Lectra and WGSN Partner to Bring Fashion Trends and Design Development Together
French technology solutions provider Lectra and London-headquartered online trend-analysis service WGSN have formed a new global partnership aimed at bridging the gap between fashion trends and design development.
The companies have partnered to more fully integrate trend research and design development with the product-development process. They have developed a design package that includes a starter pack of Fall/Winter 2013/2014 trends from WGSN to be used for key looks, along with color and textile inspirations, presentation boards, fabrics, color suggestions, seasonal palettes, and production-ready spec information from Lectra. Lectra will also provide flat pattern blocks and 3-D prototypes.
“Design and development have to be efficient from step one,” said Anastasia Charbin, marketing director for fashion at Lectra. “A production-ready trend and design pack, complete with patterns and virtual 3-D prototypes, gives designers and product developers an enormous advantage. The ability to visualize style, patterns, color and texture in 3-D cuts their workload enormously. Having all the technical information behind the creative work means fewer errors when it comes to production.”
The packages will provide a combination of styles, from jackets and pants to dresses. Currently, only womenswear trend packs are available, with menswear packs still in development.
The starter packages will be released through a series of global events celebrating the partnership, starting in May in London, followed by releases in New York in July and in Shanghai in the fall.—Deidre Crawford
