Burberry using gaming technology to “streamline” design process

British fashion company Burberry has teamed up with digital production agency Koffeecup to develop new software that it states is “revolutionising fashion design and engineering”.

The new application merges gaming technology and fashion design and streamlines the design process as it “significantly” speeds up and simplifies the process of placing prints onto garments, explains Burberry in a statement.

The software works by placing a two-dimensional print onto a 3D product template, allowing for immediate results in showcasing how the finished product will look and providing real-time instant feedback.

The use of 3D is now embedded in Burberry’s merchandising model, which the fashion company adds will allow it to be more sustainable, creative and efficient, and the new process has become a “staple tool” in the process of its print creation.

By using the application, Burberry said it has reduced paper usage at the design stage by two-thirds and has reached an accurate sample with fewer iterations so potentially cutting factory waste.

Mark Morris, senior vice president of digital commerce at Burberry, said: “This new software is a great example of digital innovation and cross-functional collaboration. Our internal 3D development team, who built the successful games B Bounce and B Surf, saw an opportunity in how their technology could streamline a part of the product design process. Our collaboration with Koffeecup enabled us to bring our idea to implementation and we are thrilled with the result.”

The first products designed using this new technology can be seen in Burberry’s pre-fall 2020 collection.

Thomas Michelou, managing director at Koffeecup, added: “It has been a pleasure to work closely with Burberry to deliver this project and see first-hand how the print placement application has improved their creative process. At Koffeecup, we saw this as an opportunity to leverage technology that is usually used in gaming development and apply it to the luxury fashion space.

“This pioneering shift from gaming to design allowed us to move towards generating a real-time visual experience that resonated well with our creative audiences. We are very excited about the software’s potential for development. Looking to the future, we see the possibility to incorporate artificial and virtual reality to extend the software, which is a very interesting prospect.”