Will scan-to-fit tech revolutionise fashion? Sweden’s H&M brand Weekday is among the first high-street brands to offer made-to-measure clothes – get the ideal cut and reduce waste
- Hong Kong’s Unspun, Gay Giano and Isabella Wren are already using the system to tailor personalised attire for men and women
- Body scanners can log your measurements in a matter of minutes to ensure the perfect cut – soon you’ll be able to scan your size at home with an iPhone
Unspun, who make made-to-measure jeans and have shops in Hong Kong and San Francisco, is one company already using this technology. Customers simply strip down to their essentials in a curtained area and a quick 3D body scan is made, collecting over 100,000 data points. The measurements are displayed on a wall tablet, where each client then gets a smorgasbord of sartorial edits. Once the fit has been decided – a process that takes less than two minutes – the ideal pair of jeans will be ready in two weeks and delivered to your doorstep.
Annika Visser, operations lead of Unspun in Hong Kong says, “We pride ourselves on being sustainable and inclusive by carrying zero inventory and doing away with the traditional sizing system. We recognise that each body is unique and there’s no need to put a number to it.”
If this technology goes mainstream, it could substantially reduce the waste produced by the fashion industry. Companies make clothes in multitudes of shapes and sizes, often leading to unsold inventory. With this tech, you only buy what you need, thereby the company only manufactures what is already sold.
“It’s great to be part of a company which lives and breathes their mission of reducing fashion’s impact on the environment. By using data and technology we aim to bring a shift in the way brands and consumers think about traditional fashion production systems,” says Visser.
