At the beginning of the summer of 2019, I wrote about how IFA Paris was going to be launching a fashion tech innovation lab. I had become privy to the information when I visited the school as a judge for an IFA project that involved fashion marketing students building on the strategic analysis of the Fusalp Brand. Before I returned to London, I was given a sneak tour by Peter Jeun Ho Tsang, of the lab when it was still under construction.
A Lab Space, Where Ideas Become a Reality
As Peter walked me around the 400sqm industrial space, I used my imagination to visualise how the area, the first of its kind in Paris, would be made up of co-working spaces, tech demo room and an experimental maker-space equipped with cutting edge technical equipment to support the development of fashion tech solutions. “The lab will enable students, startups and businesses to work alongside each other – creating the opportunity for them to make extraordinary leaps in fashion and innovation”, confided Peter.
IFA Paris is a fashion school that offers students around the world a vast range of unique and tailored courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Students get a choice to study in three of the most globally influential fashion hubs – Paris, Shanghai, and now in Istanbul.
Sponsors of the lab include Alvanon a global innovations company that helps apparel brands improve their fit to reflect modern-day consumers. Bodi.Me, a startup that provides an easy to implement a scalable platform for fashion brands and clothing providers to integrate into their customer relationship management (CRM) or e-commerce platforms.
The Bridge Fashion Incubator (TBFI), a Fashion-Tech Incubator that bridges the gap between Fashion, Technology and Sustainability. TG3D Studio, a 3D Fashion Technology solution provider on a mission to help the fashion industry’s transformation through digital technology. Other partners include IBM, Lectra and N-Hega a technology company founded by award-winning experts in Artificial Intelligence. IFA Paris’ supporting partner is Neue, a fashion tech company enabling digital fashion by offering the fashion industry a one-service-platform.
“You will be able to experience great pieces of technology from our partners such as by TG3D Studio, IBM and N-Hega. View your own 3D avatar by stepping inside TG3D Studio’s 3D body scanner, which scans you in just three seconds and then creates your own little digital mini-me. There will be a fascinating showcase from IBM about Cognitive Fashion, Artificial Intelligence and more; and inside the maker space Foundry members can create to their heart’s content using software such as N-Hega’s pattern digitizer”, states their press release.
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Although the Foundry first opened its doors on 23rd September 2019, they will be officially celebrating their launch, with cocktail and canapés, this week on Thursday 14th November 2019. If you would like to visit the lab, located at 18 – 24 Quai de La Marne in Paris’, the creative 19th district, it is open Monday – Friday 9 am to 6 pm for the general public and industry visits. Also, if you are on the lookout for such a space for your business, desk spaces are now available for entrepreneurs and startups inside the lab.
Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.