"Designers today are equipped with the right mindset and tools to face the rapidly changing manufacturing and retail landscapes. In a panel discussion at Sourcing at Magic in Las Vegas recently, experts set out to further streamline some of the sector’s confusion. The panel titled, “Fashion Design Is All About Tech and Innovation,” moderated by Fashion For Profit President Frances Harder, denim design and fit experts urged designers to use technology to create ways to overcome the denim industry’s biggest hurdles, including sustainability, on-demand manufacturing and performance fabrics."

Designers today are equipped with the right mindset and tools to face the rapidly changing manufacturing and retail landscapes. In a panel discussion at Sourcing at Magic in Las Vegas recently, experts set out to further streamline some of the sector’s confusion. The panel titled, “Fashion Design Is All About Tech and Innovation,” moderated by Fashion For Profit President Frances Harder, denim design and fit experts urged designers to use technology to create ways to overcome the denim industry’s biggest hurdles, including sustainability, on-demand manufacturing and performance fabrics.

Growth of the athleisure segment

Fabric innovation is the reason for denim’s comeback from the hit it took from the athleisure and activewear markets in 2014. As Jennifer Lynn Peterson, Designer, Silver Jean Co points out, everyone discovered that athleisure could be fashionable and comfortable at the same time. Jeggings and indigo knit helped the denim industry stay relevant. Denim mills had to develop denim urgently. Stretch denim, however, continued to be a hard sale for men’s brands. As Stefano Aldighieri, President of Another Design Studio 2.0 noted, brands would never even advertise it. They would not tell people it was stretch because otherwise men traditionally would refuse to wear them.

Brands need to focus on macro trends

Peterson feels, denim trends are less about new styles and more about achieving a certain look. Brands are styling jeans on their websites as an entire outfit. They want to be able to visualise themselves wearing it. Whereas fashion trends used to differ from city to city, said Ram Sareen founder of Tukatech, trends spread like wild fire and should be among designers’ least concerns. According to him brands should now consider how segments of the market are changing.

Aldighieri urged brands to extrapolate design concepts lifestyle and cultural shifts. According to him, brands should really look at the macro trends—the things that are really important—then give their own interpretation.

Consumers warm up to sustainable denim

According to Silver Jeans Co, consumers are warming up to sustainability. The technology required to be sustainable is becoming affordable. The company is planning to launch machinery that streamlines the process that requires fewer machines, no pumice and requires less water.

Aldighieri fears sustainability will be lumped with other industry trends. Sareen, on the other hand, advises brands to take a proactive approach to sustainability through on-demand manufacturing. According to him, the biggest cause of concern is the landfills of unsold garments. To eliminate excess, brands require better technologies to make only what they need.