs.
Opportunity presented by Globalization & Consequences
of technological adoption or oblivion
1. New
Market & High demand
Global
economy has changed in last 10 years and economic growth from BRICs (金磚國家: Brazil,
Russia , India, China and South Africa). They have accumulated very
strong purchasing power. They
can afford to buy an expensive and luxury clothing, accessories and apparel for
themselves. In addition, consumer purchasing pattern has changed
from basic, simple and down to earth to unique, outstanding and innovative.
New
competitors from technology company create a new market for watch industry -
smart watch e.g. Apple Watch. The smart watch also create a new demand for
watch accessories e.g. bands, watch-stands, cases, buckles will be
created.
Ø Adopting 3D printing
Allowing
designer to create a variety design for different customer and custom made for
themselves. Designer is simply using 3D printing technology to
create what they want and print out without time limited.
2. New idea from consumer and other market expertise
Company need to “think globally and act locally”. The focus is shifting to
consumers, with local trends and tastes. This new mind-set has important
implications for luxury brands as it’s requires to think about their product
offering from global perspective instead of oneself. For watch industry, the growth of
Smartwatch is totally different from traditional watch industry, collaboration
with electronics manufacturers are required.
Ø Adopting 3D printing
- Practitioner and designer can widely use of 3D printing to create and
develop more design for different market and tailor made for some special
customer in order to suit their needs. 3D printing can simplify the design
& development lead-time throughout the process and allowing more time for
customer's service to acquire more customer feedback for future's idea.
- It can also increase the
interaction with consumer through different marketing campaign e.g. design
competition.
- Company invest in 3D printing can
also gain knowledge from other company/ industry successful case
3. Provide
better service and product
With the advancements in internet-based tools, it increased the buying convenience
and online shopping is growth rapidly. Over the last few years, many companies
have made use of social media to market their product and talk to the
customer directly. Personalized, diversified, customized and memorable
shopping journey will be a new shopping pattern nowadays.
Ø Adopting 3D printing
- Consumer can experience to
create their own design online by using 3D printing technology and they
could review the open design through online service. The whole designing
& ordering process only handle by themselves such as review the final
product online and place order directly. It's easy, accessible, simple,
no time limited and privacy. And it can also reduce customer shipping cost and
time by on-the-spot printing/ print it by customer.
- Time reduced on prototyping gives
designers to have more time to thoroughly review designs during early stages so
they could produce better final designs
4. Reduce
supply chain and production cost
Companies can select the best suppliers and manufacturers without
cross-border issue.
Ø Adopting 3D printing
- Simplified global distributed
system and higher the distributing speed. Old pattern was starting from Raw
material, production site, Manufacturing, Packaging, Complete product,
Shipping, in-land transportation, Distribution center, local transportation and
finally Retail store.
- Reduce the total development e.g.
prototyping and production lead-time massively.
- The mass customization of products
decrease the inventory levels as goods become made to order. This would reduce
raw material warehousing requirements; hence reduce global warehouse operation
cost and labor cost.
- A proportion of goods which is
previously produced in China or other Asia countries could be
"near-sourced" to North America and Europe. It will help reduce sourcing
effort and the cost of long distant logistic. The global manufacturing network
construction will be more flexible.
5. Cultivate
green awareness in production and consumption
Globalization raised the awareness of environmental protection. Companies
introduce Eco-Friendly, bio-degradable products.
Ø Adopting 3D printing
- The material of fashion
accessories and watches are metal and plastic, some of which are non-recycle
and non-eco-friendly. While adopting 3D printing technology globally, the raw
material will be further researched and developed. With no double, the feature
of recyclable and eco-friendly would be well addressed.
- At the meantime, streamlined
manufacture, high raw material usage rate, as well as simplified global
distribution system will help the industry going further to green industry e.g.
eco-friendly utilizing bio-degradable materials.
Other consequences on 3D printing adoption:
· Most traditional component suppliers will disappear
As manufacturing processes are increasingly re-bundled within a single
facility, the component supplier will disappear, which affect the whole
industry chain, e.g. people who work for those suppliers will lose their job.
· Most traditional wholesaler and retailer will disappear
Build-to-order production strategies could fundamentally impact the
manufacturer-wholesaler-retailer relationship. In the future the shopping experience
could also be vastly different. In some sectors, wholesalers and retailers will
either cease to exist or become ‘shop windows’ for manufacturers, keeping no
stock of their own. Orders are fulfilled directly by the manufacturer, and
delivered to the home of the consumer.
· Small accessories manufacture will close down
As 3D printers become more affordable to the general public, some small
manufacturers may not survive between the big giants and homemade market.
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