Ties, bowties and pocket squares can be the perfect small finishing touch. But, until recently, they took an outsized amount of time to arrive in stores – and in consumers’ wardrobes.
They had gone through the traditional process of designers working closely with mills to manufacture fabric and create samples, which were presented in showroom appointments between brands and wholesale partners, who ultimately placed the products in store. However, due to the restrictions of COVID-19, sales teams and their accounts have had to find new ways to adapt.
IZOD and other PVH Heritage Brands quickly innovated to digitize the process to maintain a revenue stream with our wholesale partners throughout the pandemic. When the fabric returned from the mills, the design teams took high-resolution scans of each swatch, and used software to mimic the patterns exactly. The Technology Process Group (TPG) created a virtual Go-To-Market tool, that allowed our sales and marketing teams to show our product in a digital presentation to wholesale accounts. This program allowed our teams to take customers through a truly guided experience that utilized a range of marketing content, such as concept videos and full use of 3D assets to present the new lines.
This change also became a key step in reducing our negative environmental impacts to zero, one of the three strategic focus areas in our Corporate Responsibility strategy, Forward Fashion. By allowing the design teams to fix any problems in the fabric that they found digitally, and email the renderings back to the mills to correct, they were able to bypass transporting hundreds of samples, that used to waste valuable time and resources.
Solving for an issue that arose from COVID-19, we found a more efficient, reliable, and sustainable solution that will be upheld even after distancing restrictions lift. It is a testament to our associates who continue to innovate and better the world around us.