Why the Fashion Tech business model is taking Europe by storm

This episode of Business Planet comes from the Germany’s capital city, Berlin, where we visited a Fashion Tech hot spot to find out about its business model, the opportunities it presents and the secrets to its success.

Fashion Tech

• The cultural and creative industries, such as fashion, design or artistic crafts, represent over 3 million companies and employ over 12 million people in the EU. The annual turnover of these industries is 1.5 trillion euros.
• The marriage of fashion and technology has produced new innovative products and processes that boost competitiveness.
• ElektroCouture is a fashion technology house based in Berlin. It advises and supports companies entering the fashiontech industry.
• Thanks to organisations like this, even small companies and designers can make use of new technologies and create innovative products.
• At the EU level, creative projects with their roots in technology and the arts can compete for the Starts Prize.
• SMEs in this sector can also benefit from the EU COSME programme, that makes it easier for SMEs to access loans and equity finance.

Useful links

• Elektrocouture
• Starts Prize
• EU COSME Programme
• Textiles, fashion and creative industries

Lisa Lang explained that, “everybody wants to go into Fashion Tech, but not everyone knows how. The secret is like to bring fashion and technology really truly together. And we are the matchmakers for that.”

The company we visited is an example of a true business ecosystem. Its goal is to boost innovation, bring new products into the marketplace and support other businesses working in their Fashion Tech projects.

Lina Wassong is one of seven resident designers. She studied” engineering and design in Germany and California. She has written two books on Fashion Tech and is beginning to make a real name for herself.

“This is really great to be here, because I have the chance to work with a lot of people with different backgrounds,” she said. “For example: electrical engineering or fashion designers. So, whenever I need help, I can ask this people.”

Most new technologies are available here. Laser cutting for more precision and less waste, connected machines, 3D printers.

One of Lina’s creations has just been presented at the Fashion Tech Berlin Conference and Exhibition.

“This dress has a 3D printed structure, and I choose 3D printing because you are able to create many different great shapes, which you can’t make with regular tools.”

Lisa told Euronews about the opportunities in the fashion tech sector.

“Think about it: you have a heart attack, and your clothes know it and stop the car and call the doctor. Fashion needs more dreams, needs new inspirations and technology is a great tool for it.”

When “Powered Clothing” Is All About Motors, Sensors and #ArtificialIntelligencehttps://t.co/QAHqUAsSza#SmartFabrics#FashionTechpic.twitter.com/IABErKWlCR

— FutureFash (@FutureFashEvent) January 12, 2017

The challenge is enormous: creative and cultural industries employ 12 million people in Europe and need to constantly innovate.

And, SMEs in the sector are eligible for the European COSME programme, which helps businesses access markets and finance.

The aim is to create a hub for European Fashion Tech. Several ready-to-wear collections have already originated here, and the company turnover is constantly increasing.

The Fashion Tech sector

“The situation is that we are talking about two different industries here who already have a set up, who already are ready, and now we just joined them and together we just created something completely new,” said Lisa.

You can now own one of the most talked about pieces of #WearableTech in history: https://t.co/Z0QyK1X2C8sensoree</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FashionTech?src=hash">#FashionTech</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CES2017?src=hash">#CES2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/xpf8OuihRN">pic.twitter.com/xpf8OuihRN</a></p>&mdash; Amanda Cosco (AmandaCosco) January 8, 2017