The Future of Fashion & Sustainability | 8 A Case for Virtual Try-On

Innovation is central to the fashion industry’s creative ethos. Innovation is showcasing a new look on the runway or developing a new type of fabric. The Covid pandemic and its aftermath illustrate the increased importance of digital technology in the fashion industry with the acceleration in e-commerce adoption.[i]

The pandemic highlighted the fashion industry’s need for flexible business practices and unique digital solutions. Brands and retailers needed a new way to reach consumers in the absence of a traditional in-store shopping experience. E-commerce became the primary driver of fashion sales in 2020 and the force behind the bounce back in fashion sales in 2021.[ii] Accelerated e-commerce adoption coupled with pandemic-era lax return policies adopted by retailers revealed significant challenges for businesses and consumers.

One of the key drawbacks of e-commerce for brands and consumers is the hit-or-miss nature of how clothing fits. The online shopping experience cannot replicate the in-person experience of physically trying on an article of clothing. Retailers promising free returns encouraged consumers to practice bracketing – “buying two or more sizes of an item to ensure a proper fit by mimicking the in-store try-on experience.”[iii] Free returns may minimize consumer dissatisfaction with the online shopping experience, but consumers don’t have a reliable method of determining how their clothes will fit. This results in a striking rate of apparel return, which is a logistical nightmare for retailers. One survey by the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company prior to 2019 “noted a 25 percent return rate for apparel on e-commerce channels.” [iv]

Rather than restocking, retailers are more likely to discard the returned pieces of clothing. Speaking to the Atlantic, a managing director at the consulting firm AlixPartners, acknowledged the fashion industry estimates that “about 25 percent of returns are discarded.”[v] The substantial reprocessing cost of putting clothes back on sale outweighs the potential revenue generated from resales, and it is much cheaper for companies to discard clothes into a landfill. Garments are either incinerated or left to decompose. Due to the prevalence of synthetic fibers present in clothing, discarded clothes can take more than 100 years to decompose.[vi] This perpetuates a cycle of waste and contributes to the fashion industry being the 2nd largest producer of pollution. The global fashion industry currently produces 92 million tons of textile waste annually.[vii]

Luxury fashion houses to more affordable retail chains are starting to invest in new technologies in sizing and virtual closets that aim to alleviate both the producers' and consumers’ worries. Many of fashion’s most well-known brands have been early adopters of Augmented Reality (AR), virtual try-on technology. Graham Sullivan, CEO of fashion software company SEDDI states, “VTO helps consumers make more informed clothing purchases and reduces returns. We can’t solve all the fashion industry’s problems, but we can help brands get it right more often.”[viii] VTOs can be a unique business investment for businesses looking to market products to a younger, tech-savvy population while also helping to reduce unnecessary waste and pollution in the industry.

[Image: Walmart]

Like any budding innovation, several players are jockeying to provide retailers and fashion brands with new digital tools. VTO utilizes data-driven sizing models that allow consumers to try virtual clothing. At its foundation, virtual try-on technology enables people to enter a digital fitting room without leaving their beds. VTO technology overlays a visual version of the apparel onto the scanned image of the user, showing how the product would fit and style. There are also examples of VTO technology being used in retail stores.[ix] Beauty retailer Mac Cosmetics unveiled a concept store in 2020 that allowed shoppers to use virtual mirrors to virtually try-on makeup.[x] Outside of pilot appearances, VTO remains an online phenomenon.

