“We’re witnessing a 360-degree transformation,” says Sharmila Senthilraja, industry platform leader for consumer products and retail at Capgemini India. “Whether you look at the front of the house, where consumers interact with brands, or the back of the house, where products are made, it’s completely digitalised.”
This digital shift is dramatically accelerating the fashion lifecycle.Where it once took 9-12 months to bring a new collection to market, brands can now go from concept to consumer in just 2-3 weeks. This compression is driven by technologies like 3D design tools, AI-powered trend forecasting, and agile manufacturing processes.
The retail experience is evolving just as rapidly. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are allowing shoppers to “try on” clothes digitally, both online and in stores. Smart mirrors and interactive fitting rooms are enhancing the in-store experience, while seamless omnichannel integration is blurring the lines between physical and digital shopping.
“Post-Covid, we’re seeing a surge in both online commerce and physical stores,” notes Senthilraja. “It’s a hybrid world now. People start their journeys online and go offline, or from offline to online. The challenge is putting that shopping journey together seamlessly.”
Fashion is undergoing a digital renaissance
Personalisation has become a key battleground, as retailers leverage vast troves of customer data to tailor recommendations and experiences. “If you can identify the right personalisation for the customer, they will become loyal to you,” says Nikil Jain, head of product at Ajio, an Indian fashion e-commerce platform. “That’s the only way to retain customers on the platform right now.”
However, fashion personalisation presents unique challenges. “Even your best friend or sibling might have a very different fashion sense,” Jain points out. Effective personalisation must account for body shape, style preferences, brand affinities, colour palettes, and more.
To tackle this complexity, fashion retailers are investing heavily in data science and analytics. They’re combining explicit user inputs, product reviews, and implicit behavioural data to build increasingly sophisticated recommendation engines. Some are even creating “digital DNA” profiles of customers to predict preferences and tailor experiences.
As exciting as these innovations are, they also raise concerns about data privacy. With regulations like Europe’s GDPR and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act tightening the screws on data collection and usage, retailers and tech companies will need to find new ways to personalise experiences while respecting consumer privacy.
Sustainability is another major driver of innovation in the fashion industry. “Fashion is the poster child of one of the most polluting industries,” says Senthilraja. To address this, brands are exploring eco-friendly materials, bioethical fabrics, and more efficient production methods.
Technology is playing a crucial role in these sustainability efforts. AI and automation are helping to reduce waste by enabling on-demand production and more accurate demand forecasting. Digital sampling and 3D design tools are cutting down on physical prototypes. Blockchain and IoT sensors are improving supply chain transparency and traceability.
“We have gone one step ahead and created a generative AI platform,” says Kavita Jha, CEO of KiksAR Technologies. That platform enables virtual sampling and 3D product visualisation that could dramatically reduce waste and returns in the fashion industry.
Industry experts see several transformative trends on the horizon. Voice commerce, powered by natural language processing, could make shopping as simple as a conversation. Advanced 3D printing might allow for hyper-personalised, on-demand clothing production. Some even envision a future where digital fashion becomes as important as physical clothing.
“I imagine a world which has got no materials, everything is technology,” muses Sibichan K Mathew, professor of fashion management studies at NIFT, Delhi. He envisions wearable devices that could project different colours and patterns onto the body, creating a constantly changing, customisable wardrobe without physical garments.
The future of fashion promises to be as much about bits and bytes as it is about fabric and thread. For fashion brands and retailers, keeping up with this technological revolution could be a matter of survival.
