Venturing into Fashion Tech

We've discussed many times on this podcast the subject of digital fashion with its exponential growth and increased market visibility over the last few years. Many of the next generation of fashion designers are exploring this alongside the more traditional design processes or becoming outright specialists at digital fashion design using software such as Browzwear.

So… what is it like to become a digital fashion designer and the journey that one goes on to acquire this new skill? Find out in this episode as we speak with director Stefka de Ruiter, 3D digital fashion designer and a member of the creative team at Browzwear. She shares with us her journey to digital fashion design and the unlimited opportunities. 

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

We have previously discussed in other episodes the different uses of tech in the fashion industry from NFTs to fitting solutions. Now what does all of this mean for brands or better yet, why might brands actually even consider implementing these technologies into their business models? Are they genuinely wanting to improve the way that they do business or are they simply being what we call “fluffy”? Fluffy being the defined as 'a brand using tech without real substance or a deeper meaning'.  

Peter and I discuss the different reasons why this may be prominent in the industry and tips at the end to help you avoid joining the bandwagon with more thought when considering tech innovation and tech adoption.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

We are back with the first episode of 2023! Have you already started ticking off your checklist for new skills to learn this year? Whether yes or no, we have a new episode for you where we consider the different ways to up-skill this year. 

Whether you are a fashion designer looking to add some tech innovation into your brand or a data scientist wanting to apply your expertise to the fashion industry - this discussion helps you to understand how you could learn about the other side to innovate in your own field in 2023!

You’ll hear in this episode, Peter and Von speaking with Beatrice Newman - Head of Fashion at University of East London, owner of womenswear brand Korlekie, and founder of Mode (a Beyond Form portfolio startup) -  about the ways in which upskilling is a benefit to you on a personal and well as professional level in 2023.

Be sure to listen to the end for some tips on how you could upskill this year.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

2022 has been the year for everything digital fashion, metaverse & NFTs, but has it worked? Hosts Peter Jeun Ho Tsang & Von N. Ruzive are joined by guest speaker Muchaneta Kapfunde to reflect on what’s happened in the world of fashion tech this year and what 2023 may hold for the fashion industry.

The episode explores the corporate strategies that fashion brands have been implementing with tech adoption, how consumers are reacting, the challenges, and what’s needed to push innovations forward in the new year. Other subjects include digital IDs, transparency, resale, supply chain innovations, and retail tech. What’s your take of 2022 and fashion tech? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

As we’ve mentioned many times on this podcast, fashion has a sustainability problem. This is not a new thing as you are all aware but in many ways, circularity is part of this problem and is now being more explored by fashion brands. 

When we say this, we mean some brands in particular who are actively looking for circular fashion solutions such as the automated upcycling platform being developed by one of our startups at our venture studio, FINDS.

FINDS, is a B2B 1 stop shop for unsold inventory meaning, they take action on deadstock from brands to give the items a new life. We speak with the founder, Andrea Herget, about what circularity really means and its potential in the future.

You can watch them live at the TechStars demo day on 5th Dec 2022 HERE

Visit their website: https://finds-upcycling.com/

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

The fashion value chain is a long line of multiple roles, resources, and most of the time, many countries in just one brand alone. So, imagine all of the complexities involved from lack of traceability to generals operations. Fashion, usually being one of the industries being least taken seriously for investment, it can be quite frustrating when trying to fundraise for parts of the supply chain. 

In this episode we speak to Lisa Morales-Hellebo who has worn many hats from both sides of the coin as a VC as well as a Founder at REFASHIOND. She gives tips on how to look for funding as part of the fashion supply chain and some of the startups she has been working with. 

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

Fashion weeks have been consistent ever since they began - official calendar, celebrities filling the front rows, the runway etc. COVID shouldn't be the only reason for switching this routine into something more exciting and innovative - the discovery of tech in fashion should be the new drive towards this.

With the SS23 fashion weeks just rounded up we reflect on what has been going on (or hasn't) when considering the implementations of tech.  From Coperni's spray-on dress with model Bella Haddid to Tommy Factory's involvement in metaverse, we are starting to see some fashion week tech action. Hosted by CEO & Founder, Peter Jeun Ho Tsang, & Ecosystem & Partnerships Senior Associate, Von N. Ruzive, this episode explores the 4 main fashion capitals to understand the different ways tech has been applied to revolutionise what we know as the typical fashion weeks.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

Circularity & sustainability are currently hot topics in the fashion Industry. On one side there are many brands greenwashing (in other words lying about how sustainable they really are), while others are showing genuine circularity with wardrobe rentals/second hand marketplaces that are now largely recognised such as Vestiaire Collective. Demonstrating genuine ethical & sustainable practices has also extended to the startup world where small businesses are forming solutions that help larger brands improve their carbon footprint. 

Initiatives such as dragons den-like opportunities for startups are interested in making such brands more sustainable. Connor Hill takes us through how startups have helped to change the sustainable scene in the industry and how you could get involved! With his background in circularity and brand strategy roles at John Lewis, Adidas & Marks & Spencer, you will gain insights on how things are currently looking and where they are heading for the future of the planet while not forgetting the importance of innovation in the mix.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

As you may have heard or seen by now, one of the major innovations currently hyped in the fashion industry is digital design. An umbrella term that can be applied to any part of the fashion value chain from designing in AI to virtual fittings in AR. As the fashion industry has only just dipped its toes in this, many are left wondering exactly how it can be applied to fashion across the whole value chain from pre-production to retail. This podcast episode is informative of exactly how - with a focus on the Fashion Innovation Award which startups specialising in this may find of interest.

In this episode, you will find out why the luxury brand Bally teamed up with Loomish to create this award and how startups using 3D assets to tackle customer engagement and operational efficiency could potentially win this opportunity. 

Our CEO, Peter Jeun Ho Tsang and Ecosystem & Partnerships Associate, Von N. Ruzive, discuss all of the above with Jelena Tasic - a digital leader, specialised in corporate innovation and Managing Director at Loomish. Based in Switzerland, Loomish aims to create a community of brands, startups, investors & the larger network to drive innovation in various industries including fashion. 

If you are interested in applying for the award and think your B2B startup has got what it takes to win a paid pilot with Bally, be sure to visit THIS WEBSITE and apply before 30th Sept 2022.

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

Investors are tightening up after the market crash this year, they are now more careful than ever to back companies that they truly believe in. It is exciting to see that new investors are popping up around the world, but also that large institutions have faith in fashion tech. Big institutions like Goldman Sachs, are able to bring in more institutional investors and guide them through the process of selecting which companies to invest in. That being said, how do startup founders stand out? How do they find the right investors and secure investment? Our co-hosts, Peter Jeun Ho Tsang and Von N. Ruzive, joined by special guest, Bethany Greer, answer these questions and more in this podcast episode! 

In this episode we highlight these tips about what founders need to do to get their startup fundraising done, as well as others. Before founders begin to fundraise, they need to have a roadmap for how they plan to allocate their money, and be strategic with it. Furthermore, this means it will also be necessary for founders to start penny-pitching and lean on their fellow-founders for advice and empathy. Thirdly, founders need to search for investors with portfolios in which they will fit. They need to ask themselves, “do I see myself fitting in here?”  

Our special guest, Bethany, worked at the Centre for Fashion Enterprise in London, supporting retail and sustainability tech startups to secure investment and scale their businesses. She is now a Venture Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, backing and supporting early-stage tech for good fund companies like Nuw and Birdsong. We are so happy that she joined us for this podcast episode and hope you are intrigued by her thoughts on investments, fashion tech, and her advice for founders! 

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io