Vila’s 3D journey from samples to showroom

Danish label Vila held its first buyer event based completely on 3D technology this year. Just how did the Bestseller-owned brand create the virtual experience and how far has Vila can be found in its 3D design process? A designer and sales manager share their journey.

Two avatars greeted buyers from Europe’s biggest trusted online retailers at the entry to Vila’s showroom. These were virtual versions of brand director Simon Khong Harbjerg and international key account sales manager Josephine Schorling Bach.

Since it was the to begin its kind, the function was intended for buyers from e-commerce companies who are aware of 3D samples and included commercial products which were easy to understand and clients were acquainted with.

“Within the virtual event we'd well-known shapes and qualities in one of the rooms on our platform, which means that the suppliers have produced it before and the clients have sold it before,” Schorling-Bach said throughout a video call.

The area with designs that buyers knew had the best “hit rate”, she added. Around 70 buyers attended in February. Beforehand, they received boxes with treats and samples of product materials presented during the event.

The buyers first saw a 35-minute pre-recorded video of the 3D showroom which introduced products, prints and qualities. Afterwards, they could explore four collections at length by simply clicking individual styles to pull up more information.

The buyers may possibly also create a wishlist and summary their buying on Vila’s B2B platform later. A gathering with a team from Vila concluded the knowledge.

“Some were prepared to buy through the platform, some not,” said Schorling Bach. Generally, she felt that customers supported Vila’s initiative. “This is actually the first rung on the ladder but they’re definitely feeling that this is the right strategy to use,” she said.

A helpful format through the pandemic
It’s still difficult showing Vila’s full collection in 3D as some suppliers don't use the technology yet plus some categories like knits or outerwear are harder to render as 3D samples.

Categories that work very well - such as for example tops, dresses and occasion wear - were presented in the showroom, said Mette Harbo Staun, who works as a 3D project manager in Vila’s design team.

3D technology helped Vila when the buying process was forced online because of the pandemic.

“All our appointments are online and instead of standing in the showroom and showing, for instance, a long clothe themselves in front of a camera, it really is better to share a screen and show the pictures of a 3D sample,” said Schorling Bach.

“On the 3D sample you are able to start to see the small details, like stitching, the buttons, up close on prints - which is a number of the things you need to get a product. This is a huge advantage for all of us, definitely.”

Accelerating the workflow
Vila started implementing 3D design with key suppliers two years ago. Right before the corona crisis, the Chinese suppliers were onboarded to start out exchanging 3D files with Vila’s design team rather than the original physical samples.

The corona crisis helped to speed up the procedure, recalls Harbo Staun.

Using 3D samples also helps Vila to speed up the process of bringing products to advertise. Buyers who order for their stores could make decisions and request changes predicated on virtual samples, saving enough time and material needed to produce physical samples. Vila’s design and internal buying team experience similar cost and time savings. The suppliers show their styles and information on 3D sketches to the buying team which picks the collection and shares the look with the sales force. ## Fewer samples, less waste “The digital workflow is running right through the complete value chain,” said 3D project manager Harbo Staun. “Thus giving us the most effective way of working because it saves time, it saves a whole lot of cost, and it’s possible to generate a decision without being reliant on the physical samples.”

About thirty percent of the suppliers have started to create styles for Vila in 3D first. Just how much 3D samples are being used also depends from collection to collection and the department for which the collections are created.

The new method of working required a shift in attitude, which is paying down. This technique saves the samples for the visual design part, which the buying team at Vila doesn’t have to see in true to life anymore. Physical samples remain had a need to test the fit of the clothes. “It’s also a mindset change and feeling comfortable with buying from a sketch”, said Harbo Staun. “Finding a physical sample may take several weeks, based on the supplier. A change on a 3D model can be made within 1 day.” Now, her design team can receive orders from clients predicated on design before asking their suppliers to create the physical sample. “It’s an extremely beneficial way to work - from our side and our suppliers’ side”, she said. “We are able to be sure that we focus our time on the styles that contain received an order. That’s one of the biggest changes internally in our development phase.”
Are 3D showrooms the future?

While Vila may gradually increase its utilization of 3D design, it still remains to be observed how the brand will employ the 3D showrooms later on.

“We've the universe but it won’t be updated alone, you need to decide how to use it and where to utilize it,” said Harbo Staun.

“There is a large amount of technical work behind it each time. Right now, we’re only creating this universe for some specific events, it’s not an ongoing thing for our main collection. It’s still in the starting-phase.” Seven members of Vila’s design and sales teams done the 3D sales event launched in February. These were also supported by six suppliers and two external partners who built the 3D showroom - which highlights the efforts that went into creating one 3D event. But Josephine Schorling Bach is sure that more events will observe: “This is obviously not the last time you will notice something from Vila regarding 3D location and samples. We’re already working on some new initiatives.”