From Warby Parker and Ray-Ban to Farfetch, Walmart, and Gucci, virtual try-on technology is a growing part of retailers’ digital-growth strategy. In March of 2022, Walmart acquired start-up Zeekit to integrate a virtual fitting room into their app.[xi] Brands like Dickies and Gucci partnered with virtual try-on startups like 3DLOOK and WANNA to provide consumers with additional convenience features in their online stores. In May 2021, 3DLOOK partnered with Dickies to integrate its virtual try-on and sizing technology onto Chinese online retailer Tmall’s website. Shoppers in the Tmall Dickies store choose a style and are guided through a measurement widget that maps the shopper’s body onto the apparel.[xii] 87% of surveyed Dickies users that used the VTO technology noted an improved shopping experience.[xiii]

[Image: WANNA x Gucci]

In May 2021, retailers Prada and Farfetch partnered with Snap, inc. to incorporate their apparel into the app. Snapchat is a unique case study with 200M daily users and an interface that caters to a younger, tech-savvy generation of consumers. Social media is a different playing field from brands incorporating virtual technology into their websites or apps, but the technology’s draw can’t be understated. Broader consumer and brand adoption has both sustainability and cost-saving merits.

Sustainability is a growing priority for the fashion industry. Greater awareness of fashion’s harmful environmental practices, a younger generation of environmentally conscious consumers, and a general shift in the fashion industry’s attitude toward sustainability have all contributed to developing sustainable practices. Virtual try-on technology isn’t a silver bullet, but the technology will allow consumers to shop more consciously. If consumers know that the article of clothing online will look good, feel good, and fit well, they’re less likely to over-consume. Consumers are less likely to return a pair of clothes that look and fit well. The sustainability merits of this technology are yet to be seen, as industry-wide adoption remains low. Fashion brands will have to partner with industry regulators to set sustainability standards. Fewer clothes purchased will impact parts of the supply chain, mainly distribution, and retail.

Despite the technology’s upside, VTO adoption poses unique challenges. VTO sizing technology will evolve and make it easier for consumers to purchase well-fitting clothes, but consumers can’t touch or feel the apparel's quality and texture. The feel of an article of clothing is just as essential to the piece’s quality. Currently, technical limits also prohibit VTO from working on all products and all lighting. AR technology also struggles to overlay well-fitting garments. Many products still look like “they are laying on top of the wearer” rather than fitting the body shape.[xiv] With additional conveniences, businesses must contend with a consumer population that will want to shop exclusively online.

AR technology is still in its early stages, but the normalization of virtual technologies in fashion, social media, and everyday life is driving excitement for AR technology. Virtual try-on is a game changer for companies investing in ways to turn interactions into revenue. Advancements in sizing and fit via virtual try-on technology also have sustainability merits. Consumers don’t have to purchase clothes to see if they fit. As easy as that sounds, any effort to reduce the wasteful nature of fashion, must come from brands looking to embolden their sustainability strategies.

[i] https://www.businessoffashion.com/reports/news-analysis/the-state-of-fashion-technology-industry-report-bof-mckinsey/

[ii] https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/04/ecommerce-sales-surged-during-pandemic.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20most%20recent,to%20%24815.4%20billion%20in%202020.

[iii] https://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/mysurefit-solving-fashions-size-1234874567/

[iv] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/returning-to-order-improving-returns-management-for-apparel-companies

[v] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/free-returns-online-shopping/620169/

[vi] https://www.fastcompany.com/90776423/why-your-online-returns-may-end-up-in-landfill-and-what-can-be-done-to-fix-it

[vii] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle

[viii] https://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/sedd-technology-powering-fashions-future-science-1235443354/

[ix] https://fashionunited.uk/news/business/are-virtual-try-ons-the-future-of-retail/2023022868153

[x] https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaakim/2020/09/25/mac-cosmetics-new-concept-store-is-the-next-step-in-virtual-retail/?sh=7554cf8941f2

[xi] https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/technology/walmart-is-rolling-out-its-new-virtual-try-on-on-a-mass-scale/

[xii] https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/3dlook-partners-with-dickiesr-to-offer-tmall-global-shoppers-a-personalized-fitting

[xiii] https://retailtechinnovationhub.com/home/2022/2/9/dickies-deploys-3dlook-virtual-shopping-solution

[xiv] https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/why-ar-clothing-try-on-is-nearly-